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Multi-faith Religious Education in BotswanaYonah Hisbon Matemba a

a Molepolole College of Education, Molepolole, Botswana

Online Publication Date: 01 October 2005

To cite this Article Matemba, Yonah Hisbon(2005)'Multi-faith Religious Education in Botswana',Religious Education,100:4,404 — 424

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MULTI-FAITH RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN BOTSWANA1

Yonah Hisbon MatembaMolepolole College of Education

Molepolole, Botswana

Abstract

This article presents a historical approach to the multi-faith ReligiousEducation introduced at the junior secondary level in Botswana in1996. The article begins by examining the Christian confessional ap-proach introduced during the missionary era and notes that despitevarious forms of earlier government opposition the Christian syllabusbecame popular again in the 1970s. In 1993, a movement toward amulti-faith syllabus gained momentum. Some of the background tothis is given including the influence of British experience. This newsyllabus is then subjected to some critique. An attempt to classify thenew syllabus’ methodology is also provided. A discussion of the pub-lic and religious groups’ response to the multi-faith syllabus follows.Finally, through a small survey, views of teachers (n = 48) on thenew syllabus are recorded and discussed and the overall outcomeappears positive. The conclusion is that the Botswana multi-faithsyllabus, with adjustments, is relevant to the educational needs of ahomogenous society.

Botswana, an area twice the size of the United Kingdom (UK) andslightly smaller than that of Texas, was until 1966 under British rule.With a population slightly over 1.7 million (2003 estimate), this land-locked southern African country has been hailed a success Africanstory due to a stable democracy and prudent management of its wealthfrom diamond production (Good 1992; Acemoglu et al. 2001). Sincethe late 1970s the favorable political and economic environment hasattracted immigrants from other parts of the world, especially Asiaand the Middle East, who have brought with them their distinctivereligious traditions. Botswana has no state religion and the freedomof religion is guaranteed by law. In spite of having a large Christiancommunity, the traditions and ideals of the new immigrant minorityare respected and people practice their faith freely (U.S. Department

1I thank my students for their assistance in the teachers’ survey and to my col-leagues in the Religious Education Department at Molepolole College of Educationfor their comments and input.

Religious Education Copyright C© The Religious Education AssociationVol. 100 No. 4 Fall 2005 ISSN: 0034–4087 print

DOI: 10.1080/00344080500308595

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of State 1994). For instance, after the 2000 parliamentary electionshistory was made when two members of parliament who are Moslemswere allowed to swear on the Koran on being accepted to parliament(Botswana Gazette, 27 July 2000). It is clear that the government hasrecognized the need not only to introduce quality education to meetthe needs of a middle-income economy, but also an education that isrelevant to its homogenous society. Since 1994, the government haspaid greater attention to the development of a new national curriculumfor the primary, junior secondary, and senior secondary, sections. Inthe junior secondary school, the major development has been in Re-ligious Education (RE) where the Bible-based confessional syllabushas been replaced by an open multi-faith syllabus.

Changes to reflect the cultural and religious realities of modernsocieties are also taking place in other countries. In the late 1990s,Norway successfully introduced a multi-faith syllabus in the primaryand lower secondary sectors (Breidlid and Nicolaisen 2004). In SouthAfrica, multi-faith RE is being introduced in the national curriculumto meet the requirements of the new Outcomes Based Education alsoknown as Curriculum 2005 (Abrahams 2000; Cape Times 9 Septem-ber 2003). In Zambia, a somewhat interesting situation has developed.After independence in 1964 the country was declared a non-religiousstate and subsequently humanism was adopted as a state philosophy. Apluralistic and non-denominational curriculum was introduced, mak-ing Zambia the first in Africa to have such curriculum. However, whenthe constitution was amended in 1996 Christianity was made a statereligion. Although in the current dispensation, freedom of religion isguaranteed, Christian RE is provided in church schools and in manystate schools (Carmody 2000, 2003). In some countries change hasbeen resisted. In Malawi, the plan to introduce Islam to the BibleKnowledge syllabus taught in secondary schools caused great conster-nation among the majority Christian community forcing the govern-ment to suspend the planned changes (BBC News, 13 March 2000).

In Botswana, it is evident that the teaching of different religions isin tune with current trends and as a response to the fact that Botswanais no longer considered a homogenous Christian nation. This canbe evidenced by the recent (2001) Population and Housing Census(PHC) that shows that the religious landscape of the country is di-verse and includes Christians (71.6%), Traditionalists (6%), Muslims(0.4%), Hindus (0.3%), and Bahais (0.1%). An earlier study had foundthat there are also Buddhists (0.1%) and Sikhs (0.1%) (Amanze 1998).The article argues that in spite of anomalies therein, the Botswana

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multi-faith RE is an excellent approach to the study of religion in amulti-cultural and multi-religious society.

