Sexual exploitation rife in schools

The most recent research suggests that students in Botswana are abused by their teachers, especially girls who end up being deterred from participating actively in class and seeking academic excellence for fear of attracting unwanted attention from teachers.

"This creates a stressful and intimidating learning environment, lowers concentration and motivation and contributes to poor performance," the report says. "Boys' achievement may also be affected by a discouraging or disrupted classroom environment, if, for example, male teachers are paying more attention to the girls, or, less commonly, because they themselves are the object of sexual attention. Low achievement in turn increases the risk of dropout."