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Universities and Economic Development in Africa

CASE STUDY: Botswana and University of Botswana Tracy Bailey, Nico Cloete and Pundy Pillay

Contents

List of tables and figures ......................................................................................................... v

Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................. vii

Project group ......................................................................................................................... ix

Acronyms and abbreviations .................................................................................................. x

Glossary of terms ................................................................................................................... xi

Higher Education and Economic Development publications .............................................. xiv

PART 1:INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Introduction to the Higher Education and Economic Development project ........... 1

1.1.1 Overview of HERANA ................................................................................... 1

1.1.2 Project focus and process ............................................................................ 2

1.1.3 The analytical framework for the study ...................................................... 3

1.1.4 What the project is not doing ...................................................................... 5

1.2 Data collection for the Botswana case study ........................................................ 6

1.3 The focus and structure of this report ................................................................... 6

PART 2: THE BOTSWANA CASE STUDY: BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT ............................ 8

2.1 The Botswana economy and approach to economic development ....................... 8

2.1.1 Economic development, competitiveness and innovation ......................... 8

2.1.2 Economic development policy and planning ............................................. 13

2.2 The Botswana higher education system .............................................................. 14

2.2.1 The size and shape of the higher education system ................................. 14

2.2.2 Higher education expenditure and financing ............................................ 17

2.3 The University of Botswana ................................................................................ 18

UNIVERSITIES AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA | BOTSWANA CASE STUDY

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2.3.1 Key moments in the development of the institution ................................ 18

2.3.2 Governance and strategic objectives ........................................................ 19

2.3.3 Institutional finances ................................................................................. 20

PART 3: THE ROLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN BOTSWANA ............................................ 22

3.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 22

3.2 The national perspective .................................................................................... 23

3.2.1 Key national stakeholders in relation to the pact ..................................... 23

3.2.2 The role of higher education in national policies ...................................... 23

3.2.3 Governance and policy coordination ......................................................... 24

3.3 The University of Botswana perspective ............................................................. 25

3.3.1 Institutional narrative(s) on the role of the university .............................. 25

3.3.2 Initiatives around research and innovation ............................................... 31

3.3.3 Initiatives around teaching and learning ................................................... 36

PART 4: THE UNIVERSITY OF BOTSWANA ACADEMIC CORE ........................................... 40

4.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 40

4.2 SET enrolments and graduations ........................................................................ 42

4.3 Postgraduate enrolments and graduations ......................................................... 46

4.4 Student‐staff ratios ............................................................................................. 50

4.5 Academic staff qualifications .............................................................................. 54

4.6 Research funding ................................................................................................ 55

4.7 Research outputs ................................................................................................ 57

PART 5: THE ENGAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT‐RELATED ACTIVITIES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF BOTSWANA ............................................................................. 60

5.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 60

5.2 Engagement and linkages with external stakeholders ........................................ 60


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5.2.1 University–government–industry linkages ................................................ 63

5.2.2 Incentives, rewards and coordination ....................................................... 68

5.2.3 Summary .................................................................................................... 69

5.3 The connectedness of development activities to the academic core ................... 69

5.3.1 A brief overview of the projects and centres ............................................ 71

5.3.2 Articulation ................................................................................................ 77

5.3.3 Contribution to strengthening the academic core .................................... 82

5.3.4 Analysis of the connectedness of development projects/centres ............ 85

PART 6: KEY FINDINGS ................................................................................................... 88

6.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 88

6.2 Some macro‐observations about higher education and economic development in Botswana ....................................................................................................... 89

6.3 Evidence of a pact around the role of higher education in Botswana? ................ 91

6.3.1 Notions of the role of knowledge and universities in development ......... 92

6.4 The academic core of the University of Botswana .............................................. 96

6.5 Coordination and connectedness ...................................................................... 100

6.5.1 Knowledge policy coordination and implementation ............................. 101

6.5.2 Connectedness to external stakeholders and the academic core ........... 104

6.6 Concluding comments ...................................................................................... 106

6.6.1 Factors impacting on the university’s capacity to contribute to development ............................................................................................ 107

List of resources ................................................................................................................. 109

Appendix 1: List of Interviewees ....................................................................................... 112

Appendix 2: Cluster analysis methodology and data ........................................................ 113

Appendix 3: Academic core rating descriptions ................................................................ 117


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List of tables and figures

Tables

Table 2.1: GDP per capita vs. Human Development Index in sub‐Saharan Africa (2007) ......... 9

Table 2.2: Selected higher education and economic development indicators ....................... 11

Table 2.3: Global competitiveness and global innovation ...................................................... 13

Table 2.4: Higher education institutions in Botswana ............................................................ 16

Table 2.5: University of Botswana government income (2000/2001–2006/2007) ................ 20

Table 4.1: Botswana: Total enrolments by field of study (thousands) ................................... 43

Table 4.2: Comparison of total science and technology enrolments (thousands) ................. 44

Table 4.3: Botswana: Total SET graduates .............................................................................. 45

Table 4.4: Comparison of total science and technology graduates ........................................ 46

Table 4.5: Comparison of total postgraduate enrolments in all fields of study...................... 47

Table 4.6: Botswana: Master and doctoral enrolments and graduates.................................. 48

Table 4.7: Comparison of masters and doctoral enrolments .................................................. 49

Table 4.8: Comparison of doctoral graduates ......................................................................... 50

Table 4.9: Botswana: FTE students and academic staff .......................................................... 51

Table 4.10: Comparison of permanent academics with masters and doctoral degrees (2007) ................................................................................................................... 54

Table 4.11: University of Botswana: Research outputs .......................................................... 57

Table 5.1: Overview of the development‐related projects ..................................................... 76

Table 5.2: Articulation with institutional objectives and national priorities .......................... 78

Table 5.3: Initiation/agenda‐setting, funding sources and implementation agencies ........... 79

Table 5.4: Financial sustainability of the projects/centres ..................................................... 80

Table 5.5: Articulation rating (maximum score = 13) .............................................................. 81

Table 5.6: Contribution to strengthening the academic core ................................................. 83

Table 5.7: Strengthening academic core rating (maximum score = 5) ................................... 84

Table 5.8: Summary of ratings ................................................................................................. 85

Table 6.1: Role for knowledge and universities in development in Botswana ....................... 92

Table 6.2: Comparing national and institutional notions of the role of higher education in Botswana ............................................................................................................ 96


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Table 6.3: University of Botswana: Rating of the academic core ............................................ 98

Table 6.4: National coordination of knowledge policies ....................................................... 102

Table 6.5: Implementation of knowledge policies and activities .......................................... 103

Table A2.1: Cluster analysis data table .................................................................................. 114

Figures

Figure 2.1: Income by source as a percentage of total income, University of Botswana (2000–2006) ......................................................................................................... 20

Figure 4.1: Botswana: Enrolments by field of study................................................................ 43

Figure 4.2: Comparison of science and technology majors as % of total enrolment ............. 44

Figure 4.3: Botswana: Graduation rates by field of study ....................................................... 45

Figure 4.4: Comparison of science and technology graduation rates ..................................... 46

Figure 4.5: Comparison of % postgraduate enrolment total .................................................. 47

Figure 4.6: Comparison of doctoral enrolments as % of masters and doctoral enrolments ........................................................................................................... 49

Figure 4.7: Comparison of total doctoral graduates ............................................................... 50

Figure 4.8: Comparison of 2007 FTE student‐staff ratios ........................................................ 52

Figure 4.9: Comparison of totals of permanent and FTE academic staff (2007) .................... 53

Figure 4.10: Comparison of ratios of FTE to permanent academic staff (2007) ..................... 53

Figure 4.11: Comparison of highest formal qualifications of permanent academics (2007) ................................................................................................................. 54

Figure 4.12: Comparison of research income in market rate USD and PPP$ (millions) 2007 .................................................................................................................... 56

Figure 4.13: Comparisons of total research income per permanent academic in market rate USD and PPP$ (thousands) ......................................................................... 57

Figure 4.14: Comparison of research publication units per permanent academic ................. 58

Figure 4.15: Doctoral graduates in given year as % of permanent academics ....................... 59

Figure 5.1: Plotting the development‐related projects ........................................................... 86

Figure 6.1: The four notions of the role of knowledge and universities in development ...... 93

Figure 6.2: Plotting the development‐related projects/centres at the University of Botswana ............................................................................................................ 105

Figure A2.1: Plot of means for each cluster .......................................................................... 116


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Acknowledgements

This study would not have been possible without the support and participation of the following organisations and individuals:

Funding The Ford Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Kresge Foundation.

University of Botswana contact Prof. Isaac Mazonde (Director: Research and Development) for his assistance in providing background information on the university and scheduling interviews.

Contributors to the report

• Dr Michael Gregory, Mr Onalenna Silas and Mr Dawid Katzkefor providing the academic core data for the University of Botswana (UB).

• Dr Ian Bunting (CHET Consultant) and Dr Charles Sheppard (Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, South Africa) for data and analysis of the UB academic core.

• Dr Gerald Ouma (CHET, South Africa) for the UB financial data. • Mr Nelius Boshoff (Centre for Research on Science and Technology, University

of Stellenbosch, South Africa) for data on research output for the UB. • Ms Monique Ritter (CHET Consultant) for correspondence with project leaders

to finalise project‐related data and for other general research assistance.

Interview respondents at the University of Botswana University of Botswana: Dr Dawid Katzke (Deputy Vice‐Chancellor: Finance and Administration), Prof. Isaac Mazonde (Director: Research and Development), Prof. MB Khonga (Dean: Botswana College of Agriculture), Prof. B Tsie (Dean: Faculty of Social Sciences), Prof. Herman Batibo (UB‐Tromso Basarwa Research Programme), Dr MMM Bolaane (UB‐Tromso Basarwa Research Programme), Prof. B Chilisa (Principal Investigator: UB‐UPENN HIV Study), Dr Jennifer Hays (UB‐Tromso Basarwa Research Programme), Dr Kapunda (Dept of Economics), Dr G Mookodi (Head: Dept of Sociology), Prof. N Narayana (Acting Head: Dept of Economics), Dr Gabo Ntseane (Head: Department of Adult Education), Mr EDM Odirile (UB Business Clinic, Faculty of Business), Prof. EK Quansah (Project:


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UB Legal Clinic), Dr Wapula Raditloaneng (Dept of Adult Education) and Prof. Siphambe (Dept of Economics). Botswana national stakeholders: Sebolaaphuti Kutlwano (Ministry of Finance and Development Planning) and Mr Richard Neill (Director: Policy and Planning, Tertiary Education Council).


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Project group

Academic advisers Higher Education Studies: Prof. Peter Maassen (University of Oslo) and Dr Nico Cloete (Director: CHET, and University of the Western Cape)

Development Economics: Dr Pundy Pillay (CHET Consultant)

Sociology of Knowledge: Prof Johan Muller (University of Cape Town) and Prof Johann Mouton (University of Stellenbosch)

Researchers Dr Nico Cloete (Director: CHET) Dr Pundy Pillay (CHET Consultant) Prof. Peter Maassen (University of Oslo) Ms Tracy Bailey (CHET Consultant) Dr Gerald Ouma (Kenya and University of the Western Cape) Mr Romulo Pinheiro (University of Oslo) Mr Patricio Langa (Mozambique and University of Cape Town) Mr Samuel Fongwa (Cameroon and University of the Western Cape) Mr Biko Gwendo (Kenya and University of the Western Cape)

Contributors to reports Dr Ian Bunting (CHET Consultant) and Dr Charles Sheppard (Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University) for analysis of the academic core data Mr Nelius Boshoff (University of Stellenbosch) for data on research output

Project assistance Ms Tracy Bailey (Project Manager) Ms Angela Mias (CHET Administrator) Ms Monique Ritter (Research Assistant) Ms Carin Favis (Transcriber)

External Commentator Prof. Manuel Castells (University of Southern California and Open University, Barcelona)

Network Higher Education Research and Advocacy Network in Africa (HERANA)


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Acronyms and abbreviations

BEH Botswana Education Hub

BIH Botswana Innovation Hub

BWP Botswana Pula

CHET Centre for Higher Education Transformation

DVC Deputy vice‐chancellor

GCI Global Competitiveness Index

GDP Gross domestic product

GER Gross enrolment ratio

GII Global Innovation Index / Indices

FTE Full‐time equivalent

HDI Human Development Index

HERANA Higher Education Research and Advocacy Network in Africa

MDGs Millennium Development Goals

NDP National Development Plan

NGO Non‐governmental organisation

ORD Office of Research and Development

PPP Purchasing power parity

R South African Rand

R&D Research and development

SET Science, engineering and technology

SMMEs Small, micro and medium enterprises

TEC Tertiary Education Council

TZS Tanzanian Shilling

UB University of Botswana

USD United States Dollar

WEF World Economic Forum


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Glossary of terms

Academic core

The academic core refers to a university’s academic degree programmes and research activities.

Gini co‐efficient

The Gini co‐efficient is a standard economic measure of income inequality, based on the Lorenz Curve. It ranges from zero (which indicates perfect equality, with every household earning exactly the same), to one (which implies absolute inequality, with a single household earning a country's entire income).

Global Competitiveness Index (GCI)

The World Economic Forum (WEF) defines competitiveness as the set of institutions, policies, and factors that determine the level of productivity of a country. The GCI uses this definition to establish a quantitative tool to help policy‐makers benchmark and measure the competitiveness of a given country. The GCI is based on 12 pillars of competitiveness further divided into three pillar groups, which are:

• Basic requirements (institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic stability, health and primary education);

• Efficiency enhancers (higher education and training, goods market efficiency; labour market efficiency, financial market sophistication, technological readiness, market size); and

• Innovation and sophistication factors (business sophistication, innovation).

Global Innovation Index (GII)

The GII assesses in detail the extent to which different economies benefit from the latest innovation advances, based on three main principles:

• There is a distinction between enablers (inputs) and outputs while measuring innovation in an economy. Enablers are aspects that help an economy to stimulate innovation and outputs are the results of innovative activities within the economy.


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• There are five enabler pillars that are included in the GII: institutions, human capacity, general and information and communications technology infrastructure, market sophistication, and business sophistication. The enabler pillars define aspects of the conducive environment required to stimulate innovation within an economy.

• The two output pillars which provide evidence of the results of innovation within the economy are scientific outputs and well‐being.

Gross domestic product (GDP)

The GDP is the total market value of all final goods and services produced in a country in a given year, which equals total consumers, investment and government spending, plus the value of exports, minus the value of imports. Changes in the GDP on an annual basis provide a measure of economic growth.

Gross enrolment ratio (GER) The GER indicates the total enrolment in a specific level of education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the official school‐age population, corresponding to the same level of education in a given school year. The GER is calculated by dividing the number of pupils (or students) enrolled in a given level of education, regardless of age, by the population of the age group which officially corresponds to the given level of education, and multiplying the result by 100. The GER is widely used to show the general level of participation in a given level of education. It indicates the capacity of the education system for enrolling students of a particular age group. It is used as a substitute indicator to Net Enrolment Ratio (NER, outlined below) when data on enrolment by single years of age are not available. The GER can also be a complementary indicator to the NER by indicating the extent of over‐aged and under‐aged enrolment.

Human Development Index (HDI)

The HDI is a summary composite index that measures a country's average achievements in three basic aspects of human development. These include the following:

• Health (measured by life expectancy at birth); • Knowledge (measured by a combination of the adult literacy rate and the

combined primary, secondary, and tertiary GER); and • A decent standard of living (measured by GDP (income) per capita).


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The HDI was created to emphasise that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development of a country, not economic growth.

Pact

A ‘pact’ is defined by Gornitzka et al. (2007: 184) as “a fairly long‐term cultural commitment to and from the University, as an institution with its own foundational rules of appropriate practices, causal and normative beliefs, and resources, yet validated by the political and social system in which the University is embedded. A pact, then, is different from a contract based on continuous strategic calculation of expected value by public authorities, organised external groups, university employees, and students – all regularly monitoring and assessing the University on the basis of its usefulness for their self‐interest, and acting accordingly.”

Purchasing power parity (PPP) The PPP is a rate of exchange that accounts for price differences across countries, allowing international comparisons of real output and incomes. At the PPP$ rate used in this report, PPP$ has the same purchasing power in the domestic economy as USD1 has in the US.


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Higher Education and Economic Development Publications

The eight case study reports in this series contain the detailed data and analysis for each country and university in the sample. Together, they form the empirical basis for the analysis and discussion of findings contained in the CHET book, Universities and Economic Development in Africa, which was published in August 2011. While every effort has been made to check the data and edit the text in the time available, it should be noted that these case study reports have not been subjected to the publishing rigours of formally published publications. They are therefore made available ‘as is’. Higher education and economic development: A literature review Pundy Pillay (2010)

This report reviews the international literature on the relationship between higher education and economic development. The review focuses on previous research and theory on the link between higher education and economic growth, the knowledge economy, innovation, and local and regional development. The review would be of interest to academics and students who work in the field of higher education studies. Click here to download a copy of this report.

Linking higher education and economic development: Implications for Africa from three successful systems Pundy Pillay (2010)

This book synthesises the findings of case studies of three systems – Finland, South Korea and North Carolina in the US – that have successfully linked higher education to their economic development initiatives. This publication would be of particular interest to policy‐makers and funders. Click here to download a copy of this report.

Universities and economic development in Africa Nico Cloete, Tracy Bailey, Pundy Pillay, Ian Bunting and Peter Maassen (2011)

This report presents the key findings from each of the eight African case study reports and synthesises these within the analytical framework of the larger study. This publication would be of interest to national policy‐makers, international agencies, funders and university leadership. Click here to download a copy of this report.


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1.1 Introduction to the Higher Education and Economic Development project

1.1.1 Overview of HERANA The Higher Education and Economic Development project forms part of the work of the Higher Education Research and Advocacy Network in Africa (HERANA). HERANA was established in 2007 and is coordinated by the Centre for Higher Education Transformation (CHET) in Cape Town, South Africa. Key partners include the University of the Western Cape (South Africa), Makerere University (Uganda) and the University of Oslo (Norway). The research component of HERANA investigates the complex relationship between higher education and development in Africa, with a specific focus on economic and democratic development. A second research area explores the use of research in policy‐making. Alongside the research component is an advocacy strategy that aims to:

• Disseminate the findings of the research projects; • Coordinate existing sources of information on higher education in Africa, • Develop a media strategy; and • Put in place a policy dialogue (through seminars and information technology)

facilitating interactions between researchers, institutional leaders and decision‐makers. The capacity‐building component of HERANA is the Higher Education Masters in Africa Programme, run jointly between the key partners. The main objective of the project is to contribute to the strengthening of higher education in Africa through building capacity and expertise in African higher education. The students contribute to higher education and development research through the research components of the programme.

Part 1

Introduction

AT A GLANCE

• Overview of HERANA• Project focus and process • Analytical framework • Data collection • Focus and structure of the report


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The research and advocacy components of HERANA are funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Kresge Foundation. The Higher Education Masters in Africa Programme is funded by NORAD.

1.1.2 Project focus and process As a point of departure, the overall aim of the project was to investigate the complex relationships between higher education (specifically universities) and economic development in selected African countries with a focus on the context in which universities operate (political and socio‐economic), the internal structure and dynamics of the universities themselves, and the interaction between the national and institutional contexts. In addition, the project aimed to identify those factors (practices, strategies) and conditions (context) – at both national and institutional levels – that facilitate or inhibit universities’ ability to make a sustained contribution to economic development. The project began with a review of the international literature on the relationship between higher education and economic development (Pillay 2010a). This was followed by case studies of three systems which have successfully linked their economic development and higher education policy and planning – Finland, South Korea and the North Carolina state in the US (Pillay 2010b). The next phase of the project involved the collection of data at both the national and institutional levels in the eight African countries and universities included in the study:

• Botswana – University of Botswana • Ghana – University of Ghana • Kenya – University of Nairobi • Mauritius – University of Mauritius • Mozambique – Eduardo Mondlane University • South Africa – Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University • Tanzania – University of Dar es Salaam • Uganda – Makerere University

The countries included in the study were selected for three main reasons: on the basis of previous collaboration; being located in sub‐Saharan Africa; and, on the basis of World Economic Forum (WEF) ratings regarding participation in the knowledge economy in the African context. In each of the collaborating countries the national university was selected, except in South Africa where the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University was regarded as a more ‘comparable’ institution. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with a wide range of individuals in each country, including selected ministries, commissions/councils for higher


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education and other stakeholders at the national level; and, institutional leadership, heads of development‐related projects and centres, and academic and administrative staff. The analysis also draws on various policy and strategy documents (national and institutional levels), as well as quantitative data including national development indicators and statistics relating to the higher education systems and universities in the sample. Throughout the project process, dissemination and advocacy activities have taken place. These have included seminars in many of the African countries in the sample and in Norway, as well as dissemination via the HERANA web site1.

1.1.3 The analytical framework for the study In the knowledge economy, universities are considered to be key institutions for the production of high‐level skills and knowledge innovation, based on the traditional core business of universities – the production, application and dissemination of knowledge. In many countries, higher education has become one of the central areas in the government’s knowledge policies. This means that more policy/political actors than the Ministry of Education, as well as socio‐economic stakeholders (employers’ organisations, funders and research councils), have become interested in higher education and involved in higher education policy. This raises the issue of system‐ and institutional‐level coordination of knowledge policies with adequate structures and processes within the political system, most notably the capacity to coordinate different political activities of the governing of knowledge production, reproduction and coordination. As mentioned earlier, to get a better understanding of the relationship between higher education and development, the research group undertook three case studies (Finland, South Korea and North Carolina state) where there is a well‐established integration of higher education in national development strategies. Of particular interest to our study was to answer the question: What is it about these three systems that enable them to successfully link higher education to economic development? Put another way: What are the core conditions that are present in each of the three systems that enable their higher education sectors to successfully and sustainably contribute to development? Common to all three systems was a strong, agreed upon framework for economic development aimed at realising an advanced, competitive knowledge economy, and the important role for higher education in this regard. Despite major contextual differences, the three systems exhibited the following conditions for harnessing higher education for economic development:

1HERANA web site: http://www.chet.org.za/programmes/herana/.


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• Their higher education systems had been built on a foundation of equitable and quality schooling. There was also an emphasis on achieving high quality higher education.

• They had achieved very high higher education participation rates. • Their higher education systems were differentiated (institutional and

public/private) as part of achieving their human capital, research and innovation objectives for economic development.

• Their governments ensured a close link between economic and (higher) education planning.

• There were effective partnerships and networks between the state, higher education institutions and the private sector to ensure effective education and training, and to stimulate appropriate research and innovation.

• There was strong state involvement in a number of other respects including, for example, adequate state funding for higher education; using funding to steer the higher education sector to respond to labour market requirements; and incentivising research and innovation in the higher education sector. Drawing on the review of literature (Pillay 2010a), the implications from the case studies of three successful systems (Pillay 2010b), and preliminary observations from the eight African case studies, we formulated the following analytical propositions:

1. A condition for universities’ contributions to development is the existence of a broad pact between government, universities and core socio‐economic actors about the nature of the universities’ role in development.

2. As a core knowledge institution, the university can only participate in the global knowledge economy and make a sustainable contribution to development if its academic core is quantitatively and qualitatively strong.

3. For linking universities effectively to development a country needs various forms and methods of knowledge policy coordination. In addition, the connections between the larger policy context, universities and development are crucial.

The analytical point of departure for our model is, therefore, that the conditions under which each university in Africa, as elsewhere, are contributing to economic development is influenced by the following three interrelated factors:

• The nature of the pact between the universities, political authorities and society at large;

• The nature, size and continuity of the university’s academic core; and • The level of coordination, the effectiveness of implementation; and

connectedness in the larger policy context of universities.


