STUDENTS TO PAY FOR SECONDARY SCHOOL

UNCLAS GABORONE 001577

SIPDIS


AF/S FOR MUNCY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM BC
SUBJECT: STUDENTS TO PAY FOR SECONDARY SCHOOL



1. (U) SUMMARY: As of January 2006, students will pay to
attend secondary schools and technical colleges in Botswana.
The Government decided to re-introduce school fees in
response to growing budgetary constraints. Despite
Government assurances that no child will be turned away for
lack of money, reactions from national and international
groups have been negative. Botswana's decision to reverse
its policy of free secondary education reflects the high
cost of combating HIV/AIDS and its manifold impact on
Botswana's society. END SUMMARY

STUDENTS TO PAY FOR SECONDARY EDUCATION . . .


2. (U) As of January 1, 2006, students will pay to attend
secondary schools and technical colleges in Botswana.
Junior secondary schools will charge P300 (USD 55) per year,
senior secondary schools P450 (USD 82) and technical
colleges P750 (USD 136). Students who meet one of several
criteria will be exempted from paying school fees. These
include students from families registered with the
Government as destitute, registered orphans and children in
need of care, and those whose parents are terminally ill and
cannot afford to pay. Additionally, families that earn less
than P550 a month will pay for only one child if they have
up to three children in school, for two if they have up to
six in school, or for three if they have more than six in
school. Social workers, who are notoriously over-worked and
under-staffed, will inherit the responsibility to apply this
means test.

THANKS TO HIV/AIDS-INDUCED BUDGET CRUNCH


3. (U) Although Government officials may be hesitant to
admit it, there is little doubt that the rising cost of
fighting HIV/AIDS is a key factor motivating this policy
change. The Government of Botswana has consistently devoted
to education the largest share of its budget. Nonetheless,
the Ministry of Education's designated point person on cost
sharing, Ms. G. Bogopa, pointed out that the Ministry was
struggling financially. Vital activities, such as
facilities maintenance and professional development for
teachers, have been canceled due to lack of funding. With
quality of education already in jeopardy, she indicated, the
Ministry had little choice but to recover some costs from
parents who could afford to contribute.

UN SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR VOICES CONCERN


4. (U) The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education,
Vernor Munoz, criticized the cost-sharing plan as "a
dangerous step backwards" during his September 26 - October
4 visit to Botswana. Munoz urged the GOB to reconsider its
intention, citing the potential for school fees to depress
enrollment, especially among girls. In such a scenario, he
pointed out, short-term budgetary gains would result in
social and economic costs in the medium- to long-term.
According to UNICEF Representative Jonathan Lewis, the GOB
appreciated Munoz's points but had no intention of
rethinking its cost-sharing plan.

LOCALS APPREHENSIVE TOO


5. (U) While visiting Botswana, Mr. Munoz met with several
stakeholders who share his misgivings. Mr. Radibe, of the
Botswana Teachers Union, confided to PolOff on October 26,
the teachers' concern that the Government does not have the
capacity to effectively implement the measures it has
devised to ensure that fees do not reduce enrollment.
RETENG, an NGO representing minority ethnic groups, and
other NGOs also objected to the measure as likely to
undermine efforts to eliminate poverty. Locally elected
officials, worried that qualified students might not be
exempted, have questioned Ministry of Education officials on
the subject. Picking up on public dissatisfaction,
opposition parties have fixed on the issue, organizing
rallies to denounce the policy as regressive.

IT'S ALL IN THE IMPLEMENTATION


6. (U) With just three months left before the scheme takes
affect, the Government is striving to coordinate its
implementation by the Ministries of Local Government and
Education. Two contacts within the Department of Social
Welfare indicated that social workers cannot take on this
burden without extra resources. One remarked that "the ball
is in the Ministry of Education's court" in terms of
recruiting and hiring the additional staff necessary to
administer the means test. Ms. Bogopa, on the contrary,
said that both Ministries were working together on the
modalities of that recruitment exercise. She estimated that
the Government would hire 75 persons before year-end to help

administer the cost-sharing program, and more down the road.
The Government-wide policy of zero growth in public sector
employment will complicate matters, however. Ms. Bogopa
stated that the Ministry was still debating how to comply
with this requirement, and which, if any, jobs it could shed
to compensate for the new ones created.

COMMENT


7. (U) Critics of the cost-sharing program have reason to
fear poor implementation of the means test. The Ministries
tasked with rolling out an appropriate mechanism are among
those most plagued by accusations of corruption and
inefficiency. They face a very narrow window in which to
affect the plan and will have to do so under extraordinarily
limiting circumstances. The Ministry of Education maintains
that no child will be sent home for failure to pay, but that
assurance rings somewhat hollow given that reports of
children being turned away for non-payment of minor fees
(akin to lab fees and gym fees in the U.S.) have not been
uncommon. While the Government arguably looked to the wrong
place to find budgetary savings, ultimately this decision
reflects the high cost of fighting HIV/AIDS and its manifold
impacts on Botswana's society.

CANAVAN


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