MISSIONARY APPROACH TO RELIGIOUS EDUCATION:A HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Historically, education in Botswana was introduced and controlledby different Christian missions from the pre-colonial (1845–1885) andmuch of the colonial period (1885–1938). RE was known by variousnames such as Scripture, Religious Instruction, Bible Knowledge, andReligious Knowledge (Mazebane 2002). In the schools, Christianitywas the only religion taught and the teaching approach varied fromindoctrination to confessionalism; for after all the primary aim of mis-sion education was making “good” Christians (Mgadla 1994). As is thefamiliar case in Africa, in Botswana hundreds of European mission-aries representing a nascent of denominations such as the LondonMissionary Society (LMS 1845); German Lutheran Society (1857);United Free Church of Scotland (1862, later merged with the LMS tobecome what is now known as the United Congregational Church ofSouthern of Africa (UCCSA); Dutch Reformed Church of the SouthAfrican Boers (1877); Anglican Church (1911); Seventh-day Adventist(1922); and Roman Catholic (1928) used education in general and REin particular, as their most effective way of evangelizing and convertingpeople to the Christian faith.

One problem at the time was that there was no uniform syllabusand that mission schools taught different denominational syllabi thatwere in line with their doctrine. In 1904, the British colonial adminis-tration introduced a new policy in an attempt to monitor how missionschools were run. This development had been caused by the growingunease between chiefs and missionaries over the running of schools in“tribal” areas. The reasons for this appear to have been many but onethat is relevant here is that chiefs were against missionary curricula be-cause of its over-emphasis of scripture (Bible) teaching as prerequisiteto learning. For instance, to be assessed as successful, learners wererequired to be conversant with the Bible, Christian spirituality, andadopt codes of conduct seen to be essential for a Christian. By 1910most ethnic groups had established their own schools where they hada greater say in the type of curriculum that was taught.

In 1925, the government introduced a policy that aimed to theregulate schools (particularly African led) so that they would not depart

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from emphasizing Christian character in their school curricula (Chilisa2000). To effect this policy, the government appointed a director ofeducation in 1928 and gave him the mandate to monitor and regulateschools in the country. Introduced in 1931 was a specific policy thatplaced the running of all schools in the hands of village committeeswhich reported directly to the director of education. It also introduceda uniform Bible Knowledge syllabus which all schools were to use.

The implication of these changes was that church-schools could nolonger continue to teach doctrinal Bible Knowledge. However, someChristian missions among them Roman Catholic, LMS, United FreeChurch of Scotland, and Seventh-day Adventist opposed the curricu-lum accusing government of interfering in matters of church. Adven-tists in particular opposed it because the new syllabus included theteaching of evolution. Adventists could not accept the interpretationsof the Bible in the syllabus that the story of Jonah and the whale wasan allegory. For Adventists, this was viewed as heresy and thereforeunacceptable (Matemba 1997). In the end, the government althoughmaintaining that Christian values were to be infused in the curriculum,decided to introduce a policy that excluded Bible Knowledge from thedefinition of a new understanding of academic achievement. This ef-fectively meant that Bible Knowledge was now taught for enrichmentand not for academic achievement (Chilisa 2000).

After independence in 1966, the new government of Sir SeretseKhama continued the colonial position of excluding Bible Knowledgeas a measure of academic merit. On their part, missions became de-termined to prove that RE was as good as any subject. To achievethis, churches (with government approval) developed a common con-fessional syllabi based on the Bible. The schools and churches in-volved in this effort included Moeding (UCCSA), Maun (UCCSA),St. Joseph’s (Catholic), and Mater Spei (Catholic). As the new mis-sion syllabi became popular, some government schools introduced itin their curricula (Kgathi, personal communication 2003). In 1974, thegovernment formally introduced RE in the curriculum when it drafteda new Bible-based syllabus called Religious and Moral Education. Ayear later, it was piloted at St. Joseph’s and Moeding and by 1976 itwas widely taught in all schools (Mazebane 2002).

Following recommendations of the first National Commission onEducation (NCE) in 1977 the educational system was restructuredfrom seven years (primary), three years (junior secondary), and twoyears (senior secondary); that is, 7+3+2 to seven years (primary), twoyears (junior secondary), and three years (senior secondary), that is,

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7 + 2 + 3 after the recommended six years (primary), three years (ju-nior secondary), and three years (senior secondary), that is, 6 + 3 + 3system was not implemented due to among other things, lack of hu-man (teachers) and material resources. However, no immediate majorchanges, if any, were made to the subject content areas in the curricu-lum and thus in RE, schools continued to use the 1974 syllabi. Nearlya decade later, the NCE recommendations were enforced and thisdirectly affected the Bible-based syllabi. In 1986 the Botswana govern-ment adopted the Christian confessional syllabi used in East Africanschools such as Kenya although slight modifications (i.e., the inclusionof aspects of Botswana traditional religions) were made to it. The EastAfrican syllabi were developed by an ecumenical group of churches un-der the auspices of the Pastoral Institute of Eastern African in Kenya.For primary, JSS, and Senior Secondary School (SSS) syllabi such as“Bible Knowledge,” “Developing in Christ,” and “Christian LivingToday,” respectively, were adopted for the Botswana curriculum.