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These, in turn, are influenced by local circumstances, for example, the nature of the economy of a country, and its political and governance traditions and culture; institutional characteristics, including the ‘loosely‐coupled’ nature of higher education institutions; and the external relations of universities, especially with national authorities, foreign agencies and industry. These analytical propositions give rise to the following sets of research questions:

• To what extent is there agreement (a pact) between key stakeholders about the role of higher education, and to what extent does this include a specific role for higher education in economic development? Is there a role for knowledge production and for universities in the national development plan?

• What policies, funding, structures and incentives are in place at the national and institutional levels which give expression to the role of higher education in economic development? To what extent is there coordination of these activities between the different national authorities, and between the national authorities, institutional stakeholders and external agencies?

• What is the strength of the academic cores of the national (‘flagship’) universities?

• Are development activities in the universities connected to external groupings and do these activities strengthen or weaken the academic core? This report presents the data that address these questions in the Botswana context generally, and with specific reference to the University of Botswana (UB). The analytical framework of the study is elaborated further in Part 6 which discusses the key findings for this case study.

1.1.4 What the project is not doing As can been seen from the analytical framework of the project, this study has a considerable scope. However, the project is not attempting to do the following:

• Measure or evaluate the extent to which universities are contributing to development, or the impact that their activities have on development in their respective countries.

• Include an assessment of the impact or effectiveness of specific institutional policies, units or development projects.

• Review the number or nature of donor projects, or an examination of the overall contribution of particular external donors to university development.

• Assume or assert that the primary role for higher education is development, but rather seeks to investigate the factors that either facilitate or inhibit the possible contributions that universities can make to development.


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1.2 Data collection for the Botswana case study A wide range of data sources have been consulted for the purposes of developing this case study. In order to prepare for the research team’s visit to Botswana, CHET obtained a letter of cooperation from the vice‐chancellor of UB, who also approved the selection of Prof. Isaac Mazonde (Director: Research and Development) as our Institutional Contact and Facilitator. The next step was to request background information on the Botswana higher education system and the university from Prof. Mazonde. In addition to the background information, Prof. Mazonde was asked to assist in the scheduling of interviews for the research team and, together with the relevant institutional leadership, to identify five to ten projects that related to either economic development or poverty reduction. The research team visited Botswana in April 2009 to conduct interviews with national and institutional stakeholders. National stakeholders included a representative from the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning and the Tertiary Education Council. Institutional stakeholders included various institutional leaders, senior academics and project leaders. The full list of interviewees is provided in Appendix 1. In addition to the site visit and interviews, a range of national and institutional documents have been consulted. These are listed in the list of sources. In developing the case study report, additional information was gleaned from the Internet, as well as further correspondence with interviewees to verify information and fill in gaps. Finally, during July and August of 2010, the first draft of this report was emailed to the vice‐chancellor, the project leaders and other key institutional stakeholders at UB with a request to provide written feedback on the accuracy of the information and interpretation of data contained in the report. In addition to the written feedback received from a number of individuals, formal feedback was obtained from two university representatives during a seminar in Franschhoek, Cape Town, in August 2010.

1.3 The focus and structure of this report This report pulls together a wide range of data on national development and the higher education system in Botswana, as well as UB, in order to address the key research questions. The structure of the remainder of the report is as follows: In Part 2, we provide background and contextual information about Botswana – its economic development and global competitiveness ratings, its approach to economic development policy and planning, as well as the size and shape, governance, policy and financing of the higher education system. A brief profile


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of UB is also provided including key moments in the development of the institution, its governance structure and strategic objectives, and the institutional finances. In Part 3 of the report, we turn to the role(s) of higher education in Botswana – in general, and in relation to economic development – through an investigation of the ways in which both national and institutional stakeholders talk about and conceptualise the role of higher education, the policies which give expression to these notions, as well as the structures and mechanisms for coordination which relate to higher education. In Part 4 we examine the nature of the academic core at UB. In Part 5, we investigate UB’s engagement with its key external stakeholders and the incentives for development‐related activities. We also undertake an analysis of the selected development projects at the university, with a specific focus on the connectedness between these activities and the academic core. In particular, we explore the articulation of development activities with national priorities and institutional objectives, as well as with external stakeholders, and the extent to which these activities either strengthen or weaken the academic core of the institution. In Part 6, we provide a summary of the key findings of the report and relate these to the analytical framework and key questions of the study presented in Part 1. This includes a discussion of the nature and extent of the pact around the role of higher education in Botswana; the nature and strength of the academic core of UB; the coordination and implementation of knowledge policies at the national level; and the connectedness of development‐related activities in the university to external stakeholders and to the academic core.


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2.1 The Botswana economy and approach to economic development

2.1.1 Economic development, competitiveness and innovation Botswana is a small country with a population of only 1858 million people in 2006. It has had one of the fastest growing economies, both in Africa and in the world, between the 1980s and the early 2000s. As a consequence of this consistently high growth, its income per head of the population (GDP per capita) increased from USD3350 in 1998 to USD5570 in 2006. In purchasing power parity (PPP) terms the respective figures were USD7640 and USD11730. These figures are the highest in sub‐Saharan Africa with the exception of Seychelles. GDP per capita grew at an average rate of 5.9% between 1990 and 2005 – a rate well above the average for developing countries as a whole (UNESCO 2007). The high level of economic growth has been generated almost entirely by exports of primary commodities (mainly diamonds and to a lesser extent livestock). The country has also been a model of fiscal prudence in its management of the macro‐economy with consistently low inflation rates, and budget deficits. In fact, for many years the country has run budget surpluses. Botswana’s economic and human development patterns have been dramatically divergent. Apart from a slow pace of diversification away from diamond mining, problems relating to the structure of the economy have dogged Botswana’s development. These include inequality, unemployment and poverty. It is evident in a number of the country’s social indicators that growth has not benefited a large section of the population. For example, with respect to its Human Development Index (HDI – computed as an average of a country’s adult literacy rate, life expectancy, and GDP per capita, in other words encapsulating both social and economic indicators) Botswana was ranked at 124 out of 177

Part 2

The Botswana case study: Background and context

AT A GLANCE

• The Botswana economy and approach to development• Higher education in Botswana • A profile of UB


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countries in 2005 (Mauritius at 65 and South Africa at 121 therefore ranked higher in the sample of HERANA countries). Interestingly, Botswana’s HDI position was70 places lower than its ranking on GDP per capita alone, reflecting both its low life expectancy, and an unequal distribution of income. Table 2.1 compares GDP (or income) per capita and the HDI for the HERANA sample of countries and the three international case studies in 2007.The difference between the GDP per capita ranking and its HDI ranking reflects divergence between economic and broader social development, and is often a consequence of inequality in access to income, education, health, etc. For example, South Africa’s HDI ranking is 51 places lower than its GDP per capita ranking, and Botswana’s is 65 – these figures are amongst the highest for the countries ranked in this report.

Table 2.1: GDP per capita vs. Human Development Index in sub‐Saharan Africa (2007)

Country GDP per capita (PPP, USD)*

GDP ranking HDI ranking** GDP ranking minus HDI ranking

Botswana 13 604 60 125 ‐65

Ghana 1 334 153 152 1

Kenya 1 542 149 147 2

Mauritius 11 296 68 81 ‐13

Mozambique 802 169 172 ‐3

South Africa 9 757 78 129 ‐51

Uganda 1 059 163 157 6

Tanzania 1 208 157 151 6

Finland 34 526 23 12 11

South Korea 24 801 35 26 9

United States 45 592 9 13 ‐4

Source: UNDP (2009) Notes: *PPP shows a rate of exchange that accounts for price differences across countries, allowing international comparisons of output and incomes. At the PPP$ rate shown in Table 2.1 for the eight HERANA countries, PPP$ 1 has the same purchasing power in the domestic economy as USD 1 has in the US. **177 countries were ranked. The HDI is a composite index measuring deprivations in the three basic dimensions – a long and healthy life (as measured by life expectancy), access to knowledge (adult literacy, and combined primary, secondary and tertiary education enrolment), and a decent standard of living (GDP or income per capita).


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As a result of the high prevalence of AIDS, life expectancy plummeted to just over 48 years in 2005 – although it has since recovered to around 56 years. 28% of the population (on average for the period 1990–2005) were living below the USD1 per day poverty measure, and 56% were below the USD2 per day measure. Countries at similar levels of GDP per capita (e.g. Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Venezuela) and lower levels (e.g. Algeria and Tunisia) have significantly lower levels of poverty. Inequality, as measured by the Gini coefficient2, was on average at around 0.61 for the period 1990‐2005, making Botswana one of the most unequal countries on the African continent and in the world in general. In terms of the WEF’s (2010) Global Competitiveness Index (GCI, 2010‐11), Botswana is ranked at 76 out of 133 countries – behind South Africa (54) and Mauritius (55) – in sub‐Saharan Africa. According to the WEF, Botswana is a “transition” economy from Stage 1 (factor‐driven) to Stage 2 (efficiency‐driven). Table 2.2 provides data on quality of the education system, gross tertiary education enrolment rates and global competitiveness, as well as the stage of development of each country’s economy. It shows this data both for the HERANA countries as well as the three international case studies. The latter group has tertiary education participation rates and are all ‘innovation‐driven’ economies. Amongst the HERANA countries, there is a strong correlation between tertiary education participation and global competitiveness, on the one hand, and the stage of economic development on the other. The countries fall into two groups. One group (Mauritius and South Africa) has relatively high GDP per capita (Table 2.1) and tertiary education participation and is classified as ‘efficiency‐driven’ with Botswana in transition to this group. The other group, comprising the five other sample countries, has relatively low GDP per capita and tertiary education participation, and is classified as ‘factor‐driven’. The countries in this latter group are also ranked relatively low in terms of global competitiveness.

2The Gini coefficient varies between 0 and 1; the closer to 0 a country is the greater the equality. Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, being countries with the greatest degree of equality, had Gini indices respectively of 0.258, 0.250, and 0.247 in 2005.


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Table 2.2: Selected higher education and economic development indicators

Country Stage of development (2009‐2010)1

Quality of education

system ranking (2009‐2010)2

Gross tertiary education

enrolment rate (2008)

Overall global competitiveness

ranking (2010‐2011)2

Ghana

Stage 1: Factor‐driven

71 6.25 114

Kenya 32 4.16 106

Mozambique 81 1.53 131

Tanzania 99 1.55 113

Uganda 72 3.7 118

Botswana Transition from

1 to 2 48 7.64 76

Mauritius Stage 2: Efficiency‐driven

50 25.9 55

South Africa 130 15.44 54

Finland Stage 3:

Innovation‐driven

6 94.4 7

South Korea 57 98.1 22

United States

26 82.9 4

Sources: WEF (2010) Notes: 1Income thresholds (GDP per capita in USD) for establishing stages of development (WEF 2010: 10): Stage 1 Factor‐driven: <2 000; Transition from stage 1 to stage 2: 2 000‐3 000; Stage 2 Efficiency‐driven: 3 000‐9 000; Transition from stage 2 to stage 3: 9 000‐17 000; Stage 3 Innovation‐driven: >17 000. 2 Ranked out of 139 countries. 3 2005 figure. 4 2006 figure. The 2010 figure by the Botswana Tertiary Education Council is over 20% while in South Africa the figure remained around 16%. 5 2007 figure. 6 2009 figure. Of the 12 pillars of competitiveness the WEF (2009) uses in the derivation of the GCI, two are particularly relevant for the purposes of this study, namely the “efficiency‐enhancing” 5th pillar, higher education and training, and the “innovation and sophistication” factors, namely innovation. On both these indicators, Botswana fares poorly with respect to its average competitiveness ranking of 66. With regard to higher education and training, its ranking is 94 out of 133 countries, and for innovation it is 71. This suggests that Botswana owes its middle GCI ranking to other factors – notably institutions, macro‐economic stability, and financial market sophistication. The Global Competitiveness Report for 2009–2010 reports on Botswana as follows:


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After climbing significantly in the rankings last year, Botswana falls back by 10 places to 66th, although it is still in the top half of the rankings and counted as one of the three most competitive economies in the region. Among the country’s strengths are its reliable and legitimate institutions, ranking 16th worldwide for the efficiency of government spending, 19th for public trust of politicians, and 27th for judicial independence. Botswana is rated as the country with the lowest corruption in Africa. Over the past years, the transparency and accountability of public institutions have contributed to a stable macro‐economic environment, although there has been a weakening in this area since last year, dropping from 22nd to 41st. Botswana’s primary weaknesses are related to the country’s human resource base. Despite high spending on education, enrolment rates at all levels of the educational ladder remain low by international standards (ranked 111th, 92nd, and 115th for primary, secondary, and tertiary enrolment, respectively), and the quality of the educational system receives mediocre marks. Yet it is clear that by far the biggest shock facing Botswana in its efforts to improve its competitiveness is the health situation in the country. Botswana’s HIV prevalence rate remains very high (ranked 133rd), as well as the incidence of malaria (94th) and tuberculosis (130th). However, these rates are for the most part coming down, leading to an improvement in life expectancy from 52 to 56 years by the most recent estimate. Continuing to improve the health and education levels of the workforce remain the key priorities for improving Botswana’s competitiveness. (WEF 2009: 39)

Table 2.3 compares rankings from the GCI and Global Innovation Indices (GII) for the eight HERANA countries. It is interesting to note that while Botswana’s per capita income is higher than both Mauritius and South Africa (Table 2.1), it ranks much lower on both the competitiveness and innovation indices. There are at least two explanations for this. First, the largely uni‐dimensional nature of the economy (based on primary commodities) and its success in engendering high rates of economic growth has limited the scope for diversified economic development and higher competitiveness. Second, inequality in terms of opportunities (e.g. education and health) has played a limiting role in terms of expanding innovation.


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Table 2.3: Global competitiveness and global innovation

Country Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) Ranking*

Global Innovation Index (GII) Ranking**

Botswana 66 (4.08) 86 (2.80)

Ghana 114 (3.45) 105 (2.66)

Kenya 98 (3.67) 83 (2.84)

Mauritius 57 (4.22) 73 (2.93)

Mozambique 129 (3.22) 100 (2.69)

South Africa 45 (4.34) 51 (3.24)

Uganda 108 (3.53) 108 (2.65)

Tanzania 100 (3.59) 98 (2.69)

Sources: *WEF (2009); **INSEAD (2010) Notes: 1. GCI

a) The GCI ranks 132 countries, with the top three countries being Switzerland (with a GCI score of 5.60), US and Singapore.

b) The GCI is derived from three sub‐indices and 12 pillars of competitiveness. The three sub‐indices are “basic requirements” (with four pillars – institutions, infrastructure, macro‐economic stability, and health and primary education); “efficiency enhancers” (with six pillars – higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labour market efficiency, financial market sophistication, technological readiness, and market size); and “innovation and sophistication factors” (with two pillars – business sophistication and innovation). The basic requirements sub‐index is considered key for factor‐driven economies, the efficiency enhancers are key for efficiency‐driven economies, and the innovation and sophistication factors are key for innovation‐driven economies.

2. GII a) The GII combines innovation inputs (such as institutions, human capacity, information

and communication technology and uptake of infrastructure, market and business sophistication) with innovation outputs (such as science and creative outputs).

b) The top four countries in the GII are Iceland (with a score of 4.86), Sweden, Hong Kong and China.

2.1.2 Economic development policy and planning Botswana’s long‐term vision for development has been articulated in the document Long Term Vision: Towards Prosperity for All and a succession of five‐year National Development Plans (NDP), the most recent of which is NDP10 covering the period 2008–2013. The long‐term vision, popularly referred to as Vision 2016, challenges the Batswana to work towards broad‐based prosperity and a just and compassionate nation by 2016. It “invokes and seeks to strengthen in Botswana, individually and collectively, the attributes that will deliver success” (Government of Botswana 1996: 4). The attributes of the nation are identified as follows (Government of Botswana 1996: 4–6): educated and informed; prosperous, productive and innovative; compassionate, just and caring; safe and secure; open, democratic and accountable; moral and tolerant; and united and proud.


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There is, moreover, a very close correlation between the goals of both the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Vision 2016. The aims of the MDGs are as follows (MFDP 2008):

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger 2. Achieve universal primary education 3. Promote gender equality and empower women 4. Reduce child mortality 5. Improve maternal health 6. Combat HIV/Aids, malaria and other diseases 7. Ensure environmental sustainability, and 8. Develop a global partnership for development

Vision 2016 not only provided the national context for change, but it also identified closely with the consciousness of globalisation – particularly in terms of human resource development and the way it envisages Botswana as an innovative participant in the global information economy. Vision 2016 finds expression in NDPs 9 and 10 where globalisation is highlighted as the key context for development. Both documents emphasise the need for Botswana to develop its “human capital” (MFDP 2008).

2.2 The Botswana higher education3 system

2.2.1 The size and shape of the higher education system Tertiary education in Botswana refers to all education that requires a minimum entry requirement of senior secondary education. These refer to certificate or diploma, degree and other advanced courses offered by the various institutions (see below). System differentiation Botswana’s tertiary education has had two major phases. During the first phase (up until 2001) most students were sponsored to study at either the only public university (University of Botswana), the colleges of education or national health institutes. A few students were sponsored to study at universities outside the country, particularly in areas not offered by UB (e.g. medicine, engineering and other applied science subjects). In 2001, the government of Botswana abolished the National Service and was faced with two streams of students wanting to enrol for tertiary education – one coming from National Service and the other having just completed secondary education. To deal with the increased intake, 3The terms ‘higher education’ and ‘tertiary education’ are used interchangeably in this section.


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the government had to seek more places, and they turned particularly to South African universities. At that time there were no private universities operating in the country on a major scale. The second phase, which began in 2007, saw the government extending scholarships to students in local private institutions. Private sponsorship of students takes the form of tuition paid directly to the institutions by the government. Table 2.4 lists the tertiary institutions currently operating in the country. The main provider of tertiary education programmes in the country has been UB which was established in 1982 from being a campus of the then University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. Other major players in public tertiary education in Botswana are the colleges of education, offering diploma and certificate courses (currently six), institutes of health sciences (currently five), Botswana Accountancy College and Botswana College of Agriculture. UB and the colleges of education report directly to the Ministry of Education, while the institutes of health sciences report directly to the Ministry of Health, and the Botswana College of Agriculture falls under the Ministry of Agriculture. In terms of governance structure, Botswana College of Agriculture is an associate institution of UB, with separate governance under the Ministry of Agriculture, while the colleges of education and the institutes of health sciences are affiliated to UB for quality assurance and certification of programmes. A second university, the Botswana International University of Science and Technology, is now operational at Palapye in the central district of the country. This institution is funded under a public‐private partnership but with a relatively large proportion of the capital development funding coming from government. This university, together with the private providers, will increase access to tertiary education quite significantly. The university is an off‐shoot of a Malaysian institution and offers a wide range of programmes very similar to the public university.


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Table 2.4: Higher education institutions in Botswana

Public Institutions Botswana Accountancy College (certificates, diplomas and professional accounting courses –CIMA, AAT, ACCA) Botswana College of Agriculture (originally offering certificates and diplomas but now offering degrees in agriculture)

Botswana International University of Science and Technology

Francistown Teacher’s College (certificates and diploma in primary teaching)

Institutes of Health Sciences (currently five – diploma in nursing)

Lobatse Teacher’s College (certificates and diploma in primary teaching)

Molepolole College of Education (diploma in secondary teaching)

Serowe Teachers College (certificates and diploma in primary teaching)

Tlokweng Teacher’s College (certificates and diploma in primary teaching)

Tonota College of Education (diploma in secondary teaching)

University of Botswana (certificates, diplomas and degrees)

Private Institutions

Academy of Business Management

Ba Isago University College (a branch of the University of South Africa)

Gaborone Institute of Professional Studies

Limkokwing University of Arts and Technology

National Institute of Information Technology

Participation in higher education4 Participation in tertiary education has been increasing steadily over the years from 20 011 students in 2003/2004 to 47 889 in 2008/2009. The tertiary education Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) for the 18–24 age group is given as 17.3% by the Tertiary Education Council (TEC) for 2008/2009. The corresponding GERs for secondary and primary levels were 79.6% and 113.2%. The GER for tertiary education increased from 7.7% in 2003/2004 to 11.4% in 2007/2008 and then to 17.3% in 2008/09. However, less than half of these students (48%) were at university, the rest were in a number of colleges and institutions. Moreover, 45% of all tertiary education students are in private institutions. Amongst both public and private providers, UB has the largest share of tertiary education students (31%) followed by the private institution, Limkokwing University (21%).

4 All figures in this section are taken from Siphambe (2010).


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Access to tertiary education is increasing but is still relatively low. About 45% of the relevant school‐leaving age group is entering tertiary education and about 64% of them are going to private institutions. The government provides sponsorship for students studying outside the country (12% of the total in 2008/2009), for students in public institutions (30%) and for students in private institutions (58%). Graduate enrolments as a percentage of third‐level enrolments appear extremely low at around 5% of the undergraduate population. However, the proportion of the population attaining some form of post‐secondary education increased from 1.6% in 1986 to 18.9% in 2001. Levels of unemployment for the educated are high with tertiary level graduates comprising 15% of the unemployed and those with post‐secondary certificates a further 22%. These figures suggest poor quality of post‐school education and/or an inability of the economy to absorb individuals with high levels of education.

2.2.2 Higher education expenditure and financing Education in Botswana is mainly financed by the government. Public spending on education is high in international terms at 10.7% of GDP (2002–2005) with tertiary education’s share at 32%, again a relatively high proportion (UNESCO 2007). Primary education is completely free but in secondary education there is some cost‐sharing. Almost all the financing of higher education has been undertaken by government with very negligible participation from the private sector. Initially financing was through a bursary/loan system that required graduates to contribute 5% of their initial gross salary for the period equivalent to the period of study. Apart from the fact that the government contribution to students for university education did not cover the full tuition costs, a more serious problem was that a majority of the graduates did not pay back the stipulated amounts, and subsequently repayment and recovery of the loans was extremely low. Since 1995 this financing mechanism has changed to a loan/grant scheme that allows for a higher grant to those areas considered to be critical for the country’s development. However, the loan/grant system has not brought the desired results in terms of attracting more students to the courses that are prioritised. Moreover, the evidence points to limited success in these programmes, on the one hand due to limited space within local institutions, and on the other, the fact that the cost of external placement (especially outside the region) has been quite high.


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With respect to those who go into other government tertiary institutions operating under the respective ministries (other than the universities), students received 100% funding with no directive to pay back.

2.3 The University of Botswana

2.3.1 Key moments in the development of the institution5 The predecessor to the University of Botswana was the University of Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland which was established in 1964 with funding from the Ford Foundation and the British government. This became the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland in 1966 with equal funding from the three governments. In 1975, Lesotho established the National University of Lesotho. According to Weeks (2003), this was “the outcome of political interference and resulted in an exodus of students from Botswana and Swaziland” and ultimately led to the establishment of the University of Botswana and Swaziland. This institution finally split in two and the University of Botswana was established in 1982. For quite some time UB only offered undergraduate programmes and then introduced its first postgraduate programmes in the late 1990s. The first of these were Masters degrees in English and History. Today, all faculties except business offer postgraduate programmes. The first Doctoral degree was awarded in 2006 in the Faculty of Science. The university currently has eight faculties including business, education, engineering and technology, health sciences, humanities, science, and social sciences. The Botswana College of Agriculture, which awards degrees through UB, functions as an eighth autonomous faculty (Weeks 2003). In addition to the School of Graduate Studies there are a number of research centres and centres of study including the Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre; the International Tourism Research Centre; the Centre for Strategic Studies; the Centre for Culture and Peace Studies; the Centre for the Study of HIV and AIDS; the Centre for Scientific Research, Indigenous Knowledge and Innovation; the Centre for Academic Development; and the Centre for Continuing Education. Since its inception, the university has focused primarily on teaching. In 2008, a decision was taken to move the focus of the institution to becoming research‐intensive by the year 2021. This is given expression in the strategic plan and research strategy. The research strategy aims to broaden and further encourage participation of research by most academics at the university through increasing

5Unless otherwise indicated, the information in this section was provided by Prof. Isaac Mazonde as part of the background information to the institution (Mazonde 2009).


