The Concept of Botho and HIV/AIDS in Botswana

Chapter Six - The Role of Religious Education in promoting Botho: Implications for the fight against HIV/AIDS

CHAPTER SIX The Role of Religious Education in promoting Botho: Implications for the fight againstHIV&AIDS Joseph H. C. Mfuni Introduction T he Botswana education system aims at developing Botho. An analysis of government documents on education reveals that one of the principle aims of education in Botswana is the development of people with acceptable moral behaviour. The important ideals, values, attitudes, knowledge, and skills that the education system imparts help to develop moral individuals. For instance, the report of the first National Commission on Education (Botswana Government, 1977) states that: In Botswana, education involves helping young men and women to absorb and understand the meaning of the national philosophy and principles and to build their characters and lives on the basis of these values. Becoming educated means acquiring confidence, skills, and abilities, and the capacity to persuade, organize and act; it means developing in aesthetic and moral sense. (p. 107). This statement suggests that in Botswana the aim of education is not just to make people knowledgeable in specified disciplines or subjects, but also to make them develop Botho. As can be realized from the statement above, the aim of education in Botswana is to The Concept of Botho and HIV&AIDS in Botswana enable learners to acquire the qualities that can make them become moral human beings who, according to the Long Term Vision for Botswana (1997:12), possess high ethical standards. This means that the Botswana education system aims at producing educated people who are also morally and ethically upright. Similarly, the report of the second National Commission on Education (Botswana Government, 1993) states that: The Botswana education system must help to develop people with moral and social values, cultural identity and self-esteem, good citizenship and desirable work ethics. (p.5) This statement implies that education has a crucial role to play in promoting Botho. From this it can be concluded that key to the aims of the education system in Botswana is to produce people with acceptable moral and social values. The same emphasis on the development of Botho is also reflected in the new Curriculum Blueprint for senior secondary schools. In this document, the government emphasizes the point that the education system should provide a foundation for a life-long education through the development of social and moral values (Botswana Government, 1998:6). The role of Religious Education in the Fight against HIV&AIDS Religion has tremendous motivational and inspirational potential to make significant contributions to people’s values, attitudes, and behaviour (Watson, 1993:51). Because of this potential, religious education has always been part of the curricula for every education system. Even in the ancient Greek City state of Athens, religious education was included in the curriculum because of the contribution it made to moral development (Akinpelu, 1985). When Christian missionaries introduced Western education in Africa, religious 86 education was part of the curriculum because it helped in the moral development of the learners (Makhulu, 1971:19). In Botswana, religion has always been the basis of morality. Mmolai (1988) emphasizes this point when she states that: Batswana traditionally have a morality based on religion, even though the secularists and social trends are undermining it […] In the 20th centuryAfrica,ATR was undermined by Islam and Christianity.These religions also deal with ethical issues […] (and) contribute to morality. (p.23-24). From this quotation, it can be concluded that since religious education can play a vital role in the fight against the spread of HIV&AIDS by promoting responsible sexual behaviour and inculcating the spirit of respect and compassion for those affected. In fact, it has been argued, from a moral point of view, that religious education is important because it provides the necessary conditions for morality.Yinger (1970), and Elias (1989) have argued that morality stems from religion. Similarly, Mmolai (1999:150) argues that in practice, religion supports and gives authoritative backing to the moral code. Thus, for one to be able to decide what conduct is right or wrong one needs a religious sensitivity. Such religious sensitivity, which comes form religious education (Meakin, 1879; Gardener, 1980), is of prime importance in the fight against HIV&AIDS and in the care of people with HIV&AIDS, as it makes people avoid sexual relations outside marriage on moral grounds rather than out of fear of contracting the disease. Religious education has been made part of the curriculum so that learners may be taught not only to acquire knowledge about the HIV&AIDS pandemic, but that they may...