Online School & Homeschool in Botswana

Live online Cambridge IGCSE, A-Level, Pearson Edexcel, IB Diploma, and American AP for mining, corporate, expat, and Batswana families across Gaborone, Francistown, and the diamond towns. Taught live from Nairobi — one hour ahead, every week of the year. Cambridge is native here: the BGCSE was developed in association with Cambridge and most private secondary schools already offer IGCSE.

From USD 423/month. Small live classes 4-6 students, Cambridge / IB / American AP through to A-Level — alongside your registered Botswana school, at a fraction of the capital tier's fees.

Where our Botswana families are

Smartious Botswana families concentrate across Gaborone (government, financial services, the diamond industry's commercial centre, SADC and the diplomatic community, and the international-school tier), Francistown and the north (mining services, regional trade, and the gateway to Maun, the Okavango, and Chobe), and the diamond towns of Jwaneng, Orapa, and Letlhakane (purpose-built communities around the richest mines on earth, with schooling built for a company town). One national picture, one working configuration, and the closest timezone alignment we have anywhere.

Homeschool laws and regulation in Botswana

Botswana is the country in our coverage where we have to be most careful about what we assert, because the reporting and the general references do not agree. Here is what we can say, and what we will not.

What is reported — and how we treat it

Botswana provides a ten-year basic education which is reported, including in the TIMSS country encyclopedia, as not compulsory in the legal sense. Reported figures put roughly 87 percent of school-age children in public schools, about 10 percent in private schools, and around 3 percent in home schooling — a home-education share higher than in most markets we serve. We present all of that as reporting rather than as settled law, because general references disagree and because the difference matters enough that no family should act on a provider's summary. Anyone whose plan depends on the point should confirm the current position with the Ministry responsible for basic education.

What is clearly regulated: schools, not attendance

The Education Act (Cap. 58:01) is unambiguous about institutions. Registration of schools is compulsory, no person may operate a school unless it is registered, operating an unregistered school is an offence, and the law does not recognise such a school. Applications are lodged with the District Education office, which assesses need and inspects buildings before recommending to the responsible Ministry; the application is then gazetted for six weeks so objections can be raised, and registration follows if teaching and accommodation are adequate, the physical health and moral welfare of pupils are provided for, and the school will not be managed prejudicially to law and order. That is a serious registration regime, and it is the part of Botswana's framework that most directly concerns a provider.

What we are, and are not

Smartious is not a registered Botswana school. We do not operate premises here, we do not claim registration, and we do not present ourselves as an alternative to one. We are an internationally accredited online school delivering live classes from Nairobi to families who keep their children enrolled at registered Botswana schools. We state this as directly as we state the equivalent point on our Australian pages, and for the same reason: a family should know exactly what they are buying and what it does and does not replace.

The recommendation we make regardless of the legal position

Because Botswana's compulsion question is unsettled in the sources, there is an obvious temptation for a provider to lean on it. We will not. An absence of legal compulsion is not an educational argument, and a child does better in a good registered school with a strong international track alongside than in an arrangement built around what the law does not require. Our recommendation in Botswana is therefore identical to the one we make in countries with strict attendance duties: keep the enrolment, and run the Cambridge or IB track live alongside it.

Why Cambridge is not a foreign qualification here

This is the genuinely distinctive fact about the Botswana market. The BGCSE — the Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education — is the national senior certificate and was developed in association with Cambridge, and most private secondary schools in the country already offer IGCSE. So an internationally examined record is not an exotic import that needs explaining to a Botswana university or employer; it is a close relative of the national qualification. The practical gap our families face is not recognition. It is access: to A-Level subjects a company-town school cannot staff for four pupils, and to live teaching in places the campus map does not reach.

Where the qualifications lead

Botswana's universities — the University of Botswana, BIUST at Palapye, and the private sector — admit international qualifications through established procedures with requirements confirmed per institution. South African universities are a principal destination for Batswana students and read Cambridge A-Levels and the IB routinely. Internationally, UCAS reads A-Levels natively, the Common Application serves US plans, and A-Levels are accepted in 160+ countries, including the geoscience and mining-engineering programmes in the UK, Australia, South Africa, and Canada that the diamond towns' families most often have in view.

Why Botswana families choose Smartious

One hour from your teachers, all year

Botswana and Kenya are an hour apart with no daylight saving on either side — classes land in the ordinary school day every week of the year.

The subjects a company town cannot staff

A-Level Further Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry are unviable for four pupils on a mine site and routine in a live group of five.

Careful where the sources disagree

Botswana's compulsion question is unsettled in the reporting. We say so, decline to market on it, and recommend keeping the school enrolment regardless.

Honest about what we are

Not a registered Botswana school, and we say it plainly. An internationally accredited online school working alongside yours.

Cambridge on familiar ground

The BGCSE was built with Cambridge and most private secondaries run IGCSE. Recognition is not the problem here — access is.

An African school teaching African families

Nairobi-built and Nairobi-taught, serving families in 40+ countries, working to African school calendars and examination realities.

Fees and admission

From USD 423/month for Primary, payable termly; varies by curriculum and level. One-to-one tuition: USD 15/hour.

Frequently asked questions

Is homeschooling legal in Botswana?

Botswana provides a ten-year basic education which is reported as not compulsory in the legal sense, with around three percent of school-age children reported as home-schooled. We present that as reporting rather than settled law, because general references disagree — and we would tell any family whose plan depends on it to confirm with the Ministry responsible for basic education. What is clearly regulated is school registration, not attendance.

Is Smartious a registered school in Botswana?

No. Registration of schools is compulsory under the Education Act and operating an unregistered school is an offence. Smartious is an internationally accredited online school delivering from Nairobi, working alongside your registered Botswana school rather than replacing it.

If attendance is not compulsory, should we take our child out of school?

We would not advise it, and we will not market on it. An absence of legal compulsion is not an educational argument. Our recommendation here is the same as in countries with strict attendance duties: keep a good registered school enrolment and run the international track alongside it.

Does a Cambridge qualification mean anything in Botswana?

A great deal. The BGCSE is the national senior certificate and was developed in association with Cambridge, and most private secondary schools already offer IGCSE. Recognition is not the gap here; access to live teaching in the right subjects and places is.

The mine school cannot offer A-Level Further Mathematics — can you?

Yes, and it is the most common reason diamond-town families come to us. Subjects that are unviable for a handful of pupils on a mine site run routinely in a live group of five.

How do class times work from Nairobi?

Botswana is exactly one hour behind Kenya and neither country observes daylight saving, so our teaching hours fall inside the ordinary Botswana school day and afternoon every week of the year.

Where do Botswana students sit Cambridge examinations?

At authorised provision confirmed per family per session. Botswana has long-established Cambridge provision through the BGCSE and the IGCSE-offering private sector, which makes this easier here than in much of our coverage.

Which parts of Botswana does Smartious cover?

Gaborone, Francistown and the north including Maun and the Delta, and the diamond towns of Jwaneng, Orapa, and Letlhakane have dedicated pages. Live online delivery works identically anywhere in the country — which in the mining communities and the north is precisely the point.

Guides for families in this country

What parents say

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

“I have peace of mind as a Smartious Homeschool parent. No more traffic and early morning rush to school. Smartious are the most organized homeschool providers.” — Google reviewer, Google review