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the number of graduate students at the doctoral level and through more graduate programmes. It has research themes that are linked with those of the government, through the Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology. The research strategy also aims to enhance the infrastructure for research by putting in place the positions of research chairs, research fellows and postdoctorates. There are plans to increase the institutional budget for research (which is currently very low at about BWP4 million per annum compared to the government budget of BWP 900 million) and to increase external funding. Arrangements are also being made to transfer the funding of the university from the Ministry of Education to the TEC.

2.3.2 Governance and strategic objectives The university is led by a vice‐chancellor and three deputy vice‐chancellors (Academic Affairs, Finance and Administration, Student Affairs), the Director for Research and Development and the Director for Institutional Planning. The Office of Research and Development (ORD) has the overall mandate for coordinating and facilitating the implementation of the university research strategy. According to the website,6 the ORD has the following functions:

• Secretariat to the University Research Committee • Coordination of research across faculties and centres of study • Management of sub‐committees of the University Research Committee • Research training and capacity building • Research quality and outputs management • Identification of funding opportunities • Budget and research proposal preparation • Managing institutional research allocation and post‐award research • Commercialisation of research outputs • Ethics oversight, and • Research awards and research publicity

The university’s mission is “to improve economic and social conditions for the Nation while advancing itself as a distinctively African university with a regional and international outlook” (UB 2008a: 5). Its core missions are teaching, research and engagement. On balance, the university is relatively well established in terms of the teaching function and is moving towards building the research and engagement aspects of its work. The relationship between the teaching and research missions are described in the university’s research strategy as follows: “Alongside the steady growth of its primary teaching mission, it has hitherto taken a gradualist approach to the development of its research mission” (UB 2008b:3). The six priority areas of the current strategic plan, A Strategy for Excellence (2009–2016), include the following (UB 2008a):

6 Office of Research and Development website: http://www.ub.bw/ord/ord_detail.cfm?pid=165


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1. Extending access and participation 2. Providing relevant and high quality programmes 3. Intensifying research performance 4. Strengthening engagement 5. Improving the student experience 6. Enhancing human resources for excellence in delivery

2.3.3 Institutional finances Table 2.5 shows that the total income received from government increased from USD35871633 in 2000/2001 to USD56194943 in 2006/2007 although there were some considerable fluctuations during this period. As indicated in Figure 2.1 below, the two major sources of income for the university over the period 2000‐2006 were state allocations and tuition and other fees.

Table 2.5: University of Botswana government income (2000/2001–2006/2007)

Academic year

Government income in BWP (thousands)

Government income in USD

Exchange rate

2000/2001 250 384 35 871 633 1 USD = BWP 6.98

2001/2002 275 150 50 301 645 1 USD = BWP 5.47

2002/2003 326 727 73 587 162 1 USD = BWP 4.44

2003/2004 354 270 82 773 364 1 USD = BWP 4.28

2004/2005 354 650 69 267 578 1 USD = BWP 5.12

2005/2006 315 552 54 032 877 1 USD = BWP 5.84

2006/2007 344 475 56 194 943 1 USD = BWP 6.13

Note: Inflation‐adjusted figures Figure 2.1:Income by source as a percentage of total income, University of Botswana (2000–2006)

80%77% 77%

69% 69%

65% 65%

11%13% 13%

15%

23%26% 25%

8% 9% 8%

1% 0% 0% 0%1% 2% 2%

15%

8% 10% 10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

State allocations Tuition and other fees Sales of goods and services Other income


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There are plans to increase the institutional budget for research (which is currently very low at about BWP4 million per annum compared to the government budget of BWP900 million) and to increase external funding (Mazonde 2009).


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3.1 Introduction As was highlighted in section 1.1.3, the existence of a ‘pact’ between national and institutional stakeholders, as well as external stakeholders such as industry and foreign donors, on the role of higher education is a key factor in the extent to which universities are able to make a sustained contribution to development. A pact was defined as a fairly long‐term cultural, socio‐economic and political understanding and commitment between universities, political authorities and society at large of the identity or vision of universities, what is expected of universities, and what the rules and values of the universities are. For the purposes of this study, our interest is in exploring the general nature of the pact, and then the extent to which there is a role for higher education in economic development in the pact. We begin our analysis of the nature and extent of a pact in Botswana by considering the notions(s) of the role of higher education from the perspective of the national authorities and the institutional stakeholders at the UB. This includes an investigation of the ways in which both national and institutional stakeholders talk about development and the role of higher education, whether and how these notions are articulated in relevant policy documents, and the extent to which specific structures have been established to give expression to the intent of the policies. It also includes a look at the extent to which matters pertaining to higher education are coordinated across national authorities, and between national authorities, higher education institutions (with a specific focus on UB) and key external stakeholders.

Part 3

The role of higher education in Botswana

AT A GLANCE

• Key national higher education stakeholders• Role of higher education in national policies • Policy coordination in the higher education sector • Institutional narratives on the role of the university • Policies, structures and appointments • Research funding • Priority research themes • Linkages with the labour market


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3.2 The national perspective

3.2.1 Key national stakeholders in relation to the pact The key national stakeholders in relation to higher education include:

• The Ministry of Education; • The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning; • Other government ministries such as the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry

of Health; and • The Tertiary Education Council (TEC).

The roles and importance of each of these stakeholders differs significantly. Amongst the government stakeholders, the most influential appears to be the relatively new TEC. The TEC appears to be growing into a de facto Ministry of Tertiary Education in the face of what appears to be a weak division of higher education within the Ministry of Education. Ministries other than education, such as health and agriculture, have an oversight role of some institutions outside the universities. The private sector’s role appears to be limited to the establishment and operation of private tertiary institutions. The role of the private business sector in collaboration efforts with government on the nature and magnitude of outputs from the tertiary education system appears to be limited in practice.

3.2.2 The role of higher education in national policies Botswana has made tremendous efforts in terms of increasing access to higher education through increasing facilities in local institutions, as well as placing students in institutions outside the country. Access to higher education however remains low as the country has, until recently, had only one university (UB) offering undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. Enrolment was supplemented by colleges of education and institutes of health sciences offering certificate and diploma courses. However, efforts are being made to increase access to higher education as part of the government policy of moving the country towards a knowledge‐based society. There are plans to increase access of the 18–24 age group by 20% by the year 2020 through expanding UB, building a second university and sponsoring students in the local private tertiary education institutions. As a result, government expenditure on tertiary education has been increasing significantly and is likely to increase in line with the new tertiary education policy approved by Parliament in 2005. In addition, gender equality has been widely achieved, though there are disparities in some of the disciplines (particularly science‐based courses and engineering and technology). The TEC’s Consultation Paper (2005) has clearly articulated the role of tertiary education in national policies:


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Botswana’s tertiary education system needs to be understood within the relevant context of the processes of globalisation and the national agenda for transformation as represented by Vision 2016, which are providing a series of trends, and pressures for reform. The compact of global and national demands are manifest in terms of the need for a more comprehensive definition of tertiary education, the changing role of the state as regards its direction and control over TEIs. Demands for greater quality, efficiency, effectiveness and responsiveness, the need for greater involvement of tertiary institutions in developing national intellectual capacity, the need to have avenues for lifelong learning for those Batswana with less than senior secondary educational qualifications, a re‐interpretation of tertiary education in terms of a service industry with society as its market place, an overwhelming demand from individual members of society to be able to access tertiary education on a life‐long basis and the need for efficient pricing and provision of tertiary education opportunities, both for equity and sustainability reasons. (TEC 2005: 14)

The Tertiary Education Policy speaks directly about the role of higher education in the knowledge economy, the associated labour market demands and the implications for information and communication technology. The tertiary education policy challenges were identified as follows (TEC 2005):

1. Knowledge economy, including labour market demands, and information and communications technology;

2. Societal and cultural development; 3. Social demand; 4. The changing role of the state; 5. Funding; 6. Internationalisation; and 7. Private and off‐shore tertiary education providers.

It is apparent, therefore, that there is a clear recognition of the role of tertiary education in Botswana’s economy.

3.2.3 Governance and policy coordination Tec’s consultation paper drew attention to the need for the tertiary sector to relate to other policy initiatives such as the National Qualifications Framework, the Human Resources Development Strategy, the Skills Development Strategy for Technical and Vocational Education, the e‐Learning Policy, the Science and Technology Policy, and the “evolving initiatives for research in science and


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technology development” (TEC 2005: 6), all of which are being driven by different ministries/departments, and independent agencies. The consultation paper identified a number of key issues for initiating dialogue amongst key stakeholders, about the “definition and understanding, direction, organisation, funding and regulation of tertiary education” in Botswana (ibid.: 9). These issues were summarised as follows (ibid.):

1. The global trends and pressures that are impacting on tertiary education; 2. The specific societal challenges and needs of the country; 3. The need to clarify the goals for tertiary education for the next two decades; and 4. How the tertiary education system can best be developed, coordinated, steered,

funded, resourced and regulated. The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning is an important player in that it is responsible for national development planning in which the role of education in general and higher education in particular, is crucial. However, there is little evidence of government’s focused planning for the integration of education with the economy.

3.3 The University of Botswana perspective

3.3.1 Institutional narrative(s) on the role of the university A couple of institutional leaders spoke about the government’s emphasis on producing skilled person power for the civil service following Botswana’s independence in 1966. As the oldest and largest university in the country, UB has made a considerable contribution to the production of skills over the years. For the following two respondents, the emphasis on the training function of the university underlines the government’s commitment to the importance of education in general for the development of the nation:

I think the emphasis after independence of Botswana was on the importance of educating people. I think it’s still why education is being seen in the light that it’s been seen by government right now – because they had to create a whole new civil service, and the university played a pivot role in generating the manpower to run government. [...] It was a partner for government and it was a tool that government used to get people trained. And I think you can draw a line right through from higher education into secondary and primary education in that regard, the importance that government put on education. The literacy rate in this


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country is probably the highest literacy rate in Africa. (Institutional leader)

The entire University of Botswana was founded on the notion that it would become a repository of knowledge as well as contributing to the development of this country. So right from the inception of this university in 1982, it was understood by everybody else that the main focus of the university is to contribute towards the development of the country in the various sectors – in agriculture, in rural development, in mining, in everything that we do. [...] I would say that in the last 25 years of UB’s existence I think we can proudly say that this university has contributed immensely, in my opinion, to development in this country, specifically in terms of contributing the required personpower or manpower. Permanents secretaries, whom you call director generals in South Africa, there’s hardly any permanent secretary who is not a graduate of UB. There is hardly any employer in private practice that has not passed through UB. More than half of the public service, let me say the public sector, people in those top positions are from UB. (Institutional leader)

A senior academic in the university echoed this view and suggested that while there might not have been specific policies in the past articulating the importance of higher education – especially for human resource development – this has always been the tacit understanding of both government and university stakeholders:

When we started we really had very few in terms of qualified people who could take up posts at independence and, therefore it was part of the government conviction that they need to push education as a whole to try and localise all the positions that were held by ex‐patriots at the time of independence. And of course we all fell into the paradigm of that time which was that if you get primary education right and secondary education right, tertiary education comes as one of those but it’s not the main focus. But in terms of the commitment some of the visible things that you see, is in terms of the budget allocations. The Ministry of Education has over the years been getting budget allocations of more than 20% and in some years up to 25% –both development and in terms of recurrent expenditure. Now without a policy shift there has always been an understanding that higher education is quite an important part of the development of this country. [...] We had a sort of system or policy framework that was based on a manpower plan, which was basically to, over years, try to produce graduates in all the areas that we thought were needed


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by the labour market. The manpower plans were to be produced regularly but unfortunately we were unable to produce them for some years since 1987 due to manpower constraints in the Ministry that was a problem to produce them. But even then we continued to produce more graduates from particularly this university, and where we did not have the programmes we continued to send students outside to other countries. We had a number of our graduates from Europe, the US, in the science‐ and technology‐related fields. [...] So in terms of the current and even the past there has always been an understanding that tertiary education in this country will and should play a very important role in terms of driving development. The skills needed for the economy were always part of what everybody thought as policy‐makers and we as practitioners, we thought would be important. (Senior academic)

Both the interviews with the institutional leadership, and the current strategic plan, point to a shift in the focus of the university from high‐level skills training for the civil service to a broader focus on the role of the university in the nation’s development. For example, notions of the knowledge economy and the contribution of higher education in general, and UB in particular, to the country’s national development framework are strongly foregrounded and operationalised in the university’s strategic plan. Mention is made of both the production of high‐level skills, and research and innovation. For example, these notions are introduced in the foreword to the plan as follows (UB 2008a: 4):

Economic and social development will need to be achieved through ensuring that a tertiary education system is developed where graduates entering employment are equipped with the knowledge, skills and entrepreneurial talent as well as attitudes to create a society and economy that will bring benefits for the advancement of the country and its people. All of this is in the context of an increasingly regional and global setting where the movement of people, goods and services is international, highly competitive, and requires innovation based on improved national research capability. Of paramount importance is the national context and agenda of economic and social change that the University needs to support. Full account has been taken of key national policy frameworks, with the full attainment of Vision 2016 as an overarching goal.

These notions are also evident in the university’s mission statement (UB 2008a: 5):


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The Mission of the University of Botswana is to improve economic and social conditions for the Nation while advancing itself as a distinctively African university with a regional and international outlook. Specifically the University will:

• Provide excellence in the delivery of learning to ensure society

is provided with talented, creative and confident graduates. • Advance knowledge and understanding through excellence in

research and its application. • Improve economic and social development by high impact

engagement with business, the professions, government and civil society.

Senior academics also spoke about the shift towards a development focus, although it is clear that this is a relatively recent shift and there is still much that needs to be put into practice:

I would say for the longest time we have perceived ourselves to be [contributing to development]. But clearly, I think of late, with a lot of introspection that is also spurred by comments from our stakeholders, meaning our partners in development, clearly we could be doing more. [Comments such as] The ivory tower mentality and vision of the university, I think it’s not just unique to the University of Botswana, I think higher education institutions, tertiary institutions, have to really make a concerted effort to actually reach out to the public and to community and to stakeholders. But, having said that, at the same time we’re getting feedback to the extent that: we are not feeling your presence enough. But having said that too, I can also say that university colleagues are quite active, more on an individual basis, I think, more than anything in terms of participating in activities out there in terms of – well, obviously consultancies and so on and so forth. So I think what we are seeing now as a way of aligning ourselves with the university vision and mission which has recently been a new lease of life given to it, is that we, as departments, as faculties, have to show exactly how we’re going to be able to engage with our development partners. And I see this as a multi‐pronged issue in the sense that you can envisage it in different ways. You can do so by teaching, which is what I think by now you must have gathered that that is basically the core business of the University of Botswana even though we are trying to find ways in which to intensify our research efforts. Through our teaching and learning; of course through our research and the establishment of centres and institutions within the university


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which will be basically focused on facilitating various development efforts. (Senior academic)

The focus has been on those two areas, teaching and research. But now we are at a major restructuring process of the university academic programmes. And where it’s very clear that the third mission of the university, which is involving or contributing, participating in the development – we are really moving towards that now. But we are still at an earlier stage of restructuring our programmes so that we see how that can come in. And one is hoping that that will also come with a budget line once it’s approved – then we will do better than just supporting those who are actually doing the work. (Senior academic)

According to one institutional leader, the shift towards a development focus came about due to the fact that the initial aim of the university – of producing qualified people for the civil service – had largely been achieved:

The link between the university and development I think is becoming much more clear. I don’t think it was something that was that visible in the past because of the emphasis in getting trained manpower. So that was the main role of the university, to train people to fit into government services and all of that. And I think they’ve reached a saturation point in that regard at the moment, and that is maybe why you have this shift in focus in looking at a different role of the higher education: To what extent can higher education now support development because of the fulfilment of the first reason why the university was there? (Institutional leader)

To some extent, the shift towards a stronger focus on the university’s contribution to development has also been a response to externally‐driven factors. For instance, one interviewee commented: “Now we’ve even got the President saying we’re driving towards a knowledge society.” In addition, the university’s current strategic plan takes account of a range of changes in the external environment in which the university operates, to which the institution must respond. These include the following (UB 2008a: 11):

• A more competitive tertiary education sector, with new universities competing with UB for students and resources;

• The introduction during NDP10 of a new funding regime for the tertiary education sector;,

• The need for stronger relevance and improved quality of academic programmes;


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• New national policy targets for increased participation and access;

• Economic growth and diversification, including a stronger emphasis on science, technology, and lifelong learning; and

• The new emphasis on development of a national research and innovation system.

Specifically, the plan takes into account the changes in the economy articulated in the Draft Macroeconomic Outline and Policy Framework which “highlights the need for a transition away from the reliance on public sector stimulus to economic growth and from the strong dependence on the diamond mining industry to a stronger service sector economy, stimulated increasingly by the private sector” (UB 2008a: 11). The previous strategic plan, Shaping our Future (UB 2004), covering the period 2003–2009, highlighted a number of issues to be addressed indicating a move towards a knowledge economy approach. These included lifelong learning, internationalising the campus, engagement (structurally located in the new position of deputy vice‐chancellor of Research and Innovation), institutional stakeholder advisory groups, entrepreneurship and enhancing research capacity through strategic research, and strategic relationships with industry. The above issues indicate a shift from traditional human resource development to economic development and innovation. Similar themes are extended and operationalised further in the current strategic plan. One aspect of the intended move towards a knowledge economy vision for the university is the emphasis on broadening the focus of the education and training function of the institution to the production of graduates for the local and global labour markets, with a particular focus on increasing access and ensuring the relevance of academic programmes to the needs of the labour market. A second aspect of the shift in focus towards development is the intention to improve the university’s capacity for, and productivity in, research and innovation. According to one institutional leader, the university has tried to capture “the shift in focus from a pure manpower development function of higher education to the development side” under the university’s strategies to improve its engagement function. One of the key ways in which the university envisages improving its role in development is through participation in the innovation and education hubs that are being established by government. These developments are discussed in greater detail in the remainder of this section. To the extent that a role for the university in economic development forms part of the narratives of the institutional leadership and other senior academic staff, the question arises: What evidence is there that the institution is walking their talk? As such, we now turn our attention to an investigation of the policies,


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structures, programmes and funding that have been put in place relating to the institution’s role in economic development. It is important to note that it was beyond the scope of this study to assess or evaluate the effectiveness or impact of these initiatives. Instead, they are included here as part of our analysis of the vision that institutional stakeholders have for the university in relation to economic development.

3.3.2 Initiatives around research and innovation Institutional policies, structures and appointments The current institutional strategic plan and the University Research Strategy (2008) have a bearing on research activities related to economic development. For instance, in the introduction, the plan makes reference to the Tertiary Education Policy’s expectation “that the university must contribute more significantly to the new national research and innovation system which is critical for the next stage of Botswana’s development” (UB 2008a: 27). In the university’s research strategy document, the institution positions itself as playing a central role in the country’s innovation system:

The University has the largest concentration of research‐qualified staff and research facilities in the country and has an obligation to develop the full potential of these resources. By doing so, it can play a central part in the multiple strategies for promoting research, development and innovation that are now on the national agenda. (UB 2008b: 3)

Plans to develop the university’s research capacity and improve its research performance are seen as long‐term, covering two strategic planning periods (NDP10 and NDP11), with a focus on intensifying research performance during the NDP10 period. This includes (UB 2008a: 27–28; UB 2008b: 4–6):

• Increasing staff participation in research; • Focusing on specific, strategic research areas; • Increasing masters and PhD enrolments and PhD programmes; • Increasing research funding (internal allocation and external sources); • Increasing international collaboration; increasing research outputs; • Increasing the involvement of users (business, government and civil society) and

enhancing the impact of research; and • Improving the integration of research and teaching.

There was only one economic development‐related structure in place at the institutional level, namely the Research Commercialisation Unit within the ORD. This unit is described in greater detail in the box below. The university’s strategic


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plan also highlights the intention of establishing a Centre for Entrepreneurial Development as part of the strategy to “develop enterprise through knowledge engagement and transfer” (UB 2008a: 32).

RESEARCH COMMERCIALISATION UNIT (http://www.ub.bw/ord/ord_detail.cfm?pid=977)

The Research Commercialisation Unit within the Office of Research and Development (ORD) assists faculty, staff and students in translating their innovative research results and creative works into products, processes and services for public use. This is achieved by licensing such innovative research outcomes to outside organisations to further develop and market products, products and services based on these research outcomes. The Research Commercialisation Unit further aims to be the first point of contact for outside organisations and individuals seeking skills, inventions, creative works and other resources of the UB research community for commercial and other public purposes. When invention disclosures show a potential for commercial success, the Research Commercialisation Unit seeks intellectual property protection (copyrights and patents etc) for the research and/or creative work and then endeavours to identify commercial partners to negotiate a license and option agreements for continued development. In essence, the formal research commercialisation and technology transfer process at UB is designed to capture intellectual output from UB research and secure appropriate intellectual property rights so that UB inventions, copyrighted works and technical information may be licensed to companies or used directly by the public. On achieving successful commercialisation, the net profits are shared equitably between the inventor/s and the university. In the pursuit of its mandate, the Research Commercialisation Unit works with the UB research community in the following areas: • Creates awareness and training on research commercialisation and its potential

contributions to the university’s mandate; • Fosters a culture of innovation for the UB research community as part and parcel of the

broad research agenda of the university; • Avails relevant information and materials to researchers on technology transfer and the

commercialisation process at UB in order to support the commercialisation of research at UB;

• Assists in identifying and protecting the intellectual property generated by UB researchers, through a variety of approaches, including patenting, copyright and trademark;

• Performs due diligence studies and market studies to ascertain the commercialisation potential and identify potential markets for the UB inventions and innovations;

• Promotes and markets the opportunities for technology transfer to potential industry partners;

• Negotiates licenses with industry partners and other stakeholders for inventions which arise from UB research; and

• Creates strong relationships between the UB research community and business, government, non‐governmental organisations (NGOs) and other relevant stakeholders which facilitate the translation of knowledge to useful products, policies and services.


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One of the key ways in which the university envisages improving its role in development is through participation in the Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH) which is being established by government. This was articulated by an institutional leader:

It is still very much in its development stage, but I think, as I say, the main thrust is now to move away from a manpower developer into a bigger role in developing industry and the university’s role in that. (Institutional leader)

The university’s strategic plan (UB 2008a: 9) indicates that the UB was very involved in the conceptualisation and planning for the BIH. According to one institutional leader, while the university has strong intentions to work closely with the BIH, it is yet to be seen what the university’s involvement in the BIH will entail:

We are also meaning to work very closely with the Botswana Innovation Hub. We have made so many trips to the Gauteng Innovation Hub. So we have developed a concept paper of what we are going to be doing – again, mainly the Faculties of Engineering and Science, they are in the forefront. We mean to participate very significantly in the innovation hub. They are constructing it now; they are conceptualising and constructing it. (Institutional leader)

According to the BIH website,7 the mission of the BIH is “to provide an attractive location for technology‐driven and knowledge‐intensive businesses to develop, and to compete in the global market.” The web site describes the BIH concept as follows:

When fully developed, the BIH will consist of world‐class facilities including state‐of‐the‐art telecommunications infrastructure with high capacity international connectivity and secured power, professional business services, and business development services. The business services will allow companies to concentrate on their core business and outsource the rest. The development programmes, together with the support for R&D and the promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship, will make BIH an ideal place for business development. The image and the branding of the Botswana Innovation Hub is also an essential part of the concept.

