Botswana - Promoting Participation and Enhancing Learning Project

Overview & Synopsis

Promoting Participation and Enhancing Learning (PROPEL) for Botswana has the development objectives of increasing participation in preprimary and senior secondary education and improving learning conditions in supported schools, particularly at the junior secondary level. Component 1 – Increasing participation in education: Sub-components include 1.1 Improving participation in preprimary education, which develops a national strategy for the cost-effective expansion of reception classes through a sustainable mix of public and non-state provision and finances the construction and equipping of reception classrooms and associated WASH and play facilities in underserved public schools based on transparent needs criteria; and 1.2 Increasing participation in senior secondary education, which develops a national expansion strategy to guide fiscally sustainable capacity growth, finances additional senior secondary classrooms and related facilities in high-demand areas, simplifies transition procedures and information for students and families, and establishes an Early Warning System to identify and support students at risk of disengagement or dropout. Component 2 – Enhancing the learning environment: Sub-components include 2.1 Enhancing the physical learning environment, which designs and pilots a decentralized, school- and region-empowered model for rehabilitation and cyclical maintenance of secondary schools and finances first-phase rehabilitation of the most deteriorated junior secondary schools using clear selection criteria while strengthening school governance and community participation; and 2.2 Ensuring access to high-quality teaching and learning resources, which reviews, develops, and distributes minimum packages of age-appropriate and contextually relevant materials for reception classes and STEAM-aligned resources for junior and senior secondary, and establishes protocols and standards for sustainable provision and replenishment. Component 3 – Strengthening system capacity for quality education service delivery: Sub-components include 3.1 Strengthening initial teacher education, professional development, and workforce policies, which uses performance-based conditions to establish coordination with initial teacher education institutions, operationalize the Teacher Management Information System interoperable with the Education Management Information System, complete a teacher workforce forecast and planning mechanism, and adopt an updated, gender-informed recruitment, deployment, performance evaluation, and career progression strategy, while designing and implementing a national Continuous Professional Development framework that reintroduces induction and delivers scalable training focused on sciences, mathematics, Setswana and English, as well as gender-based violence prevention and climate adaptation content; and 3.2 Supporting school-based student assessment and system-level monitoring and benchmarking of educational achievement, which institutionalizes the national sample-based assessment (BEAM), resumes international benchmarking through two cycles of Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study at grade 9, digitizes assessment processes, and develops and phases in a School-Based Assessment framework with moderation and guidance aligned to the STEAM reform. Component 4 – Project management and implementation support: this component strengthens the Project Delivery Unit for coordination, fiduciary management, monitoring and evaluation, stakeholder communication, and compliance with the Environmental and Social Commitment Plan across all regions and activities.