The second NCE of 1993, especially its 1994 Revised NationalPolicy on Education (RNPE), brought far reaching changes to edu-cation in general and to the national curriculum in particular. In RE,a multi-faith syllabus was suggested and implemented for the JSS in1996. At the time of writing, both the primary and senior secondaryschool syllabi were being revised. Some changes in the primary syl-labus, however, have been effected. In 2002, a new lower primaryschool (standards 1–4) syllabus called “Cultural Studies” comprisingRE, Social Studies, and Moral Education was introduced. The method-ology for the religious component in that syllabus is in line with the“open” multi-faith approach.

ANTECEDENTS TO MULTI-FAITH RELIGIOUSEDUCATION

By the late 1980s and early 1990s, the confessional syllabi cameunder attack. Sealey (1993) in particular, criticized it for failing to sat-isfy the needs of a multi-cultural Botswana. Sealey showed the need forBotswana to follow trends in society in the design and teaching of REby introducing a syllabus that would cater to the various religious tra-ditions in the country. In addition, the postgraduate studies of Mmolai(1988), Seretse (1990), Ramahobo (1991), Morake (1993), Madibela(1995), and Kgokgwe (1996) were in many ways instrumental in bring-ing new thinking in the way RE was to be designed and taught. These

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studies pointed to the fact that Botswana was (and is) a country of peo-ple with different beliefs and that there was need to introduce syllabithat took cognizance of this fact. The “Bible Knowledge,” “Develop-ing in Christ,” and “Christian Living Today” syllabi were criticized inthese studies. In essence, the studies showed the limitations of theChristian confessional curriculum and made recommendations to re-place it. Although Mmolai’s study proposed an inclusive approach, sheseems to suggest that only the inclusion of traditional religion in thesyllabi would have been the panacea to the limitations of the Christianconfessional model in the Botswana context at that time. The reason,according to her, was that traditional religious practices predate Chris-tianity first introduced by David Livingstone only in the 1840s. Seretsewent further in suggesting that

If RE is to be studied in Botswana, it should address itself to the multi-faithnature of Botswana and offer religious education which includes an objectivestudy of religious and non-religious traditions found in the society. . . . TheRE offered should strive for impartiality in its presentation of different worldreligions and non-religious facts . . .

Seretse was of the view that the school syllabus should be such thatit meets the multi-faith needs of the country by including AfricanTraditional Religions and other world religions such as Islam, Baha’i,Hinduism, Judaism, and Sikhism. In addition, Seretse also suggestedthe introduction of non-religious ideologies such as Marxism, Atheism,and Humanism into the syllabus. Morake more than Kgokgwe andMadibelas’s studies went further by analyzing the various approachesof RE and suggested that what Botswana needed was a pluralisticapproach that went beyond the inclusion of two religions.

Perhaps a crucial antecedent to these changes came about as aresult of the second NCE of 1993 especially its 1994 RNPE that man-dated the Ministry of Education (MoE) to institute subject taskforceswhose role would be to revise and where necessary make changesto subject syllabi to complement the changes that were introduced.The changes were: (a) the reversal to the pre-1986 7 + 3 + 2 sys-tem, (b) the introduction of new subjects in the JSS curricula, (c) Theimplementation of the “education for all” policy that led to a massiveproject by government to build JSS (commonly known as GovernmentAided Community Junior Secondary Schools) throughout the country.By 2002, government had built 204 JSS. Another relevant antecedentwas the government’s attempts to improve the status of the subject.

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In the late 1980s, the government began to ensure that RE panelswere no longer dominated by churches and the Botswana ChristianCouncil whose objectives as expected were to keep the syllabus Chris-tian. Now, teachers were appointed to the panels and the outcomesfrom such panels became obviously different. Teachers argued thatthe confessional approach was faith-based and therefore not educa-tional. Second, the government took practical steps to raise the profileof the subject by establishing two RE sections in the MoE: one at cur-riculum department in 1986 and the other at secondary department in1993.

Finally, the direction the new syllabus took followed the lead inthe UK where RE has gone through tremendous change in the last30 years or so in making the subject reflect the religious diversity ofcontemporary Britain. In the UK, the 1944 Education Act and thenthe 1988 Reform Act have engendered debates and discussions, whichhave led to a proliferation of theories and pedagogical models in theway RE should be designed and taught (Grimmitt 1982; Cox 1983;Kincaid 1991; Watson, 1993, Wright, 1993, Hull 1996; Jackson 1997).Eventually, the government found a neutral ground when it introducedthe “Agreed Syllabus” system. This system gives local authorities themandate to formulate syllabi relevant to the religious experiences ofpeople in the immediate society (Northamptonshire County Council1980). Although many faith schools continue to offer a kind of “neo-confessional” syllabi most Agreed Syllabuses have moved away fromthe Bible-based confessional to a world religions approach because ofthe acknowledgment that the UK is no longer a homogenous Christiansociety and that the religious diversity of its people should be reflectedin what is taught.