The potential clients of the BIH include local and foreign businesses, and research and advanced training institutes with activities in the following sectors:

7Botswana Innovation Hub website: http://www.bih.co.bw/index.php


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information and communications technology, mining technologies, energy and environment, and biotechnology. However, a national stakeholder was sceptical about people’s understanding of the innovation hub concept: “No one really understands [innovation hubs] at all. No one knows what they are about. Conceptually it’s not there.” Research agenda and priority research themes The university research strategy indicates that while the university “will continue to encourage research in all disciplines”, it is adopting the approach of identifying priority research themes which would be targeted for “selective investment” (UB 2008b: 6). The priority areas will be based on existing areas of research strength in the university, national research priorities and international trends in research, as well as emerging societal needs and new research areas. The themes are interdisciplinary and require collaboration. The intention is for the university to build up expertise in these areas: “It is intended that the University will build a strong international reputation in these selected areas and hence the themes will provide the basis for targeted excellence and prioritised resource allocations” (UB 2008b: 6). The research themes for the NDP10 period (2009–2016) include the following (UB 2008: 7):

• Culture, the arts and society encompasses the analysis of cultural structures, discourses and phenomena, including particularly African languages, arts, media and epistemologies. It also includes the creation of new images, performances, artifacts and designs.

• Economic diversification and entrepreneurship focuses on the study of the economy and the particular issues involved in the diversification of resource‐based economies. It gives special attention to small and medium enterprises and to the role of entrepreneurship in business development.

• Environmental systems and natural resources management studies environmental issues at the local, national, regional and global levels, emphasising the interrelationship of human and ecological concerns in achieving sustainable development, including the management of natural resources and ecosystems.

• Health research utilises the biomedical, behavioural and social sciences to generate new knowledge about human health, study applications in clinical and community settings as well as sport, and develop strategies for the prevention, treatment and care of illness, particularly in developing countries.

• Indigenous knowledge systems are the specific historically‐developed systems of knowledge and practice of a particular cultural group and region and this research theme considers their value for contemporary practices and innovation in areas such as human and animal health, agriculture and food production, natural resources management and conservation, and local economic development, as well as social policy.


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• Minerals, water and energy research includes scientific analysis of these key resources as well as engineering studies on the technologies for their sustainable utilisation and studies of the policy and socio‐economic dimensions of the choice, development and application of technologies.

• Social and political development research addresses issues of social policy, such as poverty, education, social welfare, gender equity and the status of minorities, and the key dimensions of political development, including citizenship, security, peace, human rights, democracy and governance. As can be seen, the institutional research agenda does include a direct economic development focus in the economic diversification and entrepreneurship theme, as well as an indirect focus in other themes linked to sustainable development and poverty reduction. Research funding The strategic plan notes that there was “a significant increase in the allocation of University funding for research” during the period covered by the previous strategic plan (UB 2008a: 10). This is echoed by the deputy vice‐chancellor (DVC) for Finance and Administration who noted that he had instituted quite significant increases in research funding since he took up the position:

Suddenly, with a changing environment, I think it became very clear that if we don’t start really investing heavily in research then we will not fulfil this second role for higher education institutions as government envisaged at this stage. That’s why the first year that I handled the budget here I increased research by 45%. The third year I increased it by a further 35%. So I’m nearly on double. (DVC Finance and Administration)

In terms of increasing the proportion of research funding derived from external grants and contracts, according to the university research strategy, the “University Research Committee will have responsibility for the development of a comprehensive research funding strategy to increase the investment made in research” (UB 2008b: 5). The increase in research funding from the university’s own budget is a sign of a shift towards a knowledge economy approach. However, the DVC for Finance and Administration was cognisant of the fact that it will take a while before the university sees the fruits of these investments: “Unfortunately I think investing in research is more a long‐term view than a short‐term, so I think it will be totally unrealistic to expect too much in the short‐term.” The institutional leadership decides how much of the government funding will be allocated to research. This allocation, the administration of which is done by the


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ORD, appears to happen in two ways. The first is that the ORD distributes funds to faculties based on their total research output in the previous academic year. Secondly the research and publications committee allocates funds based on proposals by individual researchers:

Here we have a research and publications committee, chaired by a senior professor. They look at research proposals from staff members on various topics, and if they think they are worth funding then they make a recommendation to the Office of Research and Development who’d then release the funds, if and when they have the funds, and if they also feel that the proposal is worth funding. (Institutional leader)

At the time of the interview (April 2009), an institutional leader reported that the Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology was prioritising research around science and technology and that “that’s where they’ll be spending their research money that has been voted to them by the government”. There was no evidence of specific funds earmarked for economic development‐related research.

3.3.3 Initiatives around teaching and learning Institutional policies, structures and appointments There was no evidence of any units, appointments or earmarked funds that are linked to teaching activities specifically around economic development. One of the key ways in which the university envisages improving its role in development is through participation in the Botswana Education Hub (BEH) which is being established by government. According to the BEH website,8 the mission of the BEH is “to position Botswana as a regional centre of excellence in education, training and research through the provision of a competent national human resource skills base in areas required for economic diversification and sustainable growth”. The BEH aims to promote the country as a leading educational destination for the following niche areas:

• Medical science and research • Mining and energy • Business • Agriculture and livestock management • Hospitality and tourism

8Botswana Education Hub website: http://behbw.com/


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• Conservation and veterinary science, and • Peace and justice

It is still unclear, however, exactly what the university’s involvement in this hub will be. Linkages with the labour market One aspect of the intended move towards a knowledge economy vision for the university is broadening the focus of the education and training function of the institution; in particular, ensuring the relevance of academic programmes to the needs of the labour market. The current strategic plan, for instance, points to how both the Draft National Macroeconomic Policy for Botswana and the Tertiary Education Policy indicate “the need to develop a knowledge‐based economy as the driving force to economic diversification” and how this will require “an increase in graduate studies in the future to be able to generate research, development and innovation”, with a particular emphasis on the “need to increase the number of graduates in science and technology as drivers of national advancement and wealth creation” (UB 2008a: 12). Later, in the introduction to its Priority Area 1: Extending Access and Participation, the plan notes: “Extending access to education and increasing opportunities and levels of participation in tertiary level education remains essential to the achievement of Vision 2016, the delivery of the National Human Resource Development Strategy and for advancing the economic development of the Nation in a global economy” (UB 2008a: 17). The plan highlights the importance of linking future enrolments and programmes to supply and demand in the labour market:

In planning terms, account should be taken of the relevance of programmes, the shape and balance of offerings in particular discipline and subject areas, the relevance of what is offered in ensuring that UB graduates have the graduate attributes to succeed in employment, and that they are internationally competitive in being able to work regionally and globally. (UB 2008a: 12)

An institutional leader reported that new academic programmes need to be aligned to both institutional and national objectives:

[...] the programmes that we have at the university are tailored towards meeting specific needs of society, in this case Botswana in particular, but also the region generally. So we consider ourselves to be a developmental university because our programmes are meant to foster and contribute towards


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development. We have a format for programme approval at UB. We must first of all have the rationale for the programme – does the programme meet any of our strategic academic priorities, like for example, is this programme going to contribute towards enhancing access and participation? [...] But beyond that we also say: Okay, is this programme going to meet any felt need, is it addressing a specific developmental need out there? (Institutional leader)

The strategic plan highlights specific targets for undergraduate enrolments at the discipline level (following the Student Enrolment Projections to 2016 report, published in 2008). The targets for 2016 include the following (UB 2008a: 23):

• Business and Information and Communication Technology 20% • Science, Engineering and Health Sciences 30% • Humanities and Social Sciences 31%, and • Education 19%

In addition, a Graduate Destination Survey of 2007 graduates will provide information to guide a graduate employability strategy (UB 2008a). A senior academic described the incentives from government for the university to produce priority skills, also noting some of the challenges in this regard:

The main incentive has always been through what is called a grant‐loan scheme – the scholarship scheme that has different categories of grading on the basis of what they think is what the economy needs. For instance, if you study in the science and engineering and other fields that are categorised in what is called Category 1, initially you would get a loan but that loan, if you finish, is converted into a total grant where you actually don’t have to pay anything back to government. [...] And that has been in place since 1995. By the way, we are currently reviewing that grant‐loan scheme. One of the things we are finding is that it is not working because there’s a lack of legs that would make it move. [...] There’s a lack of awareness, for instance, in secondary schools on it. When the students finish secondary school suddenly they are told: look, if you go into science you get a total grant, and that’s usually very late because you cannot go back and change your field and now I want to do courses that will allow me to go into those priority fields. So there’s a problem of career guidance that should be coming up. But that, as you said, is a capacity problem. When the Ministry of Education decided to move from the old bursary system into a grant‐loan scheme in 1995, they did not put in the structure. But that is not why they


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are trying to review it; the major reason why they are under pressure to review it currently is because there is a problem of recovery – they haven’t recovered a lot of the money they should have been recovering. (Senior academic)

Every department in the university has an advisory board which informs curriculum development. These boards comprise members of the respective department as well as key stakeholders from outside of the university (e.g. government, the private sector and NGOs). The Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences gave as an example the involvement of representatives from the police, prison services, and the Department of Social Services in the Ministry of Local Government, amongst others, to make an input into a proposed new Bachelor of Arts and Criminal Justice Studies. Similarly, the Law Society, lawyers in private practice, as well as people from the Attorney General Chambers were invited to give their views on the proposed law programme. For one senior academic, these advisory boards are “the most institutionalised form of linkage” with the “community” (external stakeholders such as government, NGOs and the private sector). There was no evidence of internship programmes, the lack of which was bemoaned by one senior academic:

Another area that we could be improving on is the fact that we do not have – we had internships in the past. That is also a good way of engaging with stakeholders. We used to have some sort of way when the university was smaller. But also when we revised our programme we did not also have an internship programme. I’ve been in this office for almost one‐and‐a‐half years now and it’s something that I would like to do very much is to get our students out there into the community. (Senior academic)


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4.1 Introduction As outlined in the analytical framework (section 1.1.3), the nature, size and continuity of the academic core is a key factor in the extent to which universities can make a significant and sustained contribution to development. The academic core of universities refers to teaching via academic degree programmes and to research activities (often, but not exclusively of the basic type). In societies where there is a strong pact between higher education and society, the universities have been able (and allowed) to develop a strong core of academic activities that forms the basis for all their activities. The stronger its academic core the easier it will be for a university to defend its institutional identity and integrity against external or internal threats. In addition, a strong, institutionalised academic core will allow the university to invest a large part of its resources in the maintenance and further strengthening of the core, which can be regarded as the main foundation under its specific institutional identity. According to Burton Clark (1998), when an enterprising university evolves a stronger steering core, and develops an outreach structure, its heartland is still in the traditional academic departments, formed around disciplines, and some interdisciplinary fields. The heartland is where traditional academic values and activities such as teaching, research and training of the next generation of academics occur. For the purposes of this project, we have used the following to operationalise the concept of the academic core and to identify important preconditions for the development of a strong academic core in African universities:

• Increased enrolments in science, engineering and technology (SET): In African governments and foreign development agencies alike, there is a strong emphasis on SET as important drivers of development (Juma 2005). Included in SET are the

Part 4

The University of Botswana academic core

AT A GLANCE

A profile of the UB academic core:• Enrolments in science, engineering and technology • Postgraduate enrolments and graduation rates • Academic staff‐to‐student ratio • Academic staff qualifications • Research funding • Research output


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agricultural sciences, architecture and urban and regional planning, computer and information science, health sciences and veterinary sciences, life sciences and physical sciences.

• Increased postgraduate enrolments: The knowledge economy and universities are demanding increased numbers of people with postgraduate qualifications.

• A favourable academic staff to student ratio: The academic workload should allow for the possibility of research and PhD supervision.

• A high proportion of academic staff with doctoral degrees: Research (CHET 2010) shows that there is high correlation between staff with doctorates, on the one hand, and research output and the training of PhD students, on the other.

• Adequate research funding per academic: Research requires government and institutional funding and ‘third‐stream’ funding from external sources such as industry and foreign donors.

• High graduation rates in SET fields: Not only is it important to increase SET enrolments, it is crucial that universities achieve high success rates in order to respond to the skills shortages in the African labour market in these fields.

• Increased knowledge production in the form of doctoral graduates: There is a need for an increase in doctoral graduates for two reasons. Firstly, doctoral graduates form the backbone of academia and are therefore critical for the future reproduction of the academic core. Secondly, there is an increasing demand for people with doctoral degrees outside of academia (e.g. in research organisations and other organisations such as financial institutions).

• Knowledge production in the form of research publications recognised in ISI journals: Academics need to be producing peer‐reviewed research publications in order for the university to participate in the global knowledge community and to contribute to new knowledge and innovation. The preconditions outlined above are translated into the following academic core indicators: Indicator 1: Programmes – Strong SET enrolments and graduations Indicator 2: Postgraduates – Increased enrolments and graduations Indicator 3: Teaching loads – Improving academic staff/student ratios Indicator 4: Qualified staff – High percentage academic staff with PhDs Indicator 5: Funding – Availability of research funds Indicator 6: Research output – High or improving output In order to develop a benchmark against which the UB academic core could be assessed, an analysis was undertaken of South Africa’s 22 contact universities and the seven African universities included in the current study, based on seven input indicators and two output indicators. (See Appendix 2 for a description of the cluster analysis methodology, the detailed data for the institutions included in the analysis, and a graph showing the results of the analysis.) A cluster analysis of the results produced the following four clusters of institutions:


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• Cluster 1 consists of the five South African universities which have a strong focus on both undergraduate and postgraduate studies, which are well‐resourced in teaching and in research, and which have strong research outputs.

• Cluster 2 consists of two South African and five African universities which have a primary focus on undergraduate studies, which have adequate undergraduate teaching resources, and which have good undergraduate but moderate research output rates.

• Cluster 3 consists of eight South African and two African universities which have high proportions of SET students and which have a main focus on undergraduate studies, but which do not have available the same levels of undergraduate teaching resources as Cluster 2. Their undergraduate output rates are satisfactory, but their research output rates fall below the targets set for South African universities.

• Cluster 4 consists of seven South African universities which have low proportions of postgraduate students. Their resource levels are low compared to the other three clusters, their output rates at undergraduate level are unsatisfactory, and their research performance is poor. UB appears in Cluster 2 together with Dar es Salaam, Eduardo Mondlane, Mauritius, Makerere, Johannesburg and Limpopo. In the analyses which follow Botswana (which had a student enrolment of 16 000 in 2007) is linked to: (a) one African university in Cluster 2 (Dar es Salaam, which had an enrolment of 21 000 in 2007) and (b) Limpopo (which also had an enrolment of 16 000 in 2007). UB is also compared to the Cluster 1 university which is closest to it in terms of enrolment size. This is the University of Stellenbosch which had an enrolment of 23 000 in 2007.

4.2 SET enrolments and graduations Figure 4.1 and Table 4.1 show that UB’s student growth between 2001 and 2007 was spread evenly across the three broad fields of study. The average annual growth rate of 5.6% between 2001 and 2007 would be regarded in South Africa as an acceptable student expansion rate. Figure 4.1 shows that UB’s proportion of SET majors remained a low 22% during this period. It was a predominantly humanities‐based university throughout the period.


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Figure 4.1: Botswana: Enrolments by field of study

Table 4.1: Botswana: Total enrolments by field of study (thousands)

Field of study 2001 2003 2005 2007 Average annual growth rate: 2000‐2007

Science and technology 2.6 2.7 3.3 3.6 5.6%

Business and management 3.1 2.6 3.8 4.2 5.2% Social sciences, humanities and education 6.0 7.5 8.7 8.4 5.8%

Totals 11.7 12.8 15.7 16.2 5.6%

As indicated in Figure 4.2 and Table 4.2, UB’s proportion of SET students remained constant over this period but, compared to the group, it had by far the lowest proportion of SET majors.

22% 21% 21% 22%

27%20% 24% 26%

51%59% 55% 52%

2001 2003 2005 2007

Science & technology Business & management Humanities


44

Figure 4.2: Comparison of science and technology majors as % of total enrolment

Table 4.2:Comparison of total science and technology enrolments (thousands)

2001 2003 2005 2007

Botswana 2.6 2.7 3.3 3.6

Dar es Salaam 4.2 5.3 5.6 6.6

Limpopo 6.3 7.0 7.6 7.5

Cluster 1: Stellenbosch 7.8 8.4 8.7 9.4

The data in Figures 4.3 and 4.4 measure output performance in terms of a university’s ratio between graduates in any given year and student enrolments in that same year. These ratios serve as proxies for cohort output rates, which indicate what proportion of any cohort entering a university can be expected to eventually complete their degrees or diplomas. The bench mark of 25% is a proxy for a cohort success rate of 75% of entering students obtaining their degrees or diplomas. Figure 4.3 and Table 4.3 show that UB’s average graduate rates as well as that for SET fell over this period. By 2007, both ratios were below the benchmark rate of 25%. The average graduation rate of 20% for SET for the period 2001–2007 is equivalent to a cohort success rate of 63%, which would be regarded as satisfactory by most South African universities.

22%21% 21%

22%

52% 50%

41%

36%

47%43%

46%

38%39% 40%

41%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

55%

2001 2003 2005 2007

Botswana Dar es Salaam Limpopo Cluster 1: Stellenbosch

Limpopo

Cluster 1: Stellenbosch

Dar es Salaam

Botswana


45

Figure 4.3: Botswana: Graduation rates by field of study

Table 4.3:Botswana: Total SET graduates

2001 2003 2005 2007

Botswana 583 611 678 591

Figure 4.4 and Table 4.4 show that because of the drops that occurred in its graduation rates, UB’s performance in producing SET graduates was by 2007 the lowest in the group. However UB’s average cohort success rate for 2001–2007 was 63%, Dar es Salaam’s 65%, Stellenbosch68% and Limpopo's 50%. The total SET graduates produced by each of the four universities are given in Table 4.4.

23%23%

21%

17%

27%

28%

22% 22%

16%

18%

20%

22%

24%

26%

28%

30%

2001 2003 2005 2007

Science & technology Average for all programmes

Target


46

Figure 4.4: Comparison of science and technology graduation rates

Table 4.4:Comparison of total science and technology graduates

2001 2003 2005 2007

Botswana 583 611 678 591

Dar es Salaam 695 668 1 370 1 535

Limpopo 1 024 1 080 1 281 1 357

Cluster 1: Stellenbosch 1 689 1 909 1 945 2 140

4.3 Postgraduate enrolments and graduations Figure 4.5 and Table 4.5 show that the proportion of postgraduate students in UB’s total enrolment grew from 7% in 2001 to 9% in 2007. These were the lowest proportions in the group. The graph also indicates that there was a considerable gap between UB’s proportion of postgraduate students and that of a strong research university such as Stellenbosch.

23%23%

21%

17%

13%

25%

23%

16%

16%

17%

18%

22% 23%22%

23%

12%

14%

16%

18%

20%

22%

24%

26%

2001 2003 2005 2007


Limpopo


Dar es Salaam

Botswana


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Figure 4.5: Comparison of % postgraduate enrolment total

Table 4.5:Comparison of total postgraduate enrolments in all fields of study

2001 2003 2005 2007

Botswana 840 1 262 1 439 1 530

Dar es Salaam 702 992 11 690 14 182

Limpopo 1 632 3 032 3 199 2 784

Cluster 1: Stellenbosch 20 245 20 557 21 395 21 398

Table 4.6 gives details of masters and doctoral enrolments and graduates over the period 2001 to 2007 for UB only. It shows that masters enrolments nearly doubled over the period 2001 to 2007; increasing by 458 (or 93%). Doctoral enrolments increased by 33 in 2001, but from a very low base of only 8 enrolments in 2001. The table indicates that UB’s output rate of graduates has been good. Its average ratio between masters graduates and masters enrolment for 2001–2007 is 22%, which is close to the target of 25% set for South African universities. Doctoral enrolments and graduates remained low throughout this period.

7% 8%

9%

9%9%

9%

8%

15%

16%

21%

18% 17%

40%36%

35% 35%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

2001 2003 2005 2007


Limpopo


Dar es Salaam

Botswana


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Table 4.6: Botswana: Master and doctoral enrolments and graduates

2001 2003 2005 2007 Average annual growth:

2000‐2007

Masters

Enrolments 493 687 755 951 11.6%

Graduates 124 178 149 194 7.7%

Doctoral

Enrolments 8 13 24 41 31.3%

Graduates 3 5 6 4 4.9%

Total masters + doctoral

Enrolments 501 700 779 992 12.1%

Graduates 127 183 155 198 7.7%

Since doctoral students, especially in SET, are essential parts of research programmes, Figure 4.6 and Table 4.7 can be used as a first measure of a university's involvement in research. A university which has strong research programmes, should have reasonably high proportions of doctoral students in its grouping of masters plus doctoral students. For the period 2001–2007, UB enrolled on average 32 masters students for each doctoral student enrolled, which is a signal of low levels of research activities. The comparable ratios for the other Cluster 2 universities were: Dar es Salaam had ten masters enrolments per doctoral enrolment and Limpopo four. Stellenbosch, which has a stronger research record than either Dar es Salaam or Limpopo, had an average of five masters students per doctoral enrolment.


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Figure 4.6: Comparison of doctoral enrolments as % of masters and doctoral enrolments

Table 4.7: Comparison of masters and doctoral enrolments

2001 2003 2005 2007

Masters Doctoral Masters Doctoral Masters Doctoral Masters Doctoral

Botswana 493 8 687 13 755 24 951 41

Dar es Salaam 552 54 783 72 801 78 2165 190

Limpopo 976 69 1779 139 1831 167 1651 154 Cluster 1: Stellenbosch 3341 740 3671 757 3953 804 4293 879

Figure 4.7 and Table 4.8 compare the total numbers of doctoral graduates produced by each of the four universities between 2001 and 2007. Stellenbosch produced 79% of the total doctoral graduate output of these four universities between 2001 and 2004.

2%2%

3%4%

9% 8%9%

8%7%7%

8%

9%

18%

17%

17% 17%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

18%

20%

2001 2003 2005 2007


Limpopo


Dar es Salaam

Botswana


50

Figure 4.7: Comparison of total doctoral graduates

Table 4.8: Comparison of doctoral graduates

2001 2003 2005 2007

Botswana 3 5 6 4

Dar es Salaam 10 9 7 20

Limpopo 4 10 15 17

Cluster 1: Stellenbosch 103 112 126 153

4.4 Student‐staff ratios

Data on the formal teaching hours carried by academic staff at the four universities are not available. Use has therefore been made of proxies, which compare student to academic staff growth rates, and ratios of full‐time equivalent (FTE) students to FTE academic staff. Table 4.9 shows how UB’s totals of FTE students and FTE academic staff changed over the period 2001 to 2007.UB was not able to match growth in FTE academic staff and to growth in FTE students in any field of studies. FTE student to FTE academic staff ratios nevertheless remained favourable in SET and humanities plus education. The FTE student to FTE academic staff ratio in business and management was high in 2001, but became worse in subsequent years because FTE student enrolments in this field grew at a rate five times higher than the rate of growth in academic staff. It is worth noting that FTE

3 5 6 410 9 7

20

410

15 17

103112

126

153

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

2001 2003 2005 2007



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student enrolments in business and management increased by 698 in 2007 compared to 2001, while the FTE academic staff complement grew by only three.

