AN EVALUATION OF BOTSWANA SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL CHEMISTRY SYLLABUS

The study aimed at evaluating the worth of the recently introduced chemistry syllabus in Botswana. Using a multi-faceted approach, data were collected from Botswana senior secondary school chemistry students, their teachers and pre-service chemistry teachers in the country. It was found that there exists a good link between the new syllabus and Junior Certificate (JC) science syllabus. In addition, it was found that the students viewed the modules on stoichiometry and carbon chemistry among others problematic. The students' views were corroborated, to a large extent, by their teachers'. Deriving from the findings of the study, it was recommended, among other things, that an extra lesson slot per week be allocated to chemistry and that the teaching load of chemistry teachers be reduced.