The paradigm shift in the UK has had a ripple effect in many partsof the world. In Botswana, its influence is evident in two ways. First,there is no doubt that much of the theoretical framework used togenerate ideas for a multi-faith syllabus was based on the changestaking place in the UK. The phenomenological theory of NinianSmart that sparked the new thinking also had an important influ-ence in Botswana. So much so that when a new syllabus was intro-duced, Smart’s seven dimensions of religion, namely, practical/ritual,experiential/emotional, narrative/mythic, doctrinal/philosophical, eth-ical/legal, social/institutional, and material (Smart 1968, 1973, 2002;Smart and Horder 1975) were simplified into what the syllabus calls“characteristics” of religion, namely, teachings, beliefs, myth, worship,practices, and ethical codes.

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The second influence concerns the fact that several individualswhose studies were influential in shaping the direction the new syl-labus took were products of British education. Mmolai and Seretsecompleted Master of Arts degrees at Lancaster University, the famedschool in the UK which, under Professor Smart in the late 1960s,sparked the multi-faith approach debate. Even those individuals whodid their postgraduate work at the University of Botswana between1990 and 1993 were influenced by the British new thinking throughthe work of the British academician, Professor John Sealey. Sealeytaught in the Faculty of Education at the University of Botswana andsupervised most of the postgraduate theses that made suggestions toreplace the confessional approach. Some of the postgraduate studentsin British and Botswana universities became influential members ofthe RE taskforce.

CURRICULUM DESIGN AND SOME OF ITS LIMITATIONS

Following recommendations of the RNPE, the Botswana JSS cur-riculum was restructured. This change stipulated that students studya minimum of 10 and a maximum of 11 subjects. RE was now offeredas a general optional subject. Other changes followed. The MoE em-barked on a massive exercise not only to introduce new syllabi for allsubjects but where necessary, to change subject syllabi content to meetthe requirements of the then to be introduced 7+3+2 school system.Consequently, ad hoc subject taskforces were instituted.

The RE taskforce comprised education officers from the de-partments of Secondary Education, Guidance and Counseling, Ex-aminations, Research and Testing Division (ERTD), and the leaddepartment of Curriculum Development and Evaluation (CDE). Thepanel also had lecturers from the University of Botswana and from theRE Departments of Molepolole and Tonota Colleges of Education.Teachers from both the CJSS and SSS were also included in the task-force. Significantly, religious associations such as Botswana ChristianCouncil, Botswana Muslim Association, and Botswana Buddhist As-sociation were invited. In all, the taskforce was made up of 13 peopleand three religious associations.

The taskforce started its work in 1995 and met many times thatyear. By the end of the year, it had produced a syllabus that was in-troduced into schools the following year (Table 1). One predictablechange in the syllabus was the rejection of the Christian confessional

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TABLE 1. Major Topics in the Botswana Multi-Faith Syllabus

Form 1 Form 2 Form 3

Rational (sic) for teaching REWhat is religion?Characteristics of religionOrigins of religionsMyths about the origin and

creation of the universe andhumankind

Attributes of the SupremeBeing

Festivals/ceremoniesRites of passageBasic beliefsBasic teachingsEthical teachings

IntermediariesSacred literatureSacred objectsHuman lifeAnimal lifePlant lifeAbortionMurderSuicideSubstance abuseRites of passageThe familyRoles of men and women

(boys and girls)HIV/AIDS in the

communityContraception

FreedomHuman rightsCapital punishmentFactors that can destroy

human lifeAuthorityLoyaltyFriendship

model in its entirety. The new syllabus was designed to be all embrac-ing, open, non-confessional, and multi-faith because “of the recog-nition that Botswana is a pluralistic society that includes a variety ofReligions [and] the Religious Education Syllabus reflects this multi-religious society” (Religious Education Syllabus 1996). To achieve thenational goal of embracing the religious diversity of the country, thesyllabus was deliberately designed to include topics on the challeng-ing nature of religion and on the importance of religious tolerance.The syllabus also has topics dealing with individual and collective re-sponsibility in society, living in harmony with nature, and on religiousresponses to moral issues.

Some observations can be made on the syllabus. As the surveylater in this article shows, there is imbalance in the distribution oftopics with Forms one and two having not only many topics but alsohaving the most difficult ones. Second, it would appear that the syl-labus encourages transmission rather than transformative learning be-cause the syllabus merely requires teachers to transmit facts aboutreligions. This means that cognitive learning is overemphasized in thesyllabus. Religion is alive in the communities where learners comefrom and therefore learning should draw from these outside-of-schoolexperiences. The weakness here seems to lie with the failure of thesyllabus to include topics covering the sociocultural background oflearners (Seretse, personal communication 2003). The syllabus does

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not encourage learners to engage with religions in their immediatecommunities. It has been observed that teachers tend to choose toteach the “Six World Religions” (Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hin-duism, Sikhism, and Judaism) because information on these religionsis readily available in books and other materials. In Botswana, some re-ligious groups have made efforts to produce teaching materials so thattheir religion can be taught in the school curricula. A case in point isBaha’i, which has produced a teaching manual for schools. People fromthe Baha’i head office avail themselves and address students in schoolsand teachers in workshops on the Baha’i doctrine, ethos, and practices.

