Short Abstract

This study critically evaluates Botswana’s Scholarship Programme through a Tswanacentric Capabilities lens, exploring whether recipients truly flourish and attain Seriti. It blends critical realist and human development approaches to reframe education policy evaluation around indigenous values.

Description

This study emerges from a deeply personal and critical reflection on my own journey as a recipient of Botswana’s Top Achievers Scholarship Programme (TASP). Despite graduating with a master’s degree from a globally ranked institution under the full sponsorship of the Government of Botswana, I found myself grappling with the sense that I was not ‘flourishing’. While the lack of meaningful employment was certainly a significant factor, I sensed that my lack of flourishing was shaped by deeper, less tangible issues. I reimagine the flourishing not merely an economic or professional outcome, but rather a condition for possessing Seriti, the moral and spiritual weight that defines one’s dignity, purpose, and standing in the community. Without flourishing, one’s Seriti is diminished. Conversations with fellow TASP recipients revealed similar experiences—a disconnect not just between our educational investments and the opportunities to apply our skills, but between the paths we chose and the sense of purpose we hoped to find.

We were selected in our late teens, handed a rare and extraordinary gift: the freedom to study anything, anywhere in the world, fully funded by our government. While the openness of opportunity offered by TASP can be empowering, it also introduces a paradox of choice that may complicate graduates’ ability to navigate toward a life of meaning. When post-graduation outcomes fall short of expectations, heightened reflexivity may lead some to perceive themselves as lacking Seriti.

This study investigates whether Botswana’s TASP has enabled its recipients to truly flourish—and, in doing so, attain Seriti. To understand this, we engage in a critical realist evaluation of the programme, incorporating a tracer study of scholarship recipients, and then extend the analysis to a broader human development evaluation.

Crucially, this study builds on Nussbaum’s emphasis on protecting those capabilities whose absence would render a life not worthy of human dignity (Nussbaum, 2011, p. 15). Seriti is more than a linguistic equivalent of dignity; it reflects a deeply rooted cosmological understanding of what it means for individuals to live a life they value in Tswana culture.

Situated within a Critical Realist ontology, this study rejects reductionist explanations and seeks to uncover the real but often unobservable mechanisms within higher education finance that shape graduates’ capacity to flourish—understood here as the attainment of Seriti. Methodologically, it employs a tracer study design, combining regression analysis with qualitative interviews to uncover causal effects and the deeper structural and cultural mechanisms that condition them.

My positionality as a TASP graduate now undertaking a PhD grounds this inquiry in both critical reflection and insider understanding. It enables me to engage empathetically and thoughtfully with other recipients. Ultimately, we seek to marry traditional education policy evaluation with a more expansive, human development–centered and culturally contextualised approach, recognising the importance of indigenous values and lived experiences in shaping meaningful educational outcomes.