Table 4.9: Botswana: FTE students and academic staff

2001 2003 2005 2007

Average annual growth:

2000‐2007

Science and technology

FTE students 2 286 2 391 2 886 3 109 5.3%

FTE academic staff 253 268 286 299 2.8%

FTE student to FTE academic ratio 9.0 8.9 10.1 10.4

Business & management

FTE students 1 981 1 619 2 274 2 679 5.2%



Humanities plus education

FTE students 4 983 6 195 7 425 7 148 6.2%



Not allocated to field of studies

FTE academic staff 53.0 56.0 66.0 38.0 ‐5.4%

TOTALS

FTE students 9 250 10 205 12 585 12 936 5.7%



Figure 4.8 compares FTE student to FTE academic staff ratios for 2007. The average ratio for all four universities was less than 20, which is regarded as satisfactory in terms of South African norms. While the SET ratios of all four are satisfactory, the Cluster 1 university had the highest ratio of FTE students to FTE academic staff. UB and Limpopo had high, and unsatisfactory, ratios in business and management studies.


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Figure 4.8: Comparison of 2007 FTE student‐staff ratios

Figure 4.9 compares the four universities’ 2007 totals of permanent academic staff and FTE academic staff. The point of the comparison can be seen in Figure 4.10. Figure 4.10 can function as a proxy of the load carried by permanent academic staff members, who are expected to be the main supervisors of research students and producers of research publications. Figures 4.9 and 4.10 show that the permanent academic staff at Limpopo and Stellenbosch had the highest levels of support from temporary and part‐time academic staff. In 2007, Stellenbosch had 840 permanent academics and the equivalent of 194 part‐time and temporary academic staff. Limpopo had 753 permanent academics and the equivalent of a further 149 temporary and part‐time academic staff members. UB’s ratio of 1:1 suggests that it employs very few, if any, temporary and part‐time academics.

10

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19 1714

23

13 1410

71

21

1515

39

2319

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

SET Bus All Hum Average



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Figure 4.9: Comparison of totals of permanent and FTE academic staff (2007)

Figure 4.10: Comparison of ratios of FTE to permanent academic staff (2007)

767

900

753

840767

1010

902

1034

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200


Permanent academics FTE academics

1.0

1.11.2 1.2

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4


Ratio of FTE to permenant academic staff


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4.5 Academic staff qualifications Figure 4.11 and Table 4.10 compare the 2007 proportions for the group of the permanent academic staff who have either a masters or a doctorate as their highest formal qualification. UB’s figure of 31% of permanent staff with doctorates is close to the average for South African universities.

Figure 4.11: Comparison of highest formal qualifications of permanent academics (2007)

Table 4.10:Comparison of permanent academics with masters and doctoral degrees (2007)

Botswana Dar es Salaam Limpopo Cluster 1:

Stellenbosch

Doctorate highest 238 454 120 513

Masters highest 161 222 303 225

Lower than masters 368 167 334 102

31%

50%

16%

61%

21%25%

40%

27%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%


Doctorate highest Masters highest


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4.6 Research funding9 The information in Figure 4.12 and Figure 4.13 attempt to set out the totals which each university had available for research in 2007. The data should therefore reflect research income rather than expenditure on research.

In their annual income statements, South African universities report on their research funding in terms of (a) recurrent research income and (b) research contracts for designated purposes. UB did not provide specific information on research funding. For the purposes of these analyses it is assumed that UB’s research income is equal 1% of its total income. Dar es Salaam also did not provide specific information on research funding. The following amount was extracted from its financial data for 2006/2007 and has been assumed to be research funding for the purposes of the analyses which follow: Funding from donors = TZS9 513 million (or 16% of total income). The calculations of market rate dollars are based on average exchange rates quoted by the central banking authorities of each country. The calculation of purchasing power parity dollars (PPP$) is based on estimates contained in the World Bank’s (2008) publication on World Development Indicators. Because these estimates are based on 2005 exchange rates, the following method was used for the 2007 calculations:

• The indicator set gives for each country a ratio between the PPP conversion

factor and the market exchange rate. For example, the South African ratio is given as 0.61, based on a market exchange rate of R6.4 per USD 1 in 2005.

• The 2007 calculations assume that the 2005 ratio will apply again. So the 2007 PPP conversion factor is taken to be 2005 ratio times 2007 market exchange rate. For example, the conversion factor for South Africa is calculated as 2005 ratio times 2007 exchange rate = 0.61 × 7.0 = 4.27. The calculations in Figure 4.12 are based on the research income totals referred to in the previous paragraphs above. The amounts in local currency were converted to market rate USD and PPP$ using the methodology below. The conversion rates used were these:

• UB market rate = BWP6.3 per USD UB PPP = BWP 3.15 per PPP$

9It must be noted that all universities in the sample appear to use different means to estimate their research income. For the purposes of comparison where no figures have been supplied a percentage of university income has been used. These figures however are not reliable and more work needs to be done in further studies to accurately track university research income.


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• Dar es Salaam market rate = TZSsh1 252 per USD Dar es Salaam PPP = TZS 438 per PPP$

• South African universities market rate = R7.0 per USD

South African universities PPP = R4.27 per PPP$ Figure 4.12: Comparison of research income in market rate USD and PPP$ (millions) 2007

Figure 4.13 is based on the income totals in Figure 4.12 and the permanent academic staff totals in Figure 4.9. The ratios show that the Cluster 1 university, Stellenbosch, had at 2007 market rate values USD4 200 in research income available per permanent academic. The comparable 2007 market rate values per permanent academic were USD1 000 for UB, USD3 000 for Dar es Salaam, and USD1 300 for Limpopo. The PPP$ figures show that, per permanent academic, Stellenbosch and Dar es Salaam had more than treble the research funding available to UB.

0.8

3.0

1.0

3.6

1.7

5.8

1.7

5.9

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0


Market rate $ PPP $


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Figure 4.13: Comparisons of total research income per permanent academic in market rate USD and PPP$ (thousands)

4.7 Research outputs

For the purposes of this study, research outputs are measured in terms of research publications10, and doctoral graduates. Table 4.11 lists UB’s totals of research publications and doctoral graduates for the period 2001–2007.

Table 4.11: University of Botswana: Research outputs

Research publications Doctoral graduates

2001 78 3 2003 72 5 2005 85 6 2007 126 4

Figure 4.14 deals only with research publication units. The target ratio of 0.50 is based on the assumption that a permanent academic should publish at least one research article every two years. The data in the graph show that Stellenbosch

10 The research publication data presented here are based on the peer reviewed research publications data in the Web of Science citation database within the ISI Web of Knowledge, produced by Thomson Reuters. The database captures papers from all countries that are published in journals that meet certain criteria of quality as determined by Thomson Reuters.

1.0

3.3

1.3

4.2

2.0

6.4

2.3

6.8

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0


Market rate $ PPP $


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exceeded this target and that none of the others came close to it. The ratios of UB suggest that each permanent academic will publish one research article every eight years.

Figure 4.14: Comparison of research publication units per permanent academic

Figure 4.15 sets out ratios between doctoral graduates and permanent academic staff, with the target again being derived from the research output targets used in the South African higher education system. In this case, the target takes account of the productivity of academic staff in terms of the total of doctoral graduates produced in a given year divided by the total of permanent academic staff employed in that year. The target ratio of 10% is based on these calculations: At least 50% of the permanent staff of a university should be supervising at least one doctoral student, and these students should take on average five years to complete their degrees. So a university with (say) 100 permanent academics should enrol at least 50 doctoral students, and 20% of these should graduate each year. The ratio between permanent staff and doctoral graduates should therefore be at least 10/100 = 10%. The data in the graph show that only Stellenbosch exceeded this target in both 2001 and 2007. The other three universities in the group fell well short of the target of 10%.

0.12 0.10

0.23

0.80

0.16

0.080.13

1.05

0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20


2001 2007


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Figure 4.15: Doctoral graduates in given year as % of permanent academics

0.4%1.1% 0.7%

13.3%

0.5%

2.0% 2.2%

17.6%

0.0%

2.0%

4.0%

6.0%

8.0%

10.0%

12.0%

14.0%

16.0%

18.0%

20.0%

Botswana Makerere Limpopo Cluster 1: Stellenbosch

2001 2007

Target ratio = 10%Target ratioTarget ratio


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5.1 Introduction In order to ensure that the core activities of teaching and research are to some extent aligned with national development priorities and can thereby contribute to development in society, universities increasingly emphasise the need to engage with relevant external stakeholders. Furthermore, much of what might be termed the development‐related activities of the university usually fall within the ‘third mission’, which is variously referred to as ‘engagement’, ‘service’ or ‘community outreach’. This could include academics serving on committees in the public or private sector, providing support to small businesses, responding to requests for short courses, or undertaking contract research for outside clients. More often than not, the economic development‐related projects and activities of the institution fall under its engagement function. In the first part of this section, we explore UB’s engagement with its key external stakeholders. Given that UB does not, at the institutional level, receive significant foreign‐donor funding, we focus specifically on its linkages with government and industry. In the second part of the section, we turn our attention to an analysis of the extent of the connectedness of the economic development‐related centres and projects included in this study.

5.2 Engagement and linkages with external stakeholders The strategic plan highlights the university’s intention to strengthen its engagement in the country, region and international community during the NDP10. The plan defines engagement in a wide‐ranging sense as follows:

Part 5

The engagement and development‐related activities of the University of Botswana

AT A GLANCE

• University engagement and linkages with government and industry • Incentives for academics to engage in development‐related activities • Coordination of development activities • Connectedness of economic development‐related projects and centres to the

academic core


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Engagement occurs when the University makes a full contribution to the social, economic, civic and cultural aspects of life in the society it serves, through the professional activities of its academics and institutionally. Engagement should help to create a transformed nation, where innovation, creativity and enterprise flourish and where a strong knowledge‐based economy is grown, within a framework and practice of democracy, good governance and social justice; and where the holistic well‐being of the community is enhanced through improving the environment and through fostering sport and recreation and the arts, culture and heritage. (UB 2008a: 31)

The vision of the new University Engagement Strategy sees the university as doing the following (UB 2008a: 31):

1. Establishing a facilitating environment for the commercialisation of research and development;

2. Improving opportunity for better employment and economic improvement among graduates and for Botswana as a whole;

3. Contributing to sustainable communities where people benefit from improved cultural offerings, improved environment and better qualities of life; and

4. Incorporating the university’s policy goals on internationalisation. The goals of the Engagement Strategy include (ibid.):

1. To develop enterprise through knowledge engagement and transfer; 2. To embed community, cultural and civic engagement; and 3. To strengthen international and regional engagement

The first of these goals is to be achieved through improving “the competitiveness of the country through innovation and the exploitation of the university’s research and intellectual capital and increase the number of new high tech growth businesses within the country” and by improving the “scientific, technological, management, and health capability of the Nation” (ibid.: 32). Specific strategies include:

• Increasing knowledge and technology transfer (including consultancy, contract research, lease of specialist equipment and facilities);

• Increasing student work placements; • Labour market relevance; • Participation in the Botswana Innovation Hub; • Establishment of the Centre for Entrepreneurial Development, and a University

Enterprise Unit which will provide support to the development of commerce and industry, technology and development to generate third stream income; and

• Expansion of health programmes and research, amongst others.


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A senior academic used the terms “service” and “community service” to refer to the department’s engagement activities. She explained that service is divided into three areas: service to the university, service to the profession, and community service: “We are expected to ensure that the University of Botswana is not just an ivory tower there, isolated from its neighbouring community, society, Gaborone city, and the southern Africa region.” Another senior academic referred to “community and professional engagement” and gave as an example serving on the board of the Botswana Network of Ethics, Law and HIV/Aids as a way of impacting more directly on communities. One of the key ways in which the university interacts with its external stakeholders is through consultancy work. The university’s Research and Development Policy (2002) defines consultancy as “work done for an external organisation, which may or may not include a research component, and for which the organisation pays a fee. All consultancies are subject to the University policy on Private Work” (UB 2002: 4). Institutional consultancy refers to those instances where the agreement is between the university and the client while private consultancy refers to consultancies undertaken by individual staff members, “for which the University has no legal liability whatsoever” (ibid.). Staff wanting to undertake consultancies need to ask permission from the university to do so and the university claims a proportion of the consultancy fee. As can be seen from the quotes below, some regard the percentage taken by the university as punitive while others point to the lack of monitoring and control of consultancy activities:

In fact, we have a policy in place which I consider punitive, where staff do consultancies and they have to get permission to undertake these consultancies. And then if permission is granted it is with the understanding that when they are paid 300 000, 20 000 will go to the university. I believe that in some places even 40% goes to the institution. But the staff here now, they are doing lots of consultancies but they don’t report them. (Institutional leader)

In terms of the university regulations, yes, with the permission of the vice‐chancellor you can do up to 15 hours a week private practice, and one or two of our staff do run their own practice based on that. The problem with that is the head is supposed to monitor these 15 hours but it’s not feasible so if somebody is not in his or her office for the whole day or for two days, he comes and you query and he just says: well, I was in the library doing research or doing fieldwork. So it’s very difficult to monitor. And one of the downsides in that is that most people, it has affected their work in the university in a way that people are guaranteed a certain sum of money so they want the icing on the cake, and


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they tend to spend more time outside than inside the university. (Project leader)

If it’s the Department that has been offered the consultancy and all that, the money goes to the bigger pool of UB. If it’s an individual who was invited to come and provide a professional service and advice, the individual has to ask for permission from the university, so they know how much this is going to get and provide the contracts and all these things. When the individual is eventually paid the university takes 20% of that. And of course we are grumbling about that! Hopefully with the new structure, this money would come straight to the Department so the Department can then plan how to engage better, maximise its links with others, because right now the money goes straight to the UB pool. (Senior academic)

5.2.1 University–government–industry linkages The current university strategic plan ties itself closely to a range of national policies and strategies. It makes specific reference to Botswana’s Vision 2016 and the Draft National Macroeconomic Policy for Botswana, as well as the Tertiary Education Policy, and indicates the university’s commitment to contributing to the realisation of these policies. For example, the plan notes that Vision 2016 is “a key point of reference for the longer term development of the University, which will contribute significantly to all of the Pillars” (of the Vision) (UB 2008a: 11). Similarly, the plan states the three goals of the Tertiary Education Policy (which focus on human resource development, research and innovation, and strengthening system capability and quality) “have directly informed the new UB Mission Statement in the Strategic Plan for NDP10” (ibid.). According to two respondents, as a mostly government‐funded institution, the university is at the beck and call of government:

We are a government university, a government‐funded university. So they walk in and out anytime, whatever they’re needing. When government wants things done, then it’s done. (Senior academic)

There’s a lot that the government would throw to the university for free labour and people that can show up; the university usually provides free expertise [And cheap labour!] and cheap labour. It’s cheap labour because if they go elsewhere they have to look for consultants but at the university they know they can get free labour and say: University of Botswana, you do this. Like when it comes to the report of the education commission, they


64

knew they could get people from here to be part of the commission and then to be part of the recommendations and take them further and implement those recommendations. So when they really want a good job they approach the university. Like even rapporteuring during workshops; many university lecturers rapporteur for that because for a government department it takes six months to get the report out. (Senior academic)

However, a number of other respondents expressed a somewhat pessimistic view of the relationship between the government and the university, focussing on the lack of communication and cooperation between the two; a negative perception of the university on the part of government; and, a perception that government has a preference for foreign consultants:

They are saying we are increasingly becoming irrelevant; we have no impact. We are not of any use to this society. But they are not walking the talk themselves. They are not walking the talk. It’s hard, because even when we have staff who can do consultancy work for the government, various ministries and departments of government prefer to source consultants from England, from Canada, from South Africa – but hardly ever from UB. [...] Sometimes they say we do not have adequate capacity. Now what does adequate capacity mean for a person such as myself with nearly 20 years post‐PhD experience? [...] they always say: No, you guys are too academic, the things that you are interested in. (Institutional leader)

[...] government here has outsourced thinking to consultants, almost exclusively. And they’re at the stage, I was in a meeting this week where they’re insisting that the consultants come and implement this thing. (National stakeholder)

When it comes to research, consultancies, they [the government] think we are not up to scratch. [...] We are at a loss [as to why this is] because many of the key decision‐makers in government, in the Ministry of Finance, they are former students; they know us. But recently we were very surprised – the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we approached them and said: we can train your young diploma [students]. Do you have the money to do it, are you interested? And they said: ja, ja, okay. So they brought about 30 to 40 of their young diplomas [students] from various parts of the world for training for a week here and we delivered and they were happy. But other than that, it’s hard to see a government official writing a letter to UB asking: can you please? Even if it’s


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just a question of: just join this team that we’ve put together, one from Canada, another one from England, just for purposes of capacity building. They don’t even do that. In South Africa when your Ministry of Trade and Industry is sending a delegation to negotiations in Dohar or whatever, they always bring in the academics – but with us, no. (Institutional leader)

The university has a number of relationships in terms of consultancies, in terms of research. I would have wished to see it coming out better, but we do come in and do consultancies for various government ministries. We do come in and advise even when there’s a consultant who’s external and be part of what is called the reference groups, to just make sure that the things are relevant. And, of course, we do produce our own academic papers and we do wish the policy‐makers would have time to read them, but I don’t think we are doing much marketing of them; they usually end up, our papers, sitting in the offices as usual. (Senior academic)

Two respondents commented on the absence of formal structures for linking or coordination between the government and the university:

Very few linkages really. One of the ways in which we’d link with government is occasionally being called upon to come and serve in reference groups when they have consultancies. But otherwise they continue to do their things and we’re doing our things here. It’s one of those missing links again with government. (Senior academic) No, unfortunately there are no formal structures that are in place. There used to be structures that were to implement the incomes policy, particularly the national manpower and employment committee that used to deal with these issues just on an ad‐hoc basis, as and when someone brings up an issue about human resources. And also the high‐level consultative council which is chaired by the president, I think – we are represented either through the vice‐chancellor or some other means. But so far there’s no formal structure that really can inform us as trainers, whether we’re really doing the right thing or not. And we don’t have also a formal structure that we can inform them in terms of the way we think the economy should be going in terms of human resources. But there are things that are coming up. We have just had a human resource development strategy that was supervised under the TEC. They are now in the process of putting together things that would allow more


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information to come from the labour market to feed into training institutions, and we as training institutions are also going to be doing more tracer studies on a regular basis to find out what the needs of the labour market are, and then be able to get that feedback effect which would get into the curriculum and change the way we do some of the things. But that’s in the future. The other part of it is that there has been, unless things have changed, but there’s been an attempt to build a labour market observatory system which I think was stalled in the Ministry of Finance for a long time. I don’t know what their problem is. I know they did invite me at some point to give them some idea on what to do in terms of getting that thing in place. They did solicit financial support from [the International Labour Organisation], but the thing is now almost dying at an idea stage and no implementation. (Senior academic)

A senior academic also pointed to the tension between the need to publish (or perish) and focusing more on direct linkages with government and solving national problems:

Let me be honest here, quite honestly at this stage we don’t think government is consuming a lot of our research, and I’m not saying they are to blame. The research that we’re doing here is mainly research driven by our need to publish because we’re living in a world where you publish or perish, and therefore it’s really not focused on trying to solve the real socio‐economic needs of the country. If I can publish in the Journal of African Economists, once it gets in there I’m done, I have fulfilled what I’m doing. Whether somebody picks it up or not, it has not been an issue. And government on the other hand has also not been calling upon us to say: look, what is your contribution? We’re putting in money here and you’re doing research; can you make your research relevant to what we are doing in government, which would enlighten us and give us directions as to where we should go in terms of policy. I think part of it is also, I find it an uncomfortable position where the guys in government think of us as very theoretical people who sit here and read books and write stories that don’t make sense. They would rather go and get someone outside whom they think is better attuned to their needs. And we have been complaining about it. (Senior academic)

Some respondents also pointed fingers at academics for contributing to the lack of linkages between the university and government. One interviewee, for example, suggested that many of the academics at the university do not take a


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proactive approach to engaging with government and bringing to their attention the availability of expertise and research findings that could be of use. Another said that it had more to do with academics’ attitudes.

[...] sometimes we are slow ourselves as an institution in taking the initiative to say: look, we are available. We wait until a consultancy is put in the papers, advertised, that’s when we now apply. [...] We still have that lingering old conventional mentality that if we do our publications and put publications in journals, book chapters, attend conferences, you’ll get your promotion to the professoriate. Whether there’s anything else that government is doing is of little interest to us. I think we should break that mind set. (Institutional leader) First of all, having worked in government, I worked for government for ten years. I basically regard universities as the most egocentric places in the world, over‐concentration of ego. That’s the first thing I noticed when I came here is that people will close themselves in their offices and close the door, which is something I wasn’t used to in government. So what I’m saying is that there is something about, it possibly has a lot to do with the culture of education; it makes us very individualistic, do you understand? When I say ego there’s education and me – me and my education. As far as I’m concerned it stands in the way of collaboration and cooperation. And so what I’m saying is that I think we need maybe a little bit of hunger. A little bit of hunger, as far as I’m concerned, and hunger, you know, will actually induce some sort of collaboration – this is my personal view. (Senior academic)

Other than discussions about the university’s future involvement in the Botswana Innovation Hub, there was very little mention of other university‐industry linkages amongst institutional stakeholders. One respondent reported that in general the linkage between the university and industry in Botswana is weak, although there are some developments in this regard on the horizon:

It’s very weak. It is strongest in the Faculty of Engineering and Technology where colleagues have been working with Debswana, this is the De Beers mining company here, and the government in the area of mining – because they’ve got a Department of Mining, Electrical, Mechanical. Now also the Faculty of Business has got some strong‐ish projects now coming up with different parts of our industry. I think that Humanities is also doing one or two things which link them with industry. The Department of Media Studies is doing films and those kinds of communication


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things with broadcasting. So there is coming up. It’s been very weak for a long time but it’s slowly coming up. Maybe I was too harsh in my initial response. (Institutional leader)

According to a national stakeholder, a key problem with regard to innovation and university‐industry partnerships is that the industrial base in Botswana is very small. The private sector mainly consists of organisations implementing government programmes, which effectively means that the market is the government. Part of the private sector is spillover from South Africa but this leads to a big disconnect because the R&D for these companies is done in South Africa and not Botswana. This same respondent said that innovation is also very difficult to achieve in Botswana because while there are some research and technical organisations, there is no system that aligns them into a clear innovation chain. In addition, it is difficult to commercialise research outputs because of the lack of the requisite infrastructure, funding or other resources (like intellectual property or patent lawyers).

5.2.2 Incentives, rewards and coordination If it is the university’s intention to promote linkages with government and industry, and to encourage engagement and development‐related activities, then what incentives and rewards are in place for this? And, how are these linkages coordinated? Promotion in the university is still largely based on research and publications. As one institutional leader put it:

Our incentive reward is simply a promotion, maybe a bonus at the end of the performance period, but mostly it’s just the conventional way of going about your research as a conventional scholar, knowing that as you churn articles out, year‐in year‐out, you will then be in a position to apply for promotion. (Institutional leader)

According to one respondent, there are no incentives for staff to undertake research, let alone incentives for research that is directly linked to development. The only mechanism to encourage staff to do research is through performance contracts:

Departments have research plans; we expect staff to frame their performance agreements in the area of research and show us how they are going to support the departmental strategic research plan. And that department too must justify to us how it’s going to support the wider university research strategy. (Institutional leader)


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The strategic plan does acknowledge the need to balance the workload of staff in terms of their teaching, research and engagement activities (UB 2008a: 24) and the institution is in the process of developing academic workload guidelines in this regard. There is no specific unit that is set up to coordinate internal and external interests.