Another observation is that the syllabus has left out the secularworldview of learners. It should be noted that the PHC found a signif-icant 21% of people in Botswana in the 12–49 age category indicatingthat they have “no religion.” Therefore, the assumption that all learn-ers would have a religious worldview is, in my view, a limited one. Thesyllabus should reflect the life-world of the learner, for the life-worldof the learner is the foundation of learning. Further, it is clear that thesyllabus document was not properly edited for content and language.Two explanations could be offered as to why such an important doc-ument was released with errors. There appears to have been lack ofa broad-based and independent consultancy with experts on religiousstudies outside government and the taskforce. “In-breeding” of ideasmeant that the taskforce members who had been locked in a seriesof intensive and non-stop meetings were unable to subject their ownideas to critical reflection. This was made worse by the fact the MoEwas putting pressure on the taskforce to produce a syllabus within avery short period of time. The taskforce was formed sometime in themiddle of 1995 but was expected to have a syllabus ready for use inschools in January 1996.

Examining the syllabus, one notices a number of misleading terms,statements, and ideas. The term “rational” on page one, has been mis-applied in the objective, which states: “rational for teaching ReligiousEducation” instead of “rationale for teaching Religious Education.”The error is the term “rational” (i.e., reasonable) instead of “rationale”(i.e., reason why). Another flaw is found on the objective: “rites ofpassage.” Current thinking seems to be of the view that when we talkabout “rites of passage” people immediately understand this to meanrituals performed at stages of human development such as birth, pu-berty, marriage, and death. On page three the syllabus states: “identifythe rites of passage as birth, puberty, marriage, and death.” This is re-peated on page five where the syllabus states: “identify rites of passage.”

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By definition, rites of passages are ritualistic ceremonies marking im-portant stages in a person’s life. Rites of passage are not in them-selves stages but rather they are stage rituals. As noted, the syllabusidentifies rites of passage as the stages one goes through in life. Thefollowing amendment is suggested: “identify the rites of passage atbirth, puberty, marriage and death” or “identify rites of passages asso-ciated with important stages in people’s lives.”

Another problem concerns the topic on intermediaries (page 4),which says: “distinguish between human and spirit intermediaries—both good and bad.” The rest of this objective is valid except the lastbit, which says “both good and bad.” By definition, an intermediary is alink between ordinary people and the Supreme Being or the ultimatereality. To begin with, there are perhaps not two but four types of inter-mediaries and these are: human, spirit, animal (Mbiti 1999), and inani-mate objects (such as gramadevatas or lesser deities in Hinduism—seeKanitkar 1989). To suggest that an intermediary can be “bad” is erro-neous because an intermediary links people with the Supreme Beingor ultimate reality who or which is pure and blameless. The SupremeBeing may send a punishment but that does not make him or her “bad”and neither does the messenger become “bad” because he or she hascarried a “bad” message. Furthermore, someone who is “bad” cannotbe used to carry out duties of the holy one.

In numerous meetings since 1997 where this writer was also inattendance, teachers asked the MoE to revise the syllabus with theintention of correcting some of these errors. The answer by educationofficials has been that changes or amendments cannot be expectedto take place quickly because government regulation stipulates thatsubject syllabi, unless having grave and totally misleading content,can only be reviewed after 10 years. Therefore the first review of thesyllabus can only take place in 2006.

THE PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH

In the post-Ninian Smart debates on pedagogical approaches toand of RE, terms such as “multi-faith,” “religious pluralism,” “worldreligions,” and “multi-religious” are catchphrases used to describe akind of a RE curriculum that is sensitive, empathetic, and inclusive. Itis difficult to be certain of how many approaches there are in teach-ing a multi-faith syllabus. In the last three decades many approacheshave appeared such as phenomenological/explicit, confessional/

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implicit/mono-religious, neo-confessional, systems, life themes,critical realist, highest common factor, essentialist, experien-tial, interpretive/conversational, open, neutral/secular, integrated/pluralistic/world-religions/multi-faith, particularistic/parallel, single-faith, and personal quest (Grimmitt 1982; Sealey 1985; Hammond1990; Kincaid 1991; Read et al. 1993; Watson 1993; Jackson 1997;Mahlangu et al. 1999; Wright and Brandom 2000). Many of the ap-proaches were developed as a reaction to existing ones. For instance,as a rejection of the confessional and phenomenological models sev-eral new approaches have been developed. In addition, these varietieshave arisen because of new trends and developments in societies thatinfluence the teaching of RE. Further, schools and societies have differ-ent ideas about approaches that suit their specific situations (Hughes2000).

