Skills development in our societies has become the cornerstone through which policymakers and implementers gauge the level of advancement of a society. As much as the intention of most governing bodies is to be at par with the world, this intention is equally guided by country-specific objectives and reporting mechanisms that track progress and inform on the reorganization of strategies. The education sector has instituted, to this end, syllabus reviews which accord policy makers an opportunity to interrogate teaching objectives and values and to subsequently reflect on adopted teaching practices. The Botswana education system is a case in point: the French language teaching syllabus having been developed first in 2000 has undergone two reviews – in 2010 and subsequently in 2020 giving way to implementation in January 2023. The first year of implementation has been met with high student performance rates at the just published JCE 2023 results, thereby buttressing the importance of such an enterprise. This paper seeks to investigate how reviewing a syllabus can be instrumental in achieving educational objectives. The methodology will be constituted by a desktop review to interrogate the guiding principles of the syllabus review, the rationale guiding such an exercise, and how implementation concretised the intended objective of the review. We will also interview teachers to get a view on the import of the syllabus review to teaching and learning. We will conclude by opening a discussion on whether the revision of the syllabus augers for long-term effects on the language proficiency of learners.

Authors:
Rodah Sechele-Nthapelelang, University of Botswana, Botswana
Boingotlo Winnie Kaome, University of Botswana, Botswana
Boiketleetso Obene Bojosi, University of Botswana, Botswana

About the Presenter(s)
Ms Rodah Sechele-Nthapelelang is currently the Head of Department - French at the University of Botswana. Sitting at the academic rank of Senior lecturer, Ms Rodah Sechele-Nthapelelang is a specialist of French language and comparative literatures.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Monday Schedule

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