An Insight into the Processes of the Localisation of Science Curriculum in Botswana

Abstract In 1975, after 10 years of independence of Botswana from the United Kingdom, a new era in the education system of the young nation was launched. It pronounced some virtues of education based on the social, political, economic, cultural and artistic values and realities of the nation of Botswana. Now into the new millennium, it looks as if the dream and the transformation effort has become an illusion, a mirage, as the ideals are now simply confined to paper. Various factors on curriculum development for science offered in senior secondary schools in Botswana provides some insights into the issue. As this paper shows, inexperience in curriculum development and the mindset of curriculum developers is part of the legacy of imported curriculum materials that militated against the realisation of the ideal. Also, the intricacies of group dynamics of Task Forces show that the prevalence of a leadership vacuum and the emergence of powerful groups within Task Forces compromised the curriculum localisation effort. Consequently, curriculum localisation became synonymous with curriculum adaptation.