The “Botswana approach” is a model that sufficiently describes theteaching and learning methodology of the Botswana multi-faith JSSsyllabus. The term “Botswana approach” is one I have coined myselfbecause the approach of the syllabus under discussion is difficult toclassify under any of the plethora of approaches mentioned earlier. Isee the “Botswana approach” as comprising elements of the “open,”“interpretive,” “life themes,” “phenomenological,” and “multi-faith”approaches. An open approach is one that accepts the fact that religiousmatters are controversial and thus this kind of RE allows learnersto make their conclusions on the religious issues they are given toinvestigate. Hughes has noted (2000) that one limitation with thisapproach, if unchecked, is that learners can be content with sociallyacceptable notions such as racism. The Botswana syllabus has elementsof the open approach in the sense that in its design, specific religions arenot stated in the syllabus and even in the examination items. Further,it is open because it respects the religious background of learners. AsAwino (2001) has noted, it is open because it encourages more open-ended discussions and critical reflection, with the decision of whichspecific religion to study left to the learners.

Developed by the Warwick RE Project, the interpretive approachalso known as “conversational approach” is one that uses ethnographyas an ideal methodology in the study of individuals in the context oftheir own family and community (Jackson 1997; Cooling 2000). TheBotswana syllabus has elements of the interpretive approach becauseit requires learners to carry out projects using ethnographic researchmethods. The syllabus has elements of the life themes approach. Thisapproach has roots to Christian RE. It examines life issues and allows

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learners to arrive at a religious understanding of those experiences. Inother words, it emphasizes students’ day-to-day experiences as thebasis for learning RE (Onsongo 2002). In Taiwan the life themesapproach takes on the form of life education where RE is plannedto promote pupils’ personal, social, and spiritual development—thatis, it prepares pupils to be able to handle life issues (Ng and Chan2004). In the Botswana syllabus, life themes are examined and pupilsare required to discuss issues such as contraception, abortion, murder,authority, and euthanasia. The Botswana syllabus also has elementsof phenomenology because it shows learners the universal forms ofreligions or characteristics such as practices, teachings, ethical codes,worship, beliefs, HIV/AIDS, and myths. The syllabus also has elementsof the phenomenological approach. Among other things, phenomenol-ogy requires an objective study of religion where learners are expectedto suspend their bias and judgment in what is being studied (Jackson1997; Brandom 2000; Hughes 2000). Finally, the Botswana approachis multi-faith in nature because it exposes learners to a multiplicity ofreligions in the study of the various religious concepts.

The term “concept to religion” is another one I have coinedto explain a teaching and assessment methodology where the ped-agogical emphases are religious concepts common to most religions(phenomenology) and where no specific religions are mentioned inassessment items (questions). Unlike the confessional approach, theBotswana approach does not consider RE as a religious activity for itdoes not intend to make students religious or help them develop atti-tudes to the religions studied. This approach promotes an educationalRE, which is non-congregational and non-spiritual to the study of con-cepts applicable to all religions. Therefore, neither students nor teach-ers are required to be “religious” to be able study or to teach RE. TheBotswana approach syllabus also promotes a comparative approach instudying religious beliefs and values. This syllabus is unique in that it isan open one where specific religions are not mentioned in the teachingobjectives. In teaching the syllabus, it is recommended first to defineand explain the general concepts, say “contraception” before bringingin the specific views of the different religions. The syllabus is designedon the premise that students can study any religion and be able to un-derstand the religious concepts. In this syllabus, specific religions arenot taught as an end in themselves but only as they illustrate a particu-lar concept common to many religions. The common concepts include“religious founders,” “origins of religions,” “festivals,” “sacred litera-ture,” “contraception,” “freedom,” and “substance abuse.” Therefore,

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the teaching approach is that students should be exposed to the viewsof as many different religions as possible in learning about the generalreligious concepts.

The weakness of this approach is that not all religions selectedfor study can explain all the dimensions or characteristics of religion.This is actually a general weakness of the phenomenological approachwhere it is assumed that the dimensions of religion have universalapplication to all faiths. Yet, it has been observed that some of thedimensions may not be applicable to other religions. For example, inteaching about “sacred literature,” indigenous religions (i.e., AfricanReligions) that do not have sacred scriptures would not be included.In the same way, on the topic “religious founders” Hinduism wouldnot be included because it has no known founder. Further, in teachingthe concept “Supreme Being” (neutral term for “God”), Buddhismwould not be chosen because the idea of a Supreme Being is notclearly defined in its belief system. Assessment also follows the “open”approach where specific religions are not mentioned in the questions.ERTD (1997) has stated that

the assessment procedures for the Three-Year Religious Education syl-labus are based on the content area that addresses itself to religious con-cepts . . . The assessment of the students focuses on the cognitive domainand this allows a student’s performance to be judged objectively and inde-pendently from others.

