INSTRUCTIONAL CHALLENGES IN BOTSWANA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: : EXPRESSIONS OF TEACHERS IN FRANCISTOWN

A descriptive survey was conducted on three public schools to investigate instructional challenges faced by teachers in Francistown. The purposively sampled schools were: Montsamaisa, Selepa and Selolwe Junior Secondary schools. The validity of the instrument was established, and then questionnaires were hand-delivered to the schools. This study comes at a time when the nation is concerned about the general decline of students’ performance in both primary and secondary schools through out the country. Botswana’s educational objective is to provide quality and accessible education at primary, secondary and tertiary levels to contribute to socio-economic advancement of the country The study revealed that academic, social and discipline instructional challenges were prevalent in all the three public schools. These challenges, particularly the academic challenges were identified as the major ones which could adversely affect the national objectives of Vision 2016. It was concluded that teachers have to be capacitated to deal with instructional challenges to enhance their effectiveness in the schools and parents should be encouraged to take keen interest in educational issues to assist teachers deal effectively with their children to enhance performance and curtail acts of deviance within the schools. Further research was suggested to include a diversified sample in an attempt to gain more insights into instructional challenges in public schools nationally.