5.2.3 Summary While the institution does appear to have a history of interaction with the government, a number of respondents expressed a somewhat pessimistic view of this relationship, highlighting a lack of communication and cooperation between the two, and a negative perception of the university on the part of government. There was very little mention of linkages with industry although there are some developments on the horizon, such as the Botswana Innovation Hub, which might serve to strengthen these. At the same time, there are no real incentives for academics to get involved in engagement or development‐related work – whether with government or industry. There is no specific unit for coordinating internal and external interests.

5.3 The connectedness of development activities to the academic core A key issue for the relationship between higher education and economic development is to establish a productive relationship between knowledge and connectedness. On the one hand, if there is an overemphasis on the basic knowledge activities of teaching and research – in other words, an excessive inward orientation towards strengthening the academic core – this results in the university becoming an ‘ivory tower’. Or, if the academic core is weak, an overemphasis on knowledge results in the ‘ancillary’ role of the university (i.e. no direct role in development). On the other hand, if there is an overemphasis in the university on connecting to development activities, then it weakens the academic core and the university has little new or relevant knowledge to offer in the exchange relationship. The challenge for universities, then, is to deal with this inherent tension between ‘buffering’ (protecting) the core technologies of the institution, and ‘bridging’ (linking) those with external actors (Scott 2001: 199‐211). In reality, the boundaries between internal and external are not that clear cut. A number of theorists, such as Gibbons et al. (1994) and Scott (2001) have argued that during globalisation and its associated ‘new’ forms of knowledge production, the boundaries are becoming increasingly blurred and permeable.


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The higher education studies literature describes this problem in terms of the conceptual notion of ‘coupling’ (Scott 2001; Weick 1976); that is, the extent to which the core and the external (or ‘periphery’) are linked with, or connected to, one another. In ‘tight coupling’, the boundary is weak and the university is in a direct, ‘instrumental’ relationship with external actors such as government or industry. In ‘loose‐coupling’, the boundary is stronger, such as in the traditional notion of the university as a self‐governing institution, which assumes an indirect contribution to development. The more complex relationship is with the ‘engine of development’ notion where there are multiple, simultaneous forms of knowledge production and exchange. For the purposes of this study, we are using the term ‘connectedness’ to refer to the relationship (and tension) between the inward focus on strengthening and maintaining the academic core, and the outward focus on linking with external stakeholders and development. We operationalised ‘connectedness’ along two dimensions. The first dimension is ‘articulation’ which has a number of aspects. Firstly, it refers to the extent to which the aims and activities of development‐related activities articulate with national development priorities and the university’s strategic objectives. Secondly, it refers to the linkages the project has with two of the groups of stakeholders in the triangle – the government (usually through specific government departments / agencies) and external stakeholders (e.g. industry, small businesses, NGOs or community groups such as fishers or small‐scale farmers). In particular, our focus is on the extent to which there are linkages with an ‘implementation agency’, (i.e. an external body which takes up the knowledge and/or its products generated or applied through research or training). Thirdly, articulation takes into account linkages generated through sources of funding in two respects: whether the project/centre obtains funding from one or more of the three stakeholder groups (government, an external funder or the university itself); and, the extent to which the project/centre develops a relationship with its funders over time. This latter aspect is determined through the nature of the financial sustainability of the project. The second dimension focuses on the extent to which development activities serve to strengthen the academic core of the university. This was operationalised in terms of the extent to which the work undertaken in projects/centres feeds into teaching or curriculum development; is linked to the formal training of students; enables academics to publish in academic publications (journals, books etc); is linked to international academic networks; and generates new knowledge (versus applying existing knowledge). These various aspects relating to articulation and strengthening the academic core were converted into indicators which could then be applied to an analysis of the development‐related projects and centres included in the study. On the basis of the indicator ratings, the projects/centres were plotted on a graph depicting the intersection between articulation and strengthening the academic core.


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In this section, we present the analysis of the connectedness of selected development‐related activities at UB. These projects, which have an economic development or poverty reduction focus, were identified by the institutional leadership for inclusion in the study. It should be noted that this method of analysis is a work‐in‐progress and, in the context of this study, has two possible limitations. The first is that the method of analysis has been developed since completion of the data collection which means that there are some areas of the project data which were not explored in great detail during the interviews. We have, as far as possible, attempted to obtain this additional data from project leaders in the drafting of this report. A second limitation is that the analysis which follows is based on a small number of projects rather than a large representative sample. In addition, the projects selected have an in‐built bias since they were selected by institutional leadership on the basis of their economic development or poverty reduction focus. Despite these limitations, however, we believe that the analysis that follows is an illuminating first step towards the development of a tool which can enable institutions and donors to think critically and strategically about the implications of different models of funding and engagement or development‐related activities.

5.3.1 A brief overview of the projects and centres The University of Botswana Business Clinic

Location Faculty of BusinessCoordinator Mr EDM OdirileTimeframe Established in 1995; ongoingType Practical training and business supportWebsite http://www.ub.bw/business‐clinic/index.html

The concept of the business clinic arose amongst members of the Faculty of Business who recognised that while the unemployment rate was increasing, the people of Botswana were not starting businesses even though the environment was conducive for entrepreneurial activity. Faculty members recognised that they had the skills and resources that could make a contribution to improving this situation and so the idea of the business clinic was born. The aims of the UB Business Clinic are to provide practical training for students in the faculty and to provide business support to the general public, especially those who wish to start or develop small, micro‐ and medium‐enterprises (SMMEs). The rationale of the clinic in terms of student training is to use the clinic as a platform to bridge the gap between the classroom and the corporate world. One approach to this is to assist students to establish and run businesses on campus (recent examples include a coffee shop in the Faculty of Business, a photocopying and printing service for students, and the design of the clinic’s web site). These


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are run as independent businesses and the proceeds are ploughed back into the university. Students also participate in the support provided to SMMEs although participation in the clinic services is not a formal or compulsory part of the students’ training (i.e. it is not credit‐bearing – although the faculty is considering introducing this). The clinic also runs a Rent‐A‐Student project where people can hire students (from any faculty) to undertake specific tasks. Support is also provided to the general public either to assist in getting a new business off the ground or maintaining and growing existing businesses. One aspect of this is roadshows where staff and students go out to meet the general public. During these roadshows, which are run throughout the country, students and locals are encouraged to identify potential business opportunities out of existing practices (e.g. cattle‐keeping) or unmet needs (e.g. day care centres). These roadshows also aim to inculcate a culture of entrepreneurship amongst people as a contribution towards stimulating economic growth and alleviating poverty. The clinic also provides services such as company registration, development of business plans, preparing accounts and marketing of products. Individuals who seek assistance from the clinic are charged at cost. Lecturers from the Faculty of Business volunteer their time to present lectures or seminars to members of the public as part of their community service. The coordinator has put a proposal to university management to convert the clinic to a Centre for Entrepreneurship, which would be able to offer executive development programmes and undertake business consultancies. The clinic is funded from the university budget as well as through income generated through student businesses. The University of Botswana Legal Clinic

Location Department of Law (Faculty of Social Sciences)Coordinator Prof. EK QuansahTimeframe Established in 1986; ongoingType Practical training and support servicesWebsite n/a

The aims of the UB Legal Clinic are to provide practical training to law students and, in the process, to provide a legal service to members of the public who earn less than BWP 500 per day. The clinic, which operates Mondays to Thursday from 4pm to 6pm, is part of the compulsory practical training11 for fourth‐ and fifth‐year law students. Students provide assistance to clients in the form of drawing up documentation (e.g. summonses and declarations) which the clients then file in court. Most of the cases handled by the students are family‐related (e.g. divorce, child custody and maintenance), as well as labour issues, debt collection

11 Other components of the practical training include participating in mock trials or moot courts and an eight‐week internship with a law firm.


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and motor vehicle accident claims. The clinic does not deal with criminal cases. Should the client need to appear in court, the clinic can assist in finding a law firm with which they have an informal arrangement, which will charge lower‐than‐usual rates. On average, the students see 20–25 clients per day. The service is provided free of charge although clients are requested to contribute BWP 10 towards the cell phone costs of the clinic since it is not possible to call cell phone numbers on the university’s phones. The clinic was initiated by Department of Law staff as part of the training of LLB students. Five‐year funding was obtained from DANIDA to establish the clinic. Since then, the clinic has been funded by the Department of Law. Additional funding has recently been acquired from the Human Rights Development Initiative for training of staff on particular projects, as well as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. University of Botswana/Tromsø Collaborative Programme for San/Basarwa Research and Capacity Building

Location Under the Office of Research and DevelopmentCoordinator Dr Maitseo Bolaane (Department of History)Timeframe 1996 to 2009Type Action research and capacity building programmeWebsite www.ub.bw/ubtromso

In the 1990s, while some research into issues relating to the indigenous peoples of Botswana was being undertaken at the then National Institute of Research, (now Office of Research and Development) there was recognition that this was very limited. In addition, people from outside of the country were doing much of the research being undertaken. Prof. Saugestad (University of Tromsø), who had been working with the National Institute of Research, initiated the UB/Tromsø collaboration in order to boost local research in the area and to build a strong research base in the country. The aims of the UB/Tromsø project were to undertake action research into issues affecting indigenous peoples in Botswana and the southern African region (particularly Namibia and South Africa), and to build the capacity of San youth by sponsoring access to higher education. The project is undertaken collaboratively between staff from the University of Botswana and the University of Tromsø. The emphasis on using an action research approach to investigate issues affecting indigenous peoples in Botswana and the southern African region was two‐fold: to ensure that actions to address emerging issues would follow the research, and to include the indigenous peoples as participants in the research, rather than as research subjects. One of the issues that emerged from these studies was that San youth have limited access to higher education. In 2003, the San Youth Capacity Building project was launched. Scholarships are provided for San youth in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa to attend higher education


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institutions (at certificate, diploma, degree and postgraduate levels). By the first half of 2009, the initial Norwegian Programme for University Cooperation (NUFU) programme and the new programme for capacity‐building had supported about 80 candidates. In addition to the action research and capacity‐building components, a new area has been launched called the Support Programme for Education in Remote Areas (SPERA). SPERA started as an initiative of the Kuru Family of Organisations (KFO), which is a long‐standing group of organisations that supports San communities in various parts of Botswana. Over a number of years and through intensive consultation, SPERA was designed to use research‐based data in order to develop education approaches that would allow San students to access the skills that they need to go on to higher education, but building upon their own language and their own skill sets. SPERA is complementary to UB/Tromsø in that it focuses on the earlier years and attempts to provide bridges to formal education. The UB/Tromsø programme has signed a memorandum of understanding with the KFO to collaborate in the running of a Management and Leadership Development Programme to develop the youth working for the KFO to take leadership of the organisation in the future. The role of the UB/Tromsø programme is to develop the long‐term courses for the KFO interns while the KFO will provide the platform for practical work. The programme has also put in a proposal to establish a Centre for San Studies at the University of Botswana which would extend the building of a research network in the region and the capacity building project. Funding for the action research component for the period 1996–2008 was received from NUFU. Additional funding was obtained from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs through Norwegian Church Aid (2005–2009) for the San Youth Capacity Building Project. At the time of the site visit, the programme was putting in an application for a bridging fund for 2010. University of Botswana‐Pennsylvania State University HIV/Aids Study

Location Centre for the Study of HIV/AIDS (CHSA)Project leader Prof. Bagete ChilisaTimeframe July 2007–2012Type Research projectWebsite n/a

A group of UB lecturers were interested in putting together a funding proposal for HIV/Aids‐related research. Through BOTUSA (the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention partnership with Botswana) they were then encouraged to respond to a call for proposals related to HIV/Aids research capacity‐building in developing countries from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the US. A team was formed to put together a proposal that could link the UB lecturers’ HIV/Aids research interests and those of the NIH. The interests that emerged


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were focused on adolescents living with HIV/Aids; the role of the church and HIV/Aids; and the role of the school and HIV/Aids. The final research proposal focused on building the research capacity of staff in conducting HIV/Aids research within these specific sub‐groups, and with the extension of designing local interventions based on local findings. The sub‐project focusing on adolescents living with HIV/Aids is being undertaken in partnership with the Pennsylvania State University. The aim of the UB‐Penn State project is to reduce sexually‐transmitted infections, including HIV, among adolescents in Botswana between the ages of 11 and 19 by developing cultural‐, gender‐ and age‐appropriate interventions which will be piloted and tested for efficacy. If these were found to be effective the government could decide to adopt one or more of the interventions. There is also a capacity‐building component to the project in which social scientists (staff) are trained in behavioural change and intervention research that can test the efficacy of these interventions. The Pennsylvania State University provides the training. Five‐year funding for the project comes from the NIH. The key features of these development‐related projects/groups are summarised in Table 5.1. The projects/centres have been categorised according to type and range from practical training and support services to research and capacity‐building projects. The economic development focus of the projects/centres range from business or legal support to improving access to higher education by disadvantaged youth and developing appropriate interventions for youth living with HIV/Aids. All four of the projects were initiated and the agendas set by university staff although a foreign academic and foreign donor were co‐initiators of the two research projects.


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Table 5.1: Overview of the development‐related projects

Project/centre Classification Funder(s) Beneficiaries External linkages Initiation/ agenda‐setting

Economic development focus

UB Business Clinic Practical training and support services

University; income generated through student businesses

Students and the public who want to start or grow their SMMEs

Info not available Faculty staff Support to establish new, or grow existing SMMEs

UB Legal Clinic Practical training and support services

Foreign donors and the university

Students and poor members of the public

Law‐/ethics‐related NGOs in Botswana

Faculty staff Support to poor members of the public

UB/Tromsø Research and Capacity Building

Action research and capacity building programme

Foreign donors Indigenous (San) youth in southern Africa

Research centres and networks in Southern Africa; foreign NGO

University staff and Norwegian academic

Improving access to higher education for San youth

UB‐Penn HIV/ Aids Study

Research project Foreign donor Adolescents in Botswana

NGOs/faith‐based organisations in Botswana

Foreign donor and university staff

Develop interventions for adolescents living with HIV/Aids


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5.3.2 Articulation Articulation with institutional objectives and national priorities Table 5.2 below summarises interviewee’s responses to the question about the extent to which the project or centre aims and objectives were in response to / articulated with the university’s strategic objectives (as contained in the institution’s strategic plan), as well as the country’s national development priorities. Methodologically, we do recognise that project leaders might have drawn these links more strongly in retrospect than originally was the case in order to give the impression of greater articulation. A deeper exploration of the circumstances of the initiation and agenda‐setting of the project would have enabled us to see these linkages more clearly ourselves. Nevertheless, the reported linkages are sufficient for a first‐level analysis. As can be seen from Table 5.2, all of the projects reported articulation of project aims to institutional strategic objectives – both broad and specific, as well as to national development priorities, particularly those encapsulated in the Botswana Vision 2016. The articulation with institutional objectives or national priorities is, in some cases, quite specific (i.e. links to a clearly identifiable objective or priority) while, in other cases, the articulation is more general (i.e. linking to a broader, less specified, objective or priority). Table 5.3 indicates the extent to which each project or centre had linkages with an external agency that has or will directly or indirectly ‘implement’ (or utilise) the outputs. Table 5.4 summarises the comments made by project leaders about the financial sustainability of the projects. Finally, Table 5.5 summarises the total articulation ratings for the four projects/centres.


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Table 5.2: Articulation with institutional objectives and national priorities

Project/centre Funder(s) Initiation/ agenda‐setting

Institutional strategic objectives National priorities

UB Business Clinic

University; income generated through student businesses

Faculty staff The Strategic Plan’s 4th priority area is ‘Strengthening Engagement’. The university has undertaken to ensure that among the graduate attributes that it aims to produce, and that all academic programmes encompass, is entrepreneurship and employability skills. The Clinic cultivates the spirit of entrepreneurship at UB and among the general public.

Entrepreneurship and small business formation is critical to both our developmental priorities and the Botswana Vision 2016 since it will create employment opportunities for Batswana and also assist the government in its diversification agenda.

UB Legal Clinic Foreign donors and the university

Faculty staff The clinic is part of the university’s attempt to produce a well‐grounded law graduate ready for legal practice in the overall context of providing human resources for the country.

The clinic goals/objectives are in line with the national Vision 2016, which intends to create a compassionate, just and caring nation.


Foreign donors University staff and Norwegian academic

The programme contributes to the following strategic objectives: development of institutional academic partnerships and student exchange; promoting community engagement; promoting internationalisation; expanding access to and participation in higher education; contributing to making UB a leading centre in the continent and globally.

Through the San Youth Capacity project the programme is facilitating one of the pillars of Botswana Vision 2016 of “an educated and well informed nation”.

UB‐Penn HIV/Aids Study

Foreign donor Foreign donor and university staff

Part of Botswana’s Vision 2016 is that by the year 2016 there are no new HIV infections in Botswana and the university is strategically placed to see how it can help government and the nation at large to achieve this goal.

The project is contributing to Botswana’s Vision 2016 goal of ensuring that there are no new HIV infections in the country by 2016.


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Table 5.3: Initiation/agenda‐setting, funding sources and implementation agencies

Project/centre Initiation/agenda‐setting Funder(s) Implementation agencies

UB Business Clinic Faculty staff University of Botswana; income generated through student businesses

While the students and public who receive support from the Clinic to establish businesses are key intended beneficiaries, no external agency that would take the work done by the Clinic to another level was indicated.

UB Legal Clinic Faculty staff Foreign donors and the University of Botswana

While it was reported that should clients need to appear in court, the clinic assists in putting the clients in touch with law firms with which the clinic has an informal arrangement, no links with specific external implementation agencies were indicated.


University staff and Norwegian academic

Foreign donors The Kuru Family of Organisations provides a platform for the practical work component of the Management and Leadership Development Programme run by the UB/Tromsø programme. There is collaboration with the Remote Area Development Programme offices of the Ministry of Local Government which assist in the identification of San youth for tertiary education. The programme has also been working with Botswana College of Distance and Open Learning of the Ministry of Education and Skills Development in assisting San youth to upgrade their high school results in order to qualify for tertiary education.


Foreign donor and university staff

Foreign donor Each sub‐project engages a community advisory board to assist with implementation of the interventions that are identified and designed through the research. The advisory boards comprise relevant government ministries, NGOs and faith‐based organisations.


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Table 5.4: Financial sustainability of the projects/centres

Project/centre Classification Timeframe Funder(s) Financial sustainability


1995, ongoing University; income generated through student businesses

The future sustainability of the Clinic depends on continued funding from the university and from income generated through student businesses.


1986, ongoing Foreign donors and the university

The university will continue to finance the clinic through budgetary allocation to the Department of Law, as the clinic is a vital part of the Law Department’s training of law graduates. The Department continues to seek additional external funding whenever this is feasible. However, it was reported that the clinic is a drain on the Department’s budget for consumables and that they have found it difficult to attract external funding.


Action research and capacity building programme

1996–2009 Foreign donors In order for it to continue, the programme needs to secure new donor funds for research, scholarships and for the post of Education Outreach Officer. There are plans to transform the programme into a Centre for San Studies at the University of Botswana. The programme aspires to develop into a research institute at a later stage.


Research project 2007–2012 Foreign donor Once the five‐year study and its associated funding is completed, sustainability is viewed in terms of the incorporation of successful interventions into school and/or Sunday school curricula. In terms of capacity building, the expectation is that all those who designed the interventions will have the skills and knowledge to apply for grants and design various behavioural interventions.


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Table 5.5: Articulation rating (maximum score = 13)

Project/centre UB Business Clinic UB Legal Clinic UB/Tromsø Research and

Capacity BuildingUB‐Penn HIV/Aids Study

Institutional objectives 2 1 2 1

National priorities 1 1 2 2

No. of funding sources 2 2 1 1

Funding sustainability 3 3 2 2

Implementation agency 0 0 2 1

Total articulation rating 8 7 9 7

Key:

Institutional objectives / National priorities: 2 = Direct (link to specific strategic objective or national priority) 1 = Indirect (broad/general reference) 0 = None (no reported link) No. of funding sources: 1 for each of the following: University; Government; Foreign donor; Income generation Funding sustainability: 1 = Once‐off, short‐term (a project that is one year or less in duration and which receives only one round of funding) 2 = Long‐term but capped (a project that is more than one year in duration and which receives one or more rounds of funding, but the funding is capped) 3 = Ongoing (a project which receives ongoing funding, e.g. from the university or from income generation) Link to implementation agency: 2 = Direct 1 = Indirect 0 = None


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5.3.3 Contribution to strengthening the academic core Table 5.6 below summarises the information pertaining to each of the projects with regard to their connection to the academic core activities of the university. ‘Core strengthening’ activities include the generation of new knowledge; the involvement of students in the project as part of their formal training; project knowledge and experience feeds into teaching and curriculum development; project knowledge and experience is published in academic publications; and, the project is linked to international academic networks. In order to rate the extent to which the projects contribute to strengthening the academic core, each of the five factors highlighted above were assigned a value of 1 when present. The results are captured in Table 5.7. Not surprisingly, the two projects which provide practical training and support services rely on the application of existing knowledge while the two research projects generate new knowledge. While participation in the work of the UB Legal Clinic is a formal part of the law students’ training, participation in the UB Business Clinic is on a voluntary basis. While students are involved in aspects of the research process of the two research projects, this does not form part of their formal training. Only the UB Legal Clinic had a direct link to teaching and only one of the research projects have already published in academic publications. The two research projects were linked to international academic networks.


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Table 5.6: Contribution to strengthening the academic core

Project/centre Classification New/existing knowledge

Link to academic core Link to international academic networks Student involvement Teaching/curriculum Publishing


Apply existing knowledge

Not part of their formal training but rather intended to cultivate a spirit of volunteerism and giving back to the community”.

No For now they are not but the Business Clinic has developed a credible database that they and faculty can start using in an effort to produce such outputs.

None


Apply existing knowledge

Compulsory practical training component for fourth‐ and fifth‐year law students.

The coordinator teaches at least one undergraduate course per semester.

None None


Action research and capacity‐building programme

Generate new knowledge

• Scholarships for San youth to attend higher education institutions.

• Involvement of students as research assistants and informants.

No Journal articles and books. Yes


Research project


Students are involved in some aspects of data collection and attend some training sessions, but not part of their formal academic programmes.

No Academic publications are in the pipeline.

Yes


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Table 5.7: Strengthening academic core rating (maximum score = 5)

Project/centre Teaching / curriculum development

Formal training of students


Academic publications

Link to international academic networks

Total rating

UB Business Clinic 0 0 0 0 0 0

UB Legal Clinic 1 1 0 0 0 2

UB/Tromsø Research and Capacity Building 0 0 1 1 1 3

UB‐Penn HIV/Aids Study 0 0 1 1 1 3

Key: 1 = Yes 0 = No


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5.3.4 Analysis of the connectedness of development projects/centres In order to analyse the development projects identified for the study, we operationalised the notion of ‘connectedness’ along two axes – the first, articulation, refers to the extent to which there is some coherence between the development projects/centres and the objectives and priorities of government and the institution, as well as linkages between the project and key external stakeholders, and especially implementation agencies. The second axis considers the extent to which the development projects/centres serve to strengthen or weaken the academic core of the institution. The total ratings for each project in terms of its articulation and contribution to strengthening the academic core of the university are summarised in Table 5.8 below. Using these ratings, each of the projects is then plotted on the articulation and academic core axes in Figure 5.1.