In the essay type of questions, it would be acceptable to formu-late an item thus: “describe a festival in any religion you have stud-ied.” However, it would be unacceptable to be specific such asasking the question: “describe the Islamic Id-ul-fitr” or “narrate whathappens during Christmas.” In the multiple-choice category, it wouldbe erroneous, for example, to ask a question such as: “Who wasthe founder in Buddhism?” with the following alternatives: Jesus,Muhammad, Gautama, and Confucius. The use of specific religionssuch as Buddhism in the question mentioned earlier and its alterna-tives, Jesus (Christianity), Muhammad (Islam), Gautama (Buddhism),and Confucius (Confucianism) would disadvantage students whodid not study Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and Confucianism. Anacceptable item could perhaps be: “Why did founders establish reli-gions?” This question is general and open and therefore requires ageneral response. Another challenge of the “open-approach” is thatstudents may use religions not commonly known. This is common

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especially in tests and examinations where students may use religionsthe teacher has not studied and in some cases does not even know.

PERSPECTIVES OF PARENTS, THE PUBLICAND RELIGIOUS GROUPS

In a country where the majority of people profess to be Christiansand where Christian values and ideals have almost become the norm,parents and the public at large were suspicious of the government’sdecision to introduce what to them were “alien” religions to their chil-dren. It should be understood that although constitutionally Botswanais a secular state, Christian missions have made a huge impact datingback to the middle of the 19th century. In 1996 when the new syllabuswas introduced in schools, some parents threatened to remove theirchildren from state schools altogether. Initially, the public thought thatthese changes meant that Christianity would no longer be taught. Manyparents had themselves gone through mission education and wantedthe status quo maintained. The government responded by explainingthat confessional RE was not educational and that all matters of be-lief and conversion should be the responsibility of parents and not ofschools. Finally, the public seem convinced that the intentions of thegovernment were genuine and generally accepted the new syllabus(Kgathi and Seretse, personal communication 2003).

Some sections of the public were also at first apprehensive aboutthe new syllabus. Others felt that the government was compromisingthe Christian values the country has had by allowing non-traditionalreligions in the country to be given equal status in public life. Theseargued that Botswana was largely Christian and therefore there was noneed to teach practices and values of new and minority religions. Someeven went as far as suggesting that, for example, Islam and Christianitywere “sworn” enemies and therefore the teaching of Islam would bringchaos in the country (Botswana Guardian, 31 March 2000). Othersplainly stated that the new syllabus was confusing noting that

the Religious Education syllabus has been changed and now it is very con-fused. Children from predominantly Christian backgrounds are being taughtforeign religions as if they are at par with their Christian faith. (Mmegi, 16November 2004)

However, such views did not in any way constitute a general feelingthat the public felt that new syllabus was and is unsuitable. Generally,

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the public has lauded the government for introducing policies of in-clusion that among other things have included the introduction of themulti-faith syllabus and of a law recognizing marriages of people fromreligions such as Islam, Sikhism, Hinduism, and others (BotswanaNews, 17 October 2001).

Generally, religious groups welcomed the multi-faith syllabus. TheBotswana Christian Council (BCC), the umbrella organization forchurches in the country, actually took part in the design of the syllabusin 1995 and most of its members served in the taskforce. The BCC hashistorically been involved in the design of the country’s RE curriculum.For example, the first Christian religious education panel establishedin 1976 was largely made up of members of the BCC (Sealey 1993).Other religious groups welcomed the changes too and even made con-siderable contribution to the development of the syllabus. Membersof the Islamic and Buddhist associations, as I have noted, served onthe taskforce. Other religions such as Baha’i and Sikhism developedteaching materials for the Botswana syllabus explaining aspects of theirreligion.

TEACHERS’ SURVEY

Teachers’ views on the syllabus were collected using a simple small-scale school survey conducted in March–April 2003. Schools were ran-domly selected and college students on teaching practice were used toadminister and collect the completed questionnaires. Of the 60 ques-tionnaires distributed, a response rate of 80% (n = 48) was achieved.The questionnaire was self-administered and principally respondentswere asked to identify the strengths and the weaknesses of the syl-labus. The results of this survey may not be representative of the gen-eral views of most RE teachers in Botswana because the survey waslimited to schools where Molepolole College of Education studentspractice teaching.

Respondents were asked to identify what they thought thestrengths of the syllabus were. From the survey, teachers stated thatthey find the multi-faith syllabus exciting to teach. One respondentnoted that “It [RE] is a very interesting subject to teach more so thatit deals with different religions in the world. One gets to know aboutthe cultures and traditions of different religions.”

This view is similar to the findings of Ontiretse (2001) who notedthat JSS students have developed interest in learning the multi-faithsyllabus. Ontiretse also noted that teachers like to teach the new

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syllabus and that they use a variety of methodologies on an otherwisedifficult subject. Respondents to the present study stated that theyhave the necessary college/university education to effectively teach amulti-faith syllabus. Further, they were unanimous on the point thatthe syllabus is ideal for the Botswana context because it is educationaland does not promote any one religion. Another positive point madewas that the syllabus is relevant to the youth because it addresses moralissues such as HIV and AIDS, substance abuse, abortion, and humanrights.

