Online School & Homeschool in Francistown & the North

Online school and international curriculum in Francistown

For Francistown and northern families — the commercial north, five hours from the capital's schools and the gateway to the Delta.

Live online Cambridge IGCSE, Cambridge A-Level, Pearson Edexcel International, IB Diploma Programme, and American Curriculum with Advanced Placement (AP) for Francistown and northern Botswana families. Francistown is Botswana's second city and its northern commercial hub — mining services, regional trade toward Zimbabwe, transport and logistics, and the road that opens onto Maun, the Okavango Delta, and Chobe, where a tourism and conservation economy employs an internationally connected workforce. Gaborone's international-school tier is around five hours south. Smartious delivers the Cambridge and IB pathways live across the north, alongside your registered school and one hour ahead of you all year.

Challenges Francistown & the North families face

Thin international schooling in the second city, with Gaborone around five hours south.
Tourism and conservation families in Maun and the Delta are further still from any campus option.
Mining-services and trade postings move families across the region.
Boarding in Gaborone or South Africa has been the traditional answer.
Time zone: the north runs CAT (UTC+2), exactly one hour behind Nairobi EAT with no daylight saving.

Why Francistown & the North families choose Smartious

The alternative to sending a child away: Francistown, Maun, and Kasane families have historically boarded children in Gaborone or South Africa. Identical live teaching reaches the north instead.
Biology and geography that fit the Delta: A conservation and safari context is unusually good ground for Cambridge Biology and Geography and AP Environmental Science.
Built around a season and a shift pattern: Live classes plus unlimited recordings work around a tourism season or a mining-services roster.
One hour from your teachers, all year: The north and Nairobi are an hour apart with no clock changes.
What we are, stated plainly: Smartious is not a registered Botswana school; we work alongside your registered school.

The national picture applies in the north. Botswana's ten-year basic education is reported as not compulsory in the legal sense, with around three percent of school-age children reported as home-schooled — reporting rather than settled law, and a position to confirm with the Ministry responsible for basic education. What is clearly regulated is school registration under the Education Act (Cap. 58:01), where operating an unregistered school is an offence. Smartious is not a registered Botswana school and works alongside yours. Our recommendation for northern families is the practical one: keep the child in a good local registered school and run the Cambridge track live alongside, rather than sending a twelve-year-old to board five hours away.

Smartious delivers to northern Botswana families online; the live programme is complete without in-person supplementation.

Live online via Smartious LMS, landing in the ordinary school day on the one-hour offset, with the full recorded library carrying tourism seasons and mining rosters.

Francistown is Botswana's second city and northern commercial hub — mining services, regional trade toward Zimbabwe, and the gateway to Maun, the Okavango, and Chobe — around five hours from the capital's international schools. The north runs CAT (UTC+2), exactly one hour behind Nairobi EAT.

Family situations we work with

Mining services, transport, and regional trade families.
Tourism, safari, and conservation families in Maun, the Okavango, and Chobe.
Cross-border business families trading toward Zimbabwe.
Batswana professional families in the north with no local international option.
Families weighing boarding in Gaborone or South Africa.

Francistown & the North communities and nearby areas

Francistown · Selebi-Phikwe · Tutume · Maun · the Okavango Delta · Kasane and Chobe · the Zimbabwean border

Common questions from Francistown & the North families

Is boarding in Gaborone or South Africa the only option for northern families?

It has been, and it no longer needs to be. Identical live teaching reaches Francistown, Maun, and Kasane, with examination travel a few times a year rather than a child living away from home.

Our family runs a safari or lodge business — can schooling fit the season?

It is built for it: live classes with a complete recorded library, so the academic year holds together through the busiest months.

Where do northern students sit Cambridge examinations?

At authorised centres confirmed per family per session, with travel planned into each series ahead.

Guides for families in Botswana

What parents say

Rated 4.9 out of 5 on Google from 130+ reviews. Read our Google reviews

“Smartious Homeschooling delivers genuinely effective one-on-one instruction. The teachers are patient, consistent, and skilled at identifying and addressing each learner's specific academic gaps. Since enrolling, our child has become more confident, enjoys lessons, and is now performing above grade level. For families in Nairobi seeking a dependable, academically rigorous homeschooling programme with personalised support, Smartious is a standout choice.” — Allan H., Google review