Table 5.8: Summary of ratings

Project/centre Articulation

(score out of 13)Academic core (score out of 5)

UB Business Clinic 8 0

UB Legal Clinic 7 2

UB/Tromsø Research and Capacity Building 9 3

UB‐Penn HIV/Aids Study 7 3


Figure 5.1: Plotting the development‐related projects

Key: BC University of Botswana Business Clinic LC University of Botswana Legal Clinic UBT University of Botswana/Tromsø Collaborative Programme for San/Basarwa Research

and Capacity Building UBP University of Botswana‐Pennsylvania State University HIV/Aids Study Following the analytical proposition, our assumption would be that for development‐related projects to make the most sustained contribution to development they would best fall within the top right‐hand quadrant in the graph; in other words, their activities articulate with national priorities and institutional strategic objectives; they have close linkages with key external stakeholders, especially any implementation agencies; and they contribute towards strengthening the academic core of the institution, rather than weakening it. As can be seen from Figure 5.1, none of the projects fall within the top right‐hand quadrant of the graph. Importantly, this means that none of the projects contribute significantly to strengthening the academic core of the institution. In fact, two of the projects score a ‘3’ and therefore lie midway along the academic core axis while one project scores a zero – meaning that it serves to weaken rather than strengthen the academic core. A senior academic had the following to say about academics getting involved in projects for their own

BC 0, 8

LC 2, 7

UBT 3, 9

UBP 3, 7

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Direct articulation

Indirectarticulation

Weakening academic core

Strengthening academic core


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personal development rather than as part of an institutional approach to addressing particular issues:

Quite often in tertiary institutions it’s very difficult to strike the balance between personal development and growth by way of people participating in projects on a personal capacity, and actually facilitating what could be regarded as an institutional effort. That is quite a leap in terms of ensuring that you set up projects within the university that actually will facilitate that. (Senior academic)

Only one of the projects – the UB/Tromsø Collaborative Programme for San/Basarwa Research and Capacity Building – scores relatively high on the articulation rating. As was highlighted earlier, all of the projects reported articulation of projects aims with institutional objectives and national priorities, although quite often indirectly. And again, only the UB/Tromsø had a direct link to an implementation agency. Finally, reflecting on the information provided in Sections 3.3 and 5.2, it is our contention that where projects are located on the articulation and academic core axes has more to do with the choices of individual academics, academic units and donors than it does on a particular institutional approach. We could also argue that the scattered picture which emerges points to a number of tensions facing the institution including, for example, the imperative to generate third‐stream income or to partner with external stakeholders to enhance the relevance of university activities, versus strengthening the academic core activities of the university.


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6.1 Introduction A vast amount of data has been gathered and presented in the preceding sections of this report. But what does this tell us about the possible contribution that higher education in Botswana can make to the country’s economic development? In order to answer this broader question, we return to the key concepts and questions which were summarised in section 1.1.3. Here, our point of departure was that higher education’s role in and contribution to economic development can best be understood by investigating the following three interrelated factors:

• The nature of the pact between the universities, political authorities and society at large;

• The nature, size and continuity of the university’s academic core; and • The level of coordination, the effectiveness of implementation, and

connectedness in the larger policy context of universities. Furthermore, these factors need to be considered in relation to various contextual features including local circumstances, institutional characteristics and external relations. By way of concluding this report, we review and analyse the data presented in order to answer the following questions:

1. How does Botswana fare on the preconditions for an effective and productive relationship between higher education and economic development identified in the international case studies (see Pillay 2010b)?

2. To what extent is there a pact between key stakeholders (national and

institutional) in Botswana about the role of higher education in general, and in relation to economic development in particular?

Part 6

Key findings

AT A GLANCE

• Macro‐observations about higher education and economic development in Botswana

• The nature of the pact around the role of higher education in Botswana • The strength of the UB’s academic core • The connectedness of the university’s development‐related activities to the

academic core


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3. Does UB, as a specific case, have capacity to make a contribution to economic development in terms of: a. The nature and strength of the academic core; and b. The connectedness of its development‐related activities to the academic

core?

6.2 Some macro‐observations about higher education and economic development in Botswana Pundy Pillay’s investigation of three systems (Finland, South Korea, North Carolina state) suggested a number of ‘preconditions’ for an effective and productive relationship between higher education and economic development (Pillay 2010b). These were summarised in section 1.1.2.

How does Botswana fare in meeting these preconditions?

1. High quality schooling: While participation rates in primary and secondary education are relatively high, the evidence suggests that there is still a long way to go to achieving universally high quality of provision and outcomes in the schooling system. There is some evidence also that the drop‐out rates throughout the different phases of schooling are high with the result that a relatively small proportion of the relevant age‐cohort is able to access higher education. Improving quality of schooling must therefore be a priority for policy‐makers in order to ensure the development of a more ‘successful’ (i.e. vis‐à‐vis development) higher education system.

2. Effective economic and education planning. The government has produced a

number of impressive planning documents including Botswana Vision 2016 and the National Development Plans. In all of these, the role of education is stressed, particularly that of higher education, if Botswana is to become a player in both the globalising world and knowledge economy. However, much more needs to be done around indicative planning in both sectors to ensure that: • The higher education sector is able to produce appropriate human capital

outcomes through its education and training function, and technology through its research and innovation function; and

• The economy is able to productively use such higher education outputs to drive the country onto a higher growth path from the current one based on primary commodities.

3. Role of the state. The state in Botswana plays a strong and innovative role in

higher education especially with respect to the overall level of funding, human resource planning, and stimulating partnerships with the private sector, both


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with private higher education institutions, and in creating a public‐private partnership leading to the establishment of the new University of Technology. However, the state needs to consider whether it is using its limited financial resources in the most equitable, efficient and effective manner possible. In this regard, consideration should be given to the introduction of more widespread cost sharing in public institutions.

4. Partnerships. There is evidence of partnerships between the state and the

private sector (e.g. the new university of technology). However, it is not clear what role the state plays in promoting industry–university partnerships around research and innovation, a key factor for enhanced economic development. Given the ‘infant’ nature of the Botswana economy (outside of diamonds) and its dependence on South Africa for manufactured goods and services, it may be necessary for the government to provide incentives to stimulate the start‐up of such industry–university linkages around research and innovation.

5. Institutional differentiation. Given the small size of the public university sector,

it is to be expected that there will be little functional differentiation and that the established University of Botswana will attempt to undertake its education and training, and research and innovation functions on as wide a front as possible. However, there are two other elements of differentiation, that is, between public and private institutions, and between universities and colleges. With respect to the former, it is evident that the private institutions are growing at a much faster rate in terms of enrolments. From an access point of view, this is encouraging as long as the TEC is ensuring that a high (or at least comparable) quality of education is being provided. With respect to the colleges, anecdotal evidence suggests that quality remains a huge challenge. Given that about half of the tertiary education student body attends these institutions, it raises important concerns about the ability of these institutions to produce human capital that is appropriately geared to contribute to economic growth and development.

6. Quality. Serious questions have been raised about the quality of teaching and

learning across the higher education system. It is evident that serious efforts have to be made to improve quality of outputs emerging from the system to enable higher education to play a more clearly defined role in economic development.

7. Funding. State funding of higher education is in line with international

benchmarks. However, questions can be raised on two fronts. First, it is evident that the system of state funding of students ostensibly through a combination of loans and grants may be inefficient (with respect to poor recovery of loans) and ineffective (in attaining the desired graduate outcomes). Second, consideration should be given to the introduction of increased cost‐sharing through more widely‐spread use of tuition fees in public institutions.


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8. Innovation. On a global scale, Botswana belongs to a large group of developing countries that are neither involved in science and technology innovation nor its diffusion at any significant level. The capacity to innovate and diffuse technology is a product of the quality of physical infrastructure; the state of education and educational attainment by the citizenry; the size and maturity of markets; as well as the level of integration into the world economy through trade and investment. Looking at Botswana’s strong fiscal position, it has been argued that it meets the basic requirements for developing a strong science and technology capability and capacity. It has research institutions that are well resourced to carry out significant research, but outputs have to date not been reflective of this potential. Moreover, the state needs to define more clearly what the role of higher education institutions can and should be with respect to innovation.

6.3 Evidence of a pact around the role of higher education in Botswana? For the purposes of this study, we use the definition of a pact provided by Gornitzka et al. (2007: 184):

A ‘pact’ is a fairly long‐term cultural commitment to and from the University, as an institution with its own foundational rules of appropriate practices, causal and normative beliefs, and resources, yet validated by the political and social system in which the University is embedded. A pact, then, is different from a contract based on continuous strategic calculation of expected value by public authorities, organised external groups, university employees, and students –all regularly monitoring and assessing the University on the basis of its usefulness for their self‐interest, and acting accordingly.

The key actors of the pact are national, institutional and external stakeholders. It is assumed that the stronger the pact between universities, university leadership, national authorities and society at large, the better the universities will be able to make a significant, sustained contribution to development. Our interest is in exploring the extent to which there is a pact around the role for higher education in economic development in Botswana. Key to the development of such a pact is agreement or consensus that there should be a role and then about what that role should entail. In order to investigate this aspect, we have sought to address the following questions:

1. Is there a role for knowledge production and for universities in the national development plan?


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2. How do the relevant national authorities and institutional stakeholders talk about and conceptualise the role of universities?

The role of knowledge and universities in national and institutional policies and plans were operationalised into a series of indicators. These indicators were then rated on a 3‐2‐1 scale by three of the researchers. The indicators and the ratings (indicated by shading) are presented in Table 6.1 below.

Table 6.1: Role for knowledge and universities in development in Botswana

National Rating = 4/6

The concept of a knowledge economy features in the national development plan

3 Strong Appears in a number of policies

2 Weak Only mentioned in one policy

1 Absent Not mentioned at all

A role for higher education in development in national policies and plans

3 Prevalent Clearly mentioned in development policies

2 Weak

1 Absent

Institutional (UB) Rating = 3/6

Concept of a knowledge economy features in institutional policies and plans

3 Features strongly in strategic plan and/or research policy/strategy

2 Vague reference in strategic plan or research policy

1 Not mentioned at all

Institutional policies with regard to the university’s role in economic development

3 Institutional policy

2 Embedded in strategic plan, research policy etc

1 No formal policies

FINDINGS:

• The education department, through the TEC, has a state‐of‐the‐art knowledge economy policy, but it is not shared across other departments yet.

• There is no broad agreement that knowledge, and by implication higher education, is key to development.

• The reorganisation of the TEC and human resources department shows an emerging awareness about the importance of the knowledge economy approach.

6.3.1 Notions of the role of knowledge and universities in development How do national and institutional stakeholders conceptualise the role of higher education and the university in development? And, to what extent is there consensus or disjuncture between the national and institutional levels? Our conceptual framework for addressing these questions comprises four notions of


the relationship between higher education (especially universities) and national development. These four notions12, which are elaborated upon below, emerge in the interaction between the following two sets of scenarios:

• Whether or not a role is foreseen for new knowledge in the national development strategy; and

• Whether or not universities, as knowledge institutions, have a role in the national development strategy. These two sets of scenarios, and the concomitant four notions of the role of universities, are depicted in Figure 6.1 below:

Figure 6.1: The four notions of the role of knowledge and universities in development

12 These four notions are based on ideas developed by Maassen and Cloete (2006) and Maassen and Olsen (2007).

AncillarySelf‐

governing

Instrument Engine

University not part of development strategy

No/marginal role for new knowledge in development

strategy

Central role for new knowledge in development

strategy

University part of development strategy


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The four notions are elaborated as follows:

• The university as ancillary: In this notion, there is a strong focus on political/ideological starting‐points for development. Consequently, it is assumed that there is no need for a strong (scientific) knowledge basis for development strategies and policies. Neither is it necessary for the university to play a direct role in development since the emphasis is on investments in basic healthcare, agricultural production and primary education. The role of universities is to produce educated civil servants and professionals (with teaching based on transmitting established knowledge rather than on research), as well as different forms of community service.

• The university as self‐governing institution: Knowledge produced at the university is considered important for national development – especially for the improvement of healthcare and the strengthening of agricultural production. However, this notion assumes that the most relevant knowledge is produced when academics from the North and the South cooperate in externally‐funded projects, rather than being steered by the state. This notion portrays the university as playing an important role in developing the national identity and in producing high‐level bureaucrats and scientific knowledge – but not directly related to national development; the university is committed to serving society as a whole rather than specific stakeholders. This notion assumes that the university is most effective when it is left to itself, and can determine its own priorities according to universal criteria, independent of the particularities of a specific geographical, national, cultural or religious context. It also assumes there is no need to invest additional public funds to increase the relevance of the university.

• The university as instrument for development agendas: In this notion, the university has an important role to play in national development – not through the production of new scientific knowledge, but through expertise exchange and capacity building. The focus of the university’s development efforts should be on contributing to reducing poverty and disease, to improving agricultural production, and to supporting small business development – primarily through consultancy activities (especially for government agencies and development aid) and through direct involvement in local communities.

• The university as engine of development: This notion assumes that knowledge plays a central role in national development – in relation to improving healthcare and agricultural production, but also in relation to innovations in the private sector, especially in areas such as information and communication technology, biotechnology and engineering. Within this notion the university is seen as (one of) the core institutions in the national development model. The underlying assumption is that the university is the only institution in society that can provide an adequate foundation for the complexities of the emerging knowledge economy when it comes to producing the relevant skills and


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competencies of the employees in all major sectors, as well as to the production of use‐oriented knowledge. Table 6.2 below summarises the notions of the role of higher education held by national and institutional stakeholders, and indicates whether the notion is strong, prevalent, present or absent altogether. The UB stakeholders interviewed show a very clear awareness of a shift from the traditional personpower development role of the university to an orientation towards the production of knowledge. Very clearly articulated is that the university has a development role and, at least among leadership, there was no mention of an institutional approach, or any mention of autonomy and isolation. While the overall discourse is instrumental there is also a strong ‘engagement’ or service orientation, and at the leadership level the focus is on research, innovation and industry. However, even in the interviews it emerged that implementing this new development orientation is very difficult, and at this stage it is more on the level of aspiration, with very little implementation. While acknowledging that there is seldom a single notion within the university about the role of higher education, in Botswana there was a very strong emphasis in both the interviews and the key planning and strategy documents that the university must be connected, through its role as ‘the knowledge institution’, to national development. The knowledge economy notion runs concurrent with that of the instrument for development notion but, interestingly, the latter is directed at government and business, while there is very little mention of linkages to communities, particularly in the strategic plans. The discourse is certainly moving away from a more traditional ‘ancillary’ view where the main task was to train civil service and professionals. The two more established discourses are between an autonomous institution training relevant personpower and the need to be more involved in community service. The engine notion is clearly growing, particularly amongst leadership, but it is not prevailing.


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Table 6.2: Comparing national and institutional notions of the role of higher education in Botswana

Notions National stakeholders Institutional stakeholders

Ancillary • Officially not, but frequently

• University key for development

Self‐governing Ambiguous towards autonomy

Present amongst some senior academics, but not leadership

Instrument for development agendas

Feels university is not doing enough

Strong service orientation amongst some staff

Engine for development Mainly in new education policy

Increasing orientation towards its importance

Key:

Strong Prevalent • Present

FINDINGS:

• In terms of notions of the role of the university in development, at the national level there was quite a strong leaning towards the instrument for development approach, while at the university there were a number of competing notions but a stronger inclination towards the notion of the university as ancillary.

• At neither national nor institutional levels was there agreement about the role of the university in development. It is quite surprising that amongst university leadership there was not a stronger engine of development approach, particularly in the context of the institution’s involvement in the innovation hubs.

6.4 The academic core of the University of Botswana The university’s unique contribution to development is via knowledge – either transmitting knowledge to individuals who will go out into the world and contribute to society in a variety of ways (teaching), or producing and disseminating knowledge that can be applied to the problems of society and economy (research, engagement). Part of our conceptual framework for understanding what impacts on a university’s ability to make a sustainable contribution to development therefore focuses on the nature and strength of its knowledge activities. According to Burton Clark (1998), when an enterprising university evolves a stronger steering core and develops an outreach structure, its heartland is still in the traditional academic departments, formed around disciplines and some interdisciplinary fields. The heartland is where traditional academic values and activities such as teaching, research and training of the next generation of


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academics occur. Instead of ‘heartland’, we use the concept ‘academic core’. According to our analytical assumption, it is this core that needs to be strengthened if flagship universities – such as those included in this study – as key knowledge institutions, are to contribute to development. While most universities also engage in knowledge activities in the area of community service or outreach, our contention is that the backbone or the foundation of the university’s business is its academic core – that is, its teaching via academic degree programmes, its research output, and the production of doctorates (those individuals who, in the future, will be responsible for carrying out the core knowledge activities). Furthermore, in societies where there is a strong pact between higher education and society, the universities have been able (and allowed) to develop a strong core of academic activities that forms the basis for all their activities. Our interest in the academic core of the UB has the following two dimensions:

1. What is the strength of the academic core of the institution? 2. Has the academic core been strengthening or weakening in recent years?

In Part 4 of this report, we presented a detailed profile and analysis of the nature and strength of the UB academic core. The analysis was undertaken on the basis of seven key indicators (see Table 6.3 below). The rating of the UB indicators was undertaken on the basis of a cluster analysis which included South Africa’s 22 contact universities and the seven other African universities included in the study.


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Table 6.3: University of Botswana: Rating of the academic core

Indicator Strong (3) Medium (2) Weak (1)

1 Science, engineering and technology enrolments and graduations

SET enrolments = 22% for both 2001 and 2007

2 Postgraduate/undergraduate enrolments ratio Masters/PhD enrolment ratio

Postgraduates = 9% of enrolments (2007); Doctorates = 5% of combined masters/doctoral total (2007)

3 Teaching load: Academic staff‐student ratio

FTE student: academic ratio = 17:1 (2007)

4 Proportion of academic staff with doctorates

31% of academics with doctorates (2007)

5 Research income per permanent academic staff member

No information provided, but assumed to be low

6 Doctoral graduates Graduates in 2007 constituted 0.66% of permanent academics

7 Research publications Research productivity poor (0.16 per academic). Ratios of outputs to academic staff well below research university targets

The following observations can be made about the academic core data for the UB:

1. SET enrolments: UB’s SET enrolments grew from 2600 in 2001 to 3600 in 2007. The average annual SET growth rate was 5.6% over this period, which was the same rate as that for total enrolments. The proportion of SET students remained low at 22% in 2007. Its SET graduation rate dropped over the period.

2. Postgraduate enrolments: UB’s proportion of postgraduate students in its total

enrolment remained low. This proportion was only 7% in 2001 and 9% in 2007. It did however report a rapid growth in masters enrolments, which increased from 493 in 2001 to 951 in 2007. The masters graduates total did not, however, increase at the same rate as the enrolment total, which implies that UB may have begun to experience some problems with masters graduation rates. Doctoral enrolments remained low over the period, reaching a total of 41 in 2007 which was 0.3% of UB’s total student enrolment in 2007.

3. Teaching load: Between 2001 and 2007, UB’s FTE academic staff total grew at

half the average annual growth rate in FTE students. As a consequence, its FTE


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student to FTE academic staff ratio increased from 14:1 in 2001 to 17:1 in 2007. Its 2007 ratio could nevertheless be regarded as a satisfactory one for a university which has only 22% of its students in SET programmes. The university’s permanent academics must, in 2007, have had reasonable teaching loads, even though the university appears to employ no temporary or part‐time academic staff.

4. Qualifications of staff: In 2007, 31% of UB’s permanent academic staff had

doctorates as their highest formal qualifications. This is a proportion which is close to the average for South African universities.

5. Research funding: The university did not provide information on research

funding. This could imply that it is not able to fund adequately its research activities.

6. Doctoral graduates: Doctoral graduates increased from three in 2001 to four in

2007, which is along with Eduardo Mondlane the lowest in the HERANA sample. The very low ratio of 0.66% of doctoral graduates to permanent academic staff means that the university cannot reproduce itself.

7. Research publications: In terms of research publications UB’s output is low. Its

2007 ratio of publication units per permanent academic was, at 0.16, well below the ratio of 0.50 which has been set as a target for South Africa’s research universities. In terms of input variables, UB has teaching loads which should enable its academic staff to support research activities, but the problem seems to be in the low percentage of staff with doctorates, low postgraduate enrolments and very low research income (the university, not the government, is making strenuous efforts to increase research income). On the output side SET graduation rate is strong, but knowledge production, doctoral graduates and research publications, are weak. The factors that appear to be weakening the academic core include an incentive system that does not reward knowledge production, low percentage of staff with doctorates and low research income. UB is clearly facing an enormous challenge to move from the traditional undergraduate teaching university to an institution that can make a more significant contribution to knowledge production, and development.


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FINDINGS:

• The knowledge production output variables of the academic core do not seem strong enough to enable the university to make a sustainable contribution to development.

• The university is not significantly changing from a predominantly undergraduate teaching institution.

• On the input side, UB scored strong on staff teaching load, and medium on staff qualifications and postgraduate enrolments.

• UB was strong on SET graduation rates, but weak on doctoral graduates and research output.

• The most serious challenges to strengthening the academic core seem to be to increase research funding, doctoral graduation rates and research outputs.

6.5 Coordination and connectedness Knowledge policies have become increasingly important in the context of the knowledge economy. Broadly speaking, knowledge policies refer to political mechanisms (such as policies and incentives) that are aimed at improving the (knowledge) capacity of a country to participate in the global knowledge economy. Such policies thus relate to the higher education and science and technology sectors, and to high‐level skills training, research and innovation. The coordination of knowledge policies can take place at the level of both policy formulation and policy implementation. In this project ‘coordination’ is used to refer to more structured forms of interaction, mainly between government and institutions; in other words, the knowledge policies and implementation activities of different government departments, particularly departments of education, science and technology, and research councils. Of specific interest to this study is the coordination of knowledge policies across ministries involved with higher education, science, technology and innovation, as well as those responsible for economic development or planning. Implementation can be regarded as a component of the coordination of government policies and is a complex combination of agreement (relevant parties support the policy) and capacity to design and apply the implementation mechanisms or instruments. At the national level we looked at the role of the ministry responsible for higher education, steering and funding. At the institutional level, indicators dealt with aspects such as units or structures to implement strategic plans, incentives and rewards, special teaching and research programmes that link to economic development and funding support for research.


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Another key issue for the relationship between higher education and economic development is to establish a productive relationship between knowledge and connectedness. On the one hand, if there is an overemphasis on the basic knowledge activities of teaching and research – in other words, an excessive inward orientation towards strengthening the academic core – this results in the university becoming an ‘ivory tower’. Or, if the academic core is weak, an overemphasis on knowledge results in the ‘ancillary’ role of the university (i.e. no direct role in development). On the other hand, if there is an overemphasis in the university on connecting to development activities, then it weakens the academic core and the university has little new or relevant knowledge to offer in the exchange relationship. The challenge for universities, then, is to deal with this inherent tension between ‘buffering’ (protecting) the core technologies of the institution, and ‘bridging’ (linking) those with external actors (Scott 2001: 199‐211). For the purposes of this study, we are using the term ‘connectedness’ to refer to the relationship (and tension) between the inward focus on strengthening and maintaining the academic core, and the outward focus on linking with external stakeholders and development. In this section, we address the following three questions relating to coordination and connectedness:

1. Does government coordinate policies and steering mechanisms that enable the university to contribute to development?

2. Does the university connect to external groupings in ways that promote development?

3. Do development activities in the university strengthen or weaken the academic core?

6.5.1 Knowledge policy coordination and implementation At the national level, despite the acceptance of a ‘knowledge economy’ policy by the Department of Education and parliament, there is still weak, or unsystematic linking of education and economic policies, a weak Ministry of Education (apparently to be strengthened by the TEC) resulting in weak implementation (policies, resources and incentives). Funding for higher education is not strongly supplemented by third stream income and therefore there is some funding unpredictability. Finally, there seems to be weak coordination and consensus‐building, a lack of formal structures to facilitate coordination, and networks are political rather than promoting productive cooperation. The establishment of the Human Resource Development Council through the merger of three public sector institutions is, apart from fiscal pressures, an


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attempt at improved planning, policy co‐ordination, oversight and service delivery in term of human resources.

