The Department of Teacher Training and Development formerly known as the Department of Teacher Education was established in the later half of 1989. The primary purpose of the Department is to give leadership and direction in teacher education at both Pre-service and In-service levels. The main objective of the Department therefore, is to develop a well qualified and highly motivated local teaching staff by:

• Translating Government policies into realistic teacher education programmes.
• Setting the training standards for the development of teachers in the primary and secondary schools, and tutors in the teacher training colleges.
• Linking the processes of Teacher Training with those of Curriculum Development so that appropriate and relevant teacher training programmes are developed.
• Developing effective in-service education programmes for teachers in primary, secondary and teacher training institutions.
• Building institutional capacity for teacher development in the schools through training of trainers.

Day-care centre teachers/caregivers are trained at the Lobatse Day-care Training Centre on a one year certificate programme. Training is only limited to applicants employed by community owned/non-governmental organisations as either teacher aids or assistants.

Teachers are selected by pre-school supervisors in respective district councils as per assessment of the need for trained teachers. Then they apply directly to the Training Centre.

To qualify for selection in this programme the following requirements apply:

• you should be a citizen and have proof with a national identity document.
• you must have a minimum of junior certificate level of education with a minimum of a 3rd pass grade.

Clearance of Pre-school Teachers
All foreign Pre-school teachers require clearance from the Ministry of Education. Application forms can be obtained from the Pre-school Division. The clearance is a process which may take some days or even weeks to be completed.

Botswana Primary Schools are run in two categories for children of ages 5 to 13 years old. The levels are from standard 1 to 7. While government schools mainly employ local teachers, private schools employ teachers of various nationalities.

The following are procedures for employment of expatriate teachers:

• Vacant posts are retrieved from individual schools advertisements.
• Only teachers with teaching qualifications as well as other specialisations can be considered.
• Applications are routed through the schools by completing form PVTS I, which is an official document obtainable from schools by applicants.
• Schools submit the form with all certified supporting documents to prove the applicant's suitability for the applied post.
• An employment contract is 2 years renewable on request.
• Local teachers undergo the same screening when they apply to teach in private schools.

This programme is targeted at primary school teachers who hold a Primary School Teacher's Certificate and is run in collaboration with the Centre for Continuing Education (CCE) of the University of Botswana and Colleges of Education.

The Department of Teacher Training and Development provides for the budget requirement of the programme and facilitates the acquisition of the necessary infrastructure. CCE organises the activities for course development and teaching.

The Department of Primary Education is responsible for identifying and nominating learners for the programme. Candidates enrol with the Primary Colleges of Education and the duration of the programme is 4 years.

Teacher support for professional development is provided through a network of 12 Education Centres, which are located at strategic points in the country so that in-service activities could be done near to where the teachers are. 11 of these 12 Education Centres have custom build facilities.

The Centres have the capacity to provide residential courses. Each Centre is staffed with In-service Education officers whose responsibility is to provide teachers with the necessary professional support for effective implementation of the school curriculum.

The programmes run at the Education Centres are designed to meet the needs of schools. Staff Development Committees were established in the schools to act as liaison organs for the professional development of teachers. In most instances In-service Education Officers conduct school based workshops whereby they work with teachers in their regular environment.