Policies

Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL)

Context and Issue

In 2016, Botswana's services sector emerged as the fastest-growing contributor to the national GDP. Despite this growth, the World Bank's Human Capital Index (HCI) scores Botswana at 0.42, indicating that children born in the country may only reach 42% of their potential productivity by age 18 due to education and health access limitations.

Solution:

Botswana's education policy ensures basic education for all children, with primary schooling beginning at age 6 and a "co-payment" system in place, waived for low-income families. Notably, the Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) intervention, focused on foundational numeracy and literacy, has already been successful globally and is implemented in Botswana in 30-day bursts over 9 weeks, with three assessment points. The pedagogical intervention Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) creates an enabling learning environment through fun, engaging, and targeted instruction that has been proven to improve young people's foundational numeracy and literacy outcomes.

Impact:

Evaluation studies of TaRL in Botswana demonstrate its efficacy in improving learning outcomes and reducing student behavioral and emotional difficulties. The program's pedagogy has been shown to decrease such difficulties by 0.15 standard deviations compared to non-participating students.

Analysis

While Botswana's education system ensures broad access to schooling, challenges persist, particularly regarding the availability and quality of mental health data. Introducing innovative interventions like TaRL highlights the government's commitment to enhancing learning outcomes and addressing educational disparities. Continued efforts to address mental health and refine educational strategies will be crucial for maximizing human capital development in Botswana.