20 Nov 2025

The Botswana Teaching Professional Council (BOTEPCO) has cemented a broad partnership with the Botswana Open University (BOU) to accelerate teacher professionalisation, strengthen digital literacy and support the rollout of national teaching standards.

The partnership was formalised on Monday during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Gaborone. BOTEPCO registrar, Dr Raphael Dingalo said the MoU came at a pivotal moment as the council had begun national registration and licensing of teachers. 

He said the agreement would enhance cooperation in teacher professionalisation, research, Continuous Professional Development (CPD), and curriculum alignment in line with the newly approved Teacher Professional Standards and Competencies, as well as the Code of Ethics for Teachers.

“The Botswana Teaching Professional Council will also work with BOU to ensure verification of teacher qualifications as part of the licensing process,” said Dr Dingalo.

He revealed that BOTEPCO was developing a teacher registration and licensing system, which will later link with institutions such as BOU for real-time validation of graduates.

This, he said, would help maintain a credible national database of qualified teachers. The partnership would further include joint organisation of conferences, symposia and capacity-building programmes, and might result in accrediting BOU as an official CPD provider in collaboration with the Botswana Qualifications Authority.

Describing the MoU as a ‘win-win’ arrangement, Dr Dingalo said the collaboration would ultimately enhance the delivery of quality education. He added that stakeholder engagement was central to BOTEPCO’s work, guided by an Influence, Impact and Interest classification model for prioritising partners.

He recalled previous collaboration between the two institutions under the Beyond Numbers project, implemented with the Commonwealth of Learning and the African Federation of Teacher Regulatory Authorities. 

The initiative focused on upskilling teachers in digital literacy through Open and Distance Learning to improve 21st-century teaching competencies.

Dr Dingalo said BOTEPCO intends to scale up the training nationwide in support of government’s digitalisation agenda, noting that some teachers were still lagging behind in digital readiness. He said BOU’s national footprint and digital platforms will be instrumental in rolling out the programmes.

For her part, BOU vice chancellor Professor Kgomotso Moahi said the MoU celebrated a shared vision to strengthen teacher quality and elevate professional standards across the education sector.

Prof. Moahi said BOU had long sought such collaboration, describing it as a natural partnership that supports teachers’ professional development without disrupting their work or family responsibilities.

“Teacher quality is directly tied to educational outcomes, and the MoU will enable BOU to deliver accredited CPD programmes aligned with BOTEPCO’s licensing and registration requirements,” she said.

She added that the cooperation will include joint research, development of professional standards, rollout of the Code of Ethics, and potential integration of BOU systems with BOTEPCO’s licensing platform.

Prof. Moahi also highlighted BOU’s participation in the newly launched Regional Teachers Initiative for Africa (RTIA) as testimony to the university’s commitment to innovation in teacher development.

She commended BOTEPCO for its leadership in teacher professionalisation, saying the partnership would contribute to national education reforms and broader human capital development goals. ENDS