| University of Botswana | |
| Motto: | Tswana: Thuto Ke Thebe (Setswana)[1] |
| Mottoeng: | Education is a Shield |
| Chancellor: | Tebelelo Seretse |
| Vice Chancellor: | David Norris |
| Established: | 1982 |
| Type: | Public university |
| Endowment: | P334 million (US$50 million) |
| Administrative Staff: | 2,658 |
| Students: | 15,484 |
| Undergrad: | 14,093 |
| Postgrad: | 1,445 |
| Sports Nickname: | Mmadikolo/Basco |
| Colors: | Brown Blue |
| City: |  Gaborone, Francistown, and Maun |
| Campus: | Urban
|
| Mascot: | Bull (steer) |
The University of Botswana (UB) was established in 1982, as the first institution of higher education in Botswana.[2] The university currently has three campuses: one in the capital city Gaborone, one in Francistown, and another in Maun. The University of Botswana is divided into six faculties: Business, Education, Engineering, Humanities, Health Sciences, Science and Social Sciences and the Sir Ketumile Masire Teaching Hospital. UB is ranked 1201–1500 in the world and 21st in sub-Saharan Africa in the 2024 Times Higher Education World University Ranking.[3]
UB began as a part of a larger university system known as UBBS, or the University of Bechuanaland (Botswana), Basotoland (Lesotho), and Swaziland; which was founded in 1964 to reduce the three countries' reliance on tertiary education in apartheid-era South Africa. After Botswana and Lesotho became independent in 1966, the university was called the University of Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland (UBLS).
In 1975 Lesotho withdrew from the partnership and established its own national university. For several years a joint University of Botswana and Swaziland existed until in the early 1980s the university was amicably divided into two separate national universities. It was at the time of Lesotho's initial withdrawal that Botswana, which was among the poorest nations in the world, started the One Man, One Beast (motho le motho kgomo) movement. This fundraising campaign formally known as the Botswana University Campus Appeal (BUCA) was spearheaded by the late President Sir Seretse Khama in 1976. The campaign was launched to raise money for the construction of the Botswana Campus of the University of Botswana and Swaziland.
BUCA followed in the wake of unilateral nationalisation of a joint-university campus facility in Roma by the Lesotho government. Batswana (People of Botswana) and other stakeholders made contributions of all types (including cash, cattle, grain, eggs, etc.) towards accomplishing the set target of one million rand. By 1982, the University of Botswana became a reality and remains the oldest institution of higher education in the country. The One Man, One Beast (motho le motho kgomo) movement endures today on the university's main statue located in front of the new library.[4]
The President or Vice President of Botswana serves as the Chancellor of the University.[5] [6] The top administrator on campus is the Vice Chancellor. There have been five Vice Chancellors of the university:
Many students live on campus in residence halls.[9] Students that live in the residence halls are served meals on campus refectories.[10]
Campus amenities, include an Olympic-sized swimming pool, an entertainment arena, and sports courts (basketball, tennis, handball, netball and volleyball). The university is adjacent to the National Stadium, which is available for university use. The practice fields outside the stadium are the location for university intramural sports.
The university provides a free medical clinic and counseling services.
The Faculty of Business was established in 1997 following the reorganisation of the School of Accounting and Management Studies under the Faculty of Social Sciences.[11] Under the umbrella of this new faculty, three departments were created to offer specialism in management, marketing, and accounting and finance. The most popular of these is the Bachelor of Accountancy (BAcc) program, which trains students for a professional level accounting certification exams, most notably the ACCA. Many graduates have integrated this degree into tracks such as becoming American CPA's or members of the UK's CIMA.[12] The faculty offers five degrees:
This is the oldest faculty in the university. The faculty is composed of eight departments including Lifelong Learning and Community Development, Educational Foundations, Educational Technology, Family and Consumer Sciences, Languages and Social Sciences, Mathematics and Sciences Education, Primary Education and Sports Science.[13] There are fifteen undergraduate programmes: a Master of Education degree with eleven specialisations; a Master of Masters in Lifelong Learning and Community Development program, a Master of Counselling and Human Services programme, two MPhil and PhD programmes and a Post Graduate Diploma in Education.[13]
The Faculty of Engineering and Technology was created in 1996 as a result of Botswana Polytechnic being incorporated into UB.[14] The faculty was located approximately from the main UB campus in downtown Gaborone where it is now known as BCET, but it has since been moved to the main campus.
The Faculty provides a wide range of Engineering courses including Mechanical, Civil, Electrical, Mining and Mineral Engineering, Industrial Design and Technology.[15] Other courses such as Architecture, Real Estate, Planning Survey are also offered. It offers Certificate, Diploma, Bachelors and Masters in areas related to Engineering. and the planning courses which takes five years (four years in Botswana and the last year to complete with masters at professional planning institutions).
The Faculty of Humanities has ten departments: African languages and literature; Chinese studies; English; French; History; library and information studies; media studies; Portuguese studies. It runs undergraduate and post-graduate courses.[16] The history department includes the archaeology unit.[17] The Confucius Institute at the University of Botswana was established in 2006 as part of the Faculty of Humanities.[18]
The Faculty of Science, which has the largest annual enrollment, began as the School of Science of UBBS in 1971. Its original four departments (Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics) were involved only in teaching Part I of the BSc degree programme. In 1975, when the Lesotho campus dissociated from UBBS, the teaching of Part II (years 3 and 4) began in all departments. The departments of environmental science, geology, and computer science were added to the faculty before the University of Botswana came into existence in 1982.[19] The head of the Environmental Science department, Dr. Segosebe, is also the Chair of Somarelang Tikologo, a local environmental NGO in Gaborone.
A number of programmes at the certificate, diploma, degree, and masters levels are offered by the Faculty of Social Sciences. Students admitted into the BA programme are allowed, with the permission of the heads of department, to pursue a combined major in two subjects from departments within the faculty as well as selected departments in other faculties. Degree programmes offered in the faculty include Bachelor of Law, Bachelor of Social Sciences, Bachelor of Social Work, and Master of Public Administration, as well as Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice Studies.[20]
See main article: Sir Ketumile Masire Teaching Hospital.
The Bachelor of Medicine Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) professional degree is a five-year programme. The first two years follow an integrated Problem Based Learning approach. The last three years are clinically structured providing the opportunity to practice in the hospital and community.[21]
A modern building complex, erected on the main university campus to house the medical school was completed in 2012. A 450-bed academic teaching hospital was completed in 2014.[21] On average, a total of 50 medical undergraduates are admitted to the MBBS programme annually.[21]
The University of Botswana maintains numerous global partnerships to facilitate research cooperation and study exchanges. International exchange partners include:
United States
Europe
Asia-Pacific
Africa