Basarwa families are close and speak their own
distinctive language. Knowledge of Setswana, the national language of Botswana,
is very limited among young children. Primary School education is conducted in
Setswana for the first three years.
Skillshare found very high drop out rates of Basarwa San children who entered
primary school and proposed that the AEI-AGSP support pre-school girls to help
overcome some of the factors associated with high drop out. Basarwa (San) girls
do not know this language so the AEI-AGSP is providing scholarships for 40
pre-school girls who attend the Kang Pre-school so that they will learn
Setswana and thus have a better chance of staying in primary school when they
do go. The AEI-AGSP also provides scholarships for 110 primary school girls who
attend schools in Phuduhudu, Kang and Mahusane primary schools in the Kgalagadi
in the Kalahari Desert.
Skillshare Botswana is the AEI-AGSP partner for this lovely country in southern
Africa. The AEI-AGSP is providing scholarships for pre-school and primary
school girls near Kang, located in the Kgalagadi region in the Kalahari Desert
in Botswana where the Basarwa San people live.
The San people are traditional hunters and gatherers and are a marginalized
economically disadvantaged group within Botswana. The TQIIXUYANI – Basarwa
Community in and around Kang are very supportive of the AEI-AGSP and view it as
an important means for them to keep their girls in schools nearby rather than
have the children forced to go to government hostels over 200 kilometers from
their homes.
