BRAST — Botswana's National Robotics and AI-Programming Pilot Across Twelve Secondary Schools

The University of Botswana's UniPOD, launched in December 2024 as a collaboration between the University of Botswana, UNDP, the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) and the Ministry of Education and Skills Development, is a national makerspace with dedicated robotics and artificial-intelligence labs alongside 3D printing, prototyping and electronics facilities.
Building on this infrastructure, the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) launched the Botswana Robotics & Automation Skills Transfer (BRAST) project, a national strategic initiative introducing robotics, automation and AI-programming skills to junior and senior secondary schools. A pre-launch pilot ran from 5 to 9 May 2025 across 12 selected schools spanning Mogoditshane, Shoshong, Masunga, Gantsi and Shakawe, chosen to represent Botswana's diverse regional and socio-economic contexts, and combined hands-on training with inter-school robotics competitions.
Partners in the project include the University of Botswana's UniPOD, BIUST, the Botswana Institute for Technology Research and Innovation (BITRI) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), with HRDC and the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Technology positioning BRAST explicitly as a test of "the scalability of robotics education within Botswana's diverse school contexts" ahead of a potential wider national rollout.
As of the most recent public documentation, BRAST remained at the pre-launch pilot stage: no completion rates, skills-assessment results or student-outcome data have been published, and no funding figures or total student numbers are disclosed. Independent verification is strongest for the parent UniPOD facility, corroborated by Xinhua and the University of Botswana, rather than for BRAST's school-level results, which are documented primarily through HRDC's own materials.

Read the full analysis: https://www.hrdc.org.bw/case/introducing-botswana-robotics-automation-skills-transfer-brast-project