When asked to state limitations of the syllabus, respondents men-tioned a number of issues. Teachers expressed the view that there isso much to teach but very little time is given to the subject in thecurriculum. This is actually a weakness of the curriculum that onlyallocates two periods a week, each 35 minutes, long to RE. In theprevious confessional syllabus, teachers also complained of little timegiven to RE (Sealy 1993; Ontiretse 2001). The survey found out thatthere is imbalance in the way the syllabus content is distributed amongthe three Forms. One teacher said that “there is too much content inForm 1 compared to the other Forms. It is high time some religionsare identified to be compulsory.”

Teachers observed that some topics are too difficult for Form onelevel, especially those that require students to “critically analyze” is-sues. For example, objective 1.2.1.5 states: “critically analyse the twophilosophies about the origin of the universe (the religious and scien-tific philosophies).” Another objective (1.3.1.8) states: “make a criticalanalysis of the significance of the different religious festivals in lives ofpeople.” Another difficult topic to teach was noted as objective 1.3.6.2,which states: “critically analyze beliefs and customs on life after deathas perceived by different religions.” One teacher noted that in generalmost topics are difficult because “students find it difficult to under-stand some information on some religions they are not familiar with.”

Form one topics are found difficult to teach because among otherfactors, the primary school syllabus does not introduce learners to theconcepts that are covered and yet the most difficult topics in the entiresyllabus are taught in Form one, first term. To a casual observer, it iseasy to dismiss this observation and think that Form one work is notextensive. One can argue that there are 12 major topics for Form onewhereas there are 15 major topics for Form two. The problem withForm one work appears to be that in most of the topics, the syllabus re-quires that five religions be used to teach concepts such as beliefs, prac-tices, worship, ethical codes, teachings, origins of religions, histories

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of religious founders, myths, the nature of the Supreme Being, at-tributes of the Supreme Being, festivals, rites of passages (at birth,puberty, marriage and death), basic beliefs, basic teachings, and ethi-cal teachings. My suggestion is that some Form one topics should betaught in Form two and some Form two topics should be taught inForm three, which has only seven topics.

Most teachers think that the subject is difficult for both teachersand students because of its open design, especially when it comes toassessment. Of the respondents, 62% (n = 30) indicated that theirstudents are under-performing in the national examination and theycited the design of the syllabus—that of being open—as the reasonfor this. They noted that examination questions are too general andtherefore they do not discriminate between low and high achievers.This they said makes the examination questions too easy to set butdifficult to mark. Teachers were unanimous on the point that becauseof the open design of the syllabus there is just too little to ask whereasthere is a lot of content to be covered.

Finally, respondents observed with concern that the project sec-tion of the syllabus has never been assessed in the national examinationand noted that teachers have not been given in-service training to teachthe project. In many in-service meetings since 1997 attended by thiswriter, teachers expressed the problems they encountered in teachingthe project. In answer to this, the education officer stated that theproject would not be examined and thus should not be taught. He alsoinformed them that government would bring in experts to resourceteachers on how to teach the project. At the time of writing, this hasnot been done.

CONCLUSION

In a country where 40% of the adult population is thought to beinfected with the deadly HIV (Nishimura 2004) and where the generalattitude of the majority of Christians consider the use of condomsunchristian and sinful (Amanze 2000), the new syllabus may help inthe prevention of HIV transmission among youth. One of the topics inthe syllabus deals with HIV/AIDS in the community and discusses howand why religious groups promote abstinence as a means of preventingHIV transmission. Therefore, in some ways the syllabus is playing anessential role in informing the youth about the reality of HIV/AIDS.

Generally, people in Botswana have accepted the multi-faith syl-labus in the school curriculum. In particular, members of the new

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minority religions such as Baha’i, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhismhave welcomed the syllabus because they see it as a means of makingtheir religions known to the wider community.

Finally, this essay has shown that the multi-faith syllabus fulfillsthe ideals stated in the Botswana constitution of a country that isagainst religious discrimination. Putting it in another way, the syl-labus is evidence that Botswana respects the religious and culturalvalues of its homogenous society. This also fits very well with re-quirements of Botswana’s Vision 2016, which seeks to create a moraland tolerant society. The government has also claimed that the val-ues taught in the RE curriculum fulfills the United Nations (UN)prospects of furthering peace among peoples and nations of the world(Botswana News, 25 October 2004). The change of the syllabus fromthe confessional approach to the “Botswana approach” is indicativeof the government’s promotion of the policy of Education for kag-isanyo (social harmony). Kagisanyo is a Tswana cultural philosophythat promotes virtuous behavior and conduct for the common good.The teaching of many religious traditions and practices to the coun-try’s youth is the first important step in promoting sensitivity, un-derstanding, empathy, and tolerance among people who naturallyhold different religious convictions. Therefore, the relevance of thissyllabus in the world today in general and in the Botswana context inparticular, cannot be overemphasized. Based on the discussion in thisarticle it is clear that some amendments are needed to eliminate somegray areas that are beclouding such a relevant syllabus.

Yonah Hisbon Matemba is lecturer in Religious Education at Mole-polole College of Education, Botswana. He has worked as Reli-gious/Moral Education teacher in Malawi, Botswana and Scotland. E-mail:jmatemba@hotmail.com

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