Table 6.4: National coordination of knowledge policies


Economic development and higher education planning are linked

3 Systematic Formal structures Headed by senior minister

2 Sporadic Clusters / forums

1 Weak Occasional meetings

Link between universities and national authorities

3 Specific coordination structures or agencies

2 Some formal structures but no meaningful coordination

1 No structures, and political rather than professional networks

Coordination and consensus building of government agencies involved in higher education

3 Higher education mainstreamed across government departments

2 Intermittent interaction with ineffective forums

1 Higher education issues limited mainly to one ministry or directorate

FINDINGS:

• At the national level, there seem to be many informal interactions, but few institutionalised processes of coordination.

• While there are considerable personal networks between government officials and particular university leaders, it is not clear whether this contributes towards strengthening the institution or the sector.


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Table 6.5: Implementation of knowledge policies and activities


Role of the ministry responsible for higher education

3 Organised ministry with capacity to make predictable allocations

2 Spots of capacity with some steering instruments

1 Weak capacity with unpredictable allocations

Implementation to ‘steer’ higher education towards development

3 Strong Instruments such as funding / special projects that incentivise institutions/individuals

2 Weak Occasional grants for special projects

1 Absent No particular incentive funding

Balance / ratio of sources of income for institutions

3 Government, fees and third stream

2 Mainly government plus student fees

1 Mainly government with external funders

Funding consistency 3 A stable, transparent public funding mechanism based on criteria agreed upon by all actors involved

2 Funding allocations somewhat predictable but do not allow for long‐term planning nor reward enterprising behaviour

1 No clear funding or incentives from government

Institutional (UB) Rating = 10/18

Specific units, funding or appointments linked economic development

3 Specific units, funding or appointments

2 Economic development initiatives aspect of a unit or appointment

1 Mainly ad hoc, staff‐initiated operations

Incentives and rewards for development‐related activities

3 Incentives / counts towards promotion

2 Some signals but largely rhetoric

1 No mention

Teaching programmes linked to the labour market

3 Targets for enrolments in fields considered to be of high economic relevance

2 Some programmes in response to specific industry requests

1 No new programmes linked to labour market

Special programmes linking students to economic development

3 Entrepreneurship, work‐based learning and/or incubators for students mainstreamed

2 Ad hoc programmes

1 No special programmes

Research activities are becoming more economy‐oriented

3 Research policy/strategy has an economic development focus

2 Some research agendas have an economic development focus

1 Ad hoc project funding

Levels of government and institutional funding for research

3 High

2 Medium

1 Low


104

FINDINGS:

• At the national level, one of the weaknesses is implementation, with a continued disagreement about the role of the Department of Education and the TEC.

• While the university does have development‐related structures and special programmes linking it to development initiatives, the problem is that in too many cases these initiatives are driven by individuals rather than being institutionalised. In addition, these special implementation efforts need to be more connected.

• The university, within tight budget constraints, is trying to strengthen research related to development activities. However, research related to development is not significantly rewarded through incentives beyond the traditional academic promotion system.

6.5.2 Connectedness to external stakeholders and the academic core

UB has a new engagement strategy that has clear intentions of connecting to government, communities and industry. Amongst others, it intends to establish a facilitating environment for the commercialisation of research and development; to improve opportunities for better employment; and to contribute to sustainable communities where people benefit from improved cultural offerings. Specific strategies include the following:

• Increasing knowledge and technology transfer (including consultancy, contract research, lease of specialist equipment and facilities);

• Increasing student work placements and labour market relevance; • Participation in the Botswana Innovation Hub; • Establishment of the Centre for Entrepreneurial Development, and a University

Enterprise Unit which will provide support to the development of commerce and industry, technology and development to generate third stream income; and

• Expansion of health programmes and research. While the university does appear to have a history of interaction with the government, a number of respondents expressed a somewhat pessimistic view of the relationship. Examples of this included a lack of communication and cooperation between the two; a negative perception of the university on the part of government; and government preferring to use external consultants rather than university expertise. There was very little mention of linkages with industry although there are some developments on the horizon, such as the Botswana Innovation Hub which, if operationalised, will serve to strengthen these linkages. At the same time, there are no real incentives for academics to get involved in engagement or development‐related work – whether with government or industry. There is also no specific unit for coordinating internal and external interests.


With regard to the connectedness of development‐related activities to the academic core, the articulation and academic ratings applied to the four projects/centres (section 5.3) are presented again in Figure 6.2 below.

Figure 6.2: Plotting the development‐related projects/centres at the University of Botswana

Key: BC University of Botswana Business Clinic LC University of Botswana Legal Clinic UBT University of Botswana/Tromsø Collaborative Programme for San/Basarwa Research

and Capacity Building UBP University of Botswana‐Pennsylvania State University HIV/Aids Study Following the analytical proposition, our assumption would be that for development‐related projects to make the most sustained contribution to development they would best fall within the top right‐hand quadrant in the graph; in other words, their activities articulate with national priorities and institutional strategic objectives; they have close linkages with key external stakeholders, especially any implementation agencies; and they contribute

BC 0, 8

LC 2, 7

UBT 3, 9

UBP 3, 7

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Direct articulation

Indirectarticulation

Weakening academic core

Strengthening academic core


106

towards strengthening the academic core of the institution, rather than weakening it. As can be seen from Figure 6.2, none of the projects fall within the top right‐hand quadrant of the graph. Importantly, this means that none of the projects contribute significantly to strengthening the academic core of the institution. In fact, two of the projects score a ‘3’ and therefore lie midway along the academic core axis while one project scores a zero – meaning that it serves to weaken rather than strengthen the academic core. Only one of the projects – the UB/Tromsø Collaborative Programme for San/Basarwa Research and Capacity Building – scores relatively high on the articulation rating. As was highlighted earlier, all of the projects reported articulation of projects aims with institutional objectives and national priorities, although quite often indirectly. And again, only the UB/Tromsø had a direct link to an implementation agency. Finally, it is our contention that where projects are located on the articulation and academic core axes has more to do with the choices of individual academics, academic units and donors than it does with a particular institutional approach. We could also argue that the scattered picture which emerges points to a number of tensions facing the institution including, for example, the imperative to generate third‐stream income or to partner with external stakeholders to enhance the relevance of university activities, versus strengthening the academic core activities of the university.

FINDINGS:

• The university is amongst others attempting to connect to development through the proposed innovation hubs, but these do not seem to have taken off yet.

• Projects/centres that are considered by university leadership to be strongly connected to development tend to score well on the articulation indicators – in other words, they reflect national priorities (and to a lesser extent institutional objectives), have more than one funding source and, in some cases, plans for financial sustainability, and may have a connection to an implementation agency.

• However, none of these projects/centres also manage to keep a strong connection to the academic core of the university.

6.6 Concluding comments Botswana is a small country with a high GDP, but also a high inequality index, meaning a ‘trickle‐down’ approach to development. Its development approach


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has been excessively natural resource driven, but there is a growing realisation that ‘diamonds are not forever’, meaning a shift towards the importance of human capital. There is access to schooling but participation in higher education is relatively low internationally (although high within the Southern African region), but is growing. State funding is relatively high but it only reaches the elite. At the national level, the acceptance by government of the recommendations put forward by the TEC towards recognising the importance of human resources, rather than natural resources, as a future driver of development is a very important step. However, as can be seen from the above ratings, this is not reflected in other policies, nor is higher education necessarily seen as a key contributor. The commitment to knowledge as a basis for development is moderate with a growing awareness, but not with a significant shift in resources yet. Botswana’s higher education systems’ ability to respond to the needs of the knowledge economy can be characterised as ‘poor’, as is the capacity/potential for research and innovation. However, there is a growing discourse on moving towards a knowledge economy, high skills approach, with a new science and technology university and the planned innovation hubs. But it has not yet invested sufficiently in either the universities or innovation, nor has it provided appropriate incentives for partnerships. As yet there is not effective linking of education and economic planning, nor acceptance of the knowledge economy approach across departments at the national level. Coordination structures are weak or unsystematic and networks are more political than ‘productive’.

6.6.1 Factors impacting on the university’s capacity to contribute to development In terms of input variables, UB has a favourable staff teaching load, and an acceptable proportion of staff with doctorates. In terms of output variables such as the production of research publications and of doctoral graduates, the university performed poorly in comparison to South Africa’s research‐intensive universities. The key factors that seem to be weakening the academic core are (a) the low proportion of postgraduate students, (b) the low numbers of students in the doctoral research stream, and (c) the poor output of research publications. A positive development is that UB has not experienced a rapid growth in student enrolments, which should enable it to consolidate its programme offerings, and move to increase enrolments in SET.

In terms of articulation, it seems that from the side of government there is not enough support, either financially or in terms of interaction to help the university to move from a more traditional undergraduate teaching institution


108

to strengthening postgraduate programmes and producing new knowledge. The engagement strategy and the innovation hubs are certainly moves in the right direction, but these need more implementation support. As is reflected in the academic core summary above, within the institution the new vision of becoming an increased skills‐, research‐ and innovation‐orientated partner and driver in a new development path has not been realised. Both government and the university are having problems in making tough reallocation decisions, meaning that the pact is not strong enough to make unpopular trade‐offs, resulting in few real resource redistributions to implement the new vision.


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Clark B (1998) Creating Entrepreneurial Universities: Organisational pathways of

transformation. Pergamon IAU Press Cloete N, Maassen P, Pillay P, Bailey T, Pinheiro R and Muller J (2010) Higher Education

and Economic Development: Analytical Framework. Cape Town: Centre for Higher Education Transformation

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New Production of Knowledge: The dynamics of science and research in contemporary societies. California: Sage Publications

Gornitzka Å, Maassen P, Olsen JP and Stensaker B (2007) ‘Europe of knowledge’:

Search for a new pact. In: P Maassen and JP Olsen (eds), University Dynamics and European Integration. Dordrecht: Springer, pp181‐214

Government of Botswana (1996) Long Term Vision: Towards Prosperity for All.

Gaborone: Government of Botswana Hobbs J (2006) Rights‐Based Development. In: Gudrun Kochendorfer and Boris

Pleskovic (eds) Equity and Development. Washington DC: Inwent and the World Bank

INSEAD (2010) Global Innovation Index Report 2009–2010. INSEAD Business School Juma CC (2005) Going for Growth: Science, technology and innovation in Africa. Report.

Harvard: The Smith Institute Mazonde I (2009) Background information on the University of Botswana. Document

prepared for research team prior to the site visit. MCST (2005) Botswana National Research, Science and Technology Plan. Gaborone:

Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology MFDP (2003) National Development Plan 9. Gaborone: Ministry of Finance and

Development Planning MFDP (2008) National Development Plan 10. Gaborone: Ministry of Finance and

Development Planning


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OECD (2008) Tertiary Education for the Knowledge Society. Paris: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development

Pillay P (2010a) Higher Education and Economic Development: A literature review. Cape

Town: Centre for Higher Education Transformation Pillay P (2010b) Linking Higher Education and Economic Development: Implications for

Africa from three successful systems. Cape Town: Centre for Higher Education Transformation

Poverty Strategy Unit (2007) Annual Poverty Monitoring Report 2006/07. Gaborone:

Rural Development Coordination Division Scott WR (2001) Organizations: Rational, natural, and open systems. Upper Saddle

River, NJ: Pearson Education International Sen A (1998) Development as Freedom. Oxford: University Press Siphambe H (2010) Higher Education Financing in Botswana. In Higher Education

Financing in East and Southern Africa. Pundy Pillay (ed). Cape Town: African Minds

TEC (2005) Tertiary Education Policy for Botswana: Challenges and choices.

Consultation Paper. Gaborone: Tertiary Education Council TEC (2005) Tertiary Education Council Strategic Plan 2005‐2009. Gaborone: Tertiary

Education Council UB (2002) Research and Development Policy. Gaborone: University of Botswana UB (2004) Shaping our Future: UB’s strategic priorities and actions 2009 and beyond.

Gaborone: University of Botswana Council UB (2008a) A Strategy for Excellence: The University of Botswana strategic plan to 2016

and beyond. Gaborone: University of Botswana Council, June 2008 UB (2008b) University Research Strategy. Gaborone: University of Botswana UNDP (1990) Human Development Report 1990. New York: United Nations

Development Programme UNDP (2009) Human Development Report 2009. Overcoming barriers: Human mobility

and development. New York: United Nations Development Programme UNESCO (2007) EFA Global Monitoring Report. Paris: United Nations Educational,

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Weeks SG (2003) Country profile: Botswana. International Network for Higher Education in Africa. Available at http://bc.edu/bc_org/avp/soe/cihe/inhea/profiles/Botswana.htm#cite [accessed at 8 April 2009]

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Bank


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Appendix 1: List of Interviewees

University of Botswana

• Dr Dawid Katzke (Deputy Vice Chancellor: Finance and Administration) • Prof. Isaac Mazonde (Director: Research and Development) • Prof. MB Khonga (Dean: Botswana College of Agriculture) • Prof. B Tsie (Dean: Faculty of Social Sciences) • Prof. Herman Batibo (UB‐Tromso Basarwa Research Programme) • Dr MMM Bolaane (UB‐Tromso Basarwa Research Programme) • Prof. B Chilisa (Principal Investigator: UB‐UPENN HIV Study) • Dr Jennifer Hays (UB‐Tromso Basarwa Research Programme) • Dr Kapunda (Dept of Economics) • Dr G Mookodi (Head: Dept of Sociology) • Prof. N Narayana (Acting Head: Dept of Economics) • Dr Gabo Ntseane (Head: Department of Adult Education) • Mr EDM Odirile (UB Business Clinic, Faculty of Business) • Prof. EK Quansah (Project: UB Legal Clinic) • Dr Wapula Raditloaneng (Dept of Adult Education) • Prof. Siphambe (Dept of Economics)

Botswana national stakeholders

• Sebolaaphuti Kutlwano (Ministry of Finance and Development Planning) • Mr Richard Neill (Director: Policy and Planning, Tertiary Education Council)


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Appendix 2: Cluster analysis methodology and data

A K‐means clustering analysis was applied for the identification of four statistically significant and distinct clusters. Averages for 2005 to 2007 were used for input variables as well as non‐financial output variables. Financial data for 2007 were used. Original values for all variables were statistically scaled to make the data comparable and to ensure equal weighting for all variables. The following input variables were used for the clustering analysis:

• % headcount enrolments in science, engineering and technology (% SET); • % masters and doctoral headcount enrolments (% M & D students); • Inverse of the student: academic/research staff FTE ratio (inverse of stud: staff

FTE ratio); • % of permanent academic/ research staff with a doctoral degree (% staff with

PhD); • % private income; • Total income per FTE student (purchasing power parity dollar thousands)

(income per FTE); and • Academic staff costs per FTE academic (purchasing power parity dollar

thousands) (staff cost per FTE). The following output variables were used for the clustering analysis:

• Graduation rate (number of graduates in a given year/ enrolments in a given year x 100); and

• Research outputs (doctoral graduates + research publications). The data values are shown in Table A2.1 over page. Figure A2.1 lists the universities in the four clusters and plots the means for each cluster.


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Table A2.1: Cluster analysis data table

INPUT INDICATORS OUTPUT INDICATORS

Total 2007 head counts (thousands)

Averages for 2005‐2007 2007 only 2007 income 2007 expenditure Averages for 2005‐2007

% SET % M & D students

Student: staff FTE ratio

% Staff with PhD

% Private Income

Income per FTE(purchasing power parity

dollar thousands)

Academic staff costs per FTE academic (purchasing power

parity dollar thousands)

Graduation rate

Weighted research output per permanent academic

LARGE CONTACT Tshwane University of Technology 51 38% 3% 31 12% 16% 10.5 81.0 19% 0.27

University of Pretoria 49 38% 15% 18 38% 40% 24.8 92.8 24% 1.36North West University 45 20% 8% 30 43% 37% 12.6 106.2 24% 1.17University of Johannesburg 42 31% 5% 16 18% 27% 15.9 46.0 23% 0.94University of Nairobi 39 30% 16% 16 71% 34% 9.9 58.7 16% 0.45University of KwaZulu Natal 38 32% 14% 18 30% 37% 21.2 96.1 21% 1.07Makerere University 34 31% 7% 18 31% 15% 5.9 48.7 26% 0.51MEDIUM CONTACT Cape Peninsula University of Technology 29 48% 2% 26 11% 27% 15.3 98.1 22% 0.20

University of the Free State 25 29% 12% 17 49% 30% 18.2 73.6 21% 1.27University of the Witwatersrand 25 48% 23% 11 45% 51% 39.7 96.7 21% 1.52

Walter Sisulu University 24 26% 1% 30 9% 5% 8.7 108.6 12% 0.05Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University 24 30% 7% 29 34% 25% 18.4 120.1 23% 0.82

Stellenbosch University 23 41% 22% 16 61% 51% 36.4 90.9 25% 2.03Durban University of Technology 23 48% 2% 28 7% 11% 12.4 108.9 20% 0.14

University of Cape Town 21 42% 18% 13 58% 42% 40.0 99.3 26% 2.13University of Dar es Salaam 18 39% 10% 15 50% 16% 8.6 44.1 24% 0.40University of Ghana 26 18% 6% 29 47% 15% 6.3 68.5 20% 0.53SMALL CONTACT University of Limpopo 16 44% 11% 16 16% 19% 21.3 77.5 21% 0.31Vaal University of Technology 16 48% 1% 31 12% 13% 11.4 81.5 15% 0.12

Eduardo Mondlane 16 50% 3% 12 19% 14% 5.6 24.9 8% 0.03


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INPUT INDICATORS OUTPUT INDICATORS

Total 2007 head counts (thousands)

Averages for 2005‐2007 2007 only 2007 income 2007 expenditure Averages for 2005‐2007

% SET % M & D students

Student: staff FTE ratio

% Staff with PhD

% Private Income

Income per FTE(purchasing power parity

dollar thousands)

Academic staff costs per FTE academic (purchasing power

parity dollar thousands)

Graduation rate

Weighted research output per permanent academic

University University of Botswana 16 25% 23% 17 20% 10% 14.8 85.6 22% 0.27University of the Western Cape 15 31% 10% 19 43% 41% 22.3 84.0 20% 0.91

University of Venda 12 31% 3% 34 35% 14% 10.0 100.3 16% 0.24Cape University of Technology 10 45% 3% 28 29% 14% 13.0 79.2 22% 0.32

Mangosothu University of Technology 10 59% 0% 44 5% 13% 10.6 140.9 17% 0.03

University of Zululand 9 16% 5% 32 38% 30% 15.9 95.9 21% 0.70University of Fort Hare 9 18% 6% 21 19% 37% 15.6 94.2 20% 0.45University of Mauritius 8 42% 15% 16 45% 6% 3.7 20.9 27% 0.94Rhodes University 6 22% 14% 17 50% 29% 26.9 107.7 32% 1.65

Notes: 1. The calculation of purchasing power parity dollars (PPP$) is based on estimates contained in the World Bank’s (2008) World Development Indicators report.

Because these estimates are based on 2005 exchange rates, the following method was used for the 2007 calculations: • The indicator set gives for each country a ratio between the PPP conversion factor and the market exchange rate. For example, the South African ratio is

given as 0.61, based on a market exchange rate of R6.4 per USD in 2005. • The 2007 calculations assume that the 2005 ratio will apply again. So the 2007 PPP conversion factor is taken to be 2005 ratio times 2007 market exchange

rate. For example, the conversion factor for South Africa is calculated as 2005 ratio times 2007 exchange rate = 0.61 x 7.0 = 4.27. 2. The financial data for the following three universities were based on the following assumptions:

• University of Nairobi: academic staff costs assumed to = 35% of total expenditure • Eduardo Mondlane University: academic staff costs assumed to = 35% of total expenditure • University of Dar es Salaam: (a) academic staff costs assumed to = 35% of total expenditure; (b) private income = donor income.


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Figure A2.1: Plot of means for each cluster

% SET% M & D students

Inverse of stud: staff FTE ratio

% Staff with PhD

% Private Income

Income per FTE

Staff cost per FTE

Graduation Rate

Weighted Research Outputs

Cluster 1 0.27 1.54 1.04 1.00 1.33 1.78 0.50 1.03 1.72

Cluster 2 0.19 ‐0.10 0.78 ‐0.23 ‐0.72 ‐0.58 ‐1.25 0.10 ‐0.53

Cluster 3 ‐0.86 0.04 ‐0.37 0.46 0.47 ‐0.14 0.22 ‐0.14 0.11

Cluster 4 0.84 ‐1.07 ‐1.00 ‐1.14 ‐0.89 ‐0.49 0.58 ‐0.63 ‐0.86

‐1.50

‐1.00

‐0.50

0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

Cluster 4 Tshwane University of Technology,

Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Walter Sisulu

University, Durban University of Technology, Vaal University of

Technology, Central University of Technology, Mangosothu University of Technology

Cluster 3 North West University, University of Nairobi, University of KwaZulu ‐Natal, University of the Free State, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, University of Ghana, University of the Western Cape, University of Venda, University of Zululand, University of Fort Hare

Cluster 2 University of Johannesburg,

Makerere University, University of Dar es Salaam, University of Limpopo, Eduardo Mondlane

University, University of Botswana, University of Mauritius

Cluster 1 University of Pretoria,

Witwatersrand University, Stellenbosch University, University of Cape Town, Rhodes University

Cluster 1

Cluster 3

Cluster 2

Cluster 4


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Appendix 3: Academic core rating descriptions

Indicators Strong (3) Medium (2) Weak (1)

1 Strong science and technology

SET enrolments growing, and SET share of enrolment shape increasing. Graduation rates of cohorts of SET students minimum of 70%.

SET share of enrolment shape steady. Graduation rate of cohorts of SET students 60% to 70%.

SET enrolments static, and SET share of enrolment shape declining. Graduation rate of cohorts of SET students below 60%.

2 Increased postgraduate enrolments and outputs

Postgraduates at least 25% of total enrolment. Masters and doctoral enrolments and graduates increasing. Ratio of masters to doctoral enrolments no more than 5:1. Ratio of graduates in year to enrolments in same year: masters 25%, doctorates 20%.

Postgraduates as proportion of total enrolments above 10% and increasing. Ratio of masters to doctoral enrolments no more than 10:1. Ratios of graduates to enrolments: masters 20%, doctorates 15%.

Postgraduate enrolments and graduates grow at average annual rate below that of undergraduates. Postgraduates 10% or less of total enrolment. Ratio of masters to doctoral enrolments above 10:1.

3 Teaching loads of academic staff

FTE academic staff ratio close to growth in FTE students. FTE student to academic staff ratios maximum of 15:1 for SET, and maximum average of 20:1 for: all programmes.

FTE students grow at faster rate than FTE academic staff. FTE student to academic staff ratios close 20:1 for SET, close to 30:1 for all programmes.

FTE students grow at faster rate than FTE academic staff ratio. FTE student to academic staff ratios more than 20:1 for SET, and 30:1 for all programmes.

4 Qualifications of academic staff

At least 50% of permanent academic staff have doctorates.

Between 30% and 50% of permanent academic staff have doctorates.

Less than 30% of permanent academic staff have doctorates.

5 Availability of research funding

Annual research funding of at least USD10 000 per permanent academic.

Annual research funding of between than USD 2 000 and USD 10 000 per permanent academic.

Annual research funding of less than USD 2 000 per permanent academic.

6 Doctoral graduates Doctoral graduates in given year = 10% or higher of permanent academic staff.

Doctoral graduates in given year between 5% & 9.9% of permanent academic staff.

Doctoral graduates in given year < 5% of permanent academic staff.

7 Research publications

Ratio of 0.50 or higher of publication units per permanent academic.

Ratio of publication units per permanent academic between 0.25 and 0.49.

Ratio of publication units per permanent academic < 0.25.

Cluster 4

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