A/HRC/15/37/Add.2 programmes. Government officials were unable to articulate to the Special Rapporteur precisely how culturally adapted educational programming is being implemented. 37. Apparent, instead, is an unavailability of mother-tongue education; insufficient and inadequate incorporation of the history, culture and current conditions of minority indigenous groups in schooling for the children of those groups; and a lack of trained teachers and school officials from non-dominant indigenous groups. In fact, in its 1994 Revised National Policy on Education, the National Commission on Education recommended mother-tongue instruction for children in pre-primary schools, but the Ministry of Education did not accept this recommendation, noting that the proposed policy was contrary to the national language policy.7 38. The Government of Botswana has communicated to the Special Rapporteur that it acknowledges the need to train teachers to deliver mother-tongue education, and that it has now begun working towards the implementation of mother-tongue education programmes. While this represents an important initiative, the Special Rapporteur takes note that the Government still remains in the earliest stages of designing this programme. 39. Another concern is the hostelling system used to provide education in remote areas where teacher retention has been poor, which has resulted in the alienation of children from their culture and families. The Government has indicated that it is exploring various options aimed at attracting and retaining teachers in remote areas, which would minimize the need for the hostelling system. For example, in its revised Remote Area Development Programme, the Government expressed plans to encourage the construction and operation of two-teacher, multigrade schools in remote areas, a process already under way with regard to primary school education. Nevertheless, delivery of a culturally appropriate education system remains a challenge in Botswana. 3 Land distribution 40. Land laws that were passed in the early years of the independence of Botswana continued to reflect the colonial land tenure system instituted by the British that specifically recognized Tswana interests in land over those of non-dominant groups. These laws, including the Tribal Territories Act of 1933 and the Tribal Land Act of 1968, are still in force today, as are the land boards that, as noted above, were created in 1968 to administer and hold in trust all tribal area lands in Botswana. 41. The Tribal Territories Act divides the tribal land in Botswana that is available for communal use into eight tribal territories named after the dominant Tswana tribes. While the Act does not confer ownership rights on the named tribes, members of minority tribes and civil society organizations highlighted the perception of the non-Tswana indigenous groups that they were being discriminated against because they were not receiving the same recognition as the dominant tribes. 42. Botswana does not have in place a clear or effective mechanism through which indigenous peoples can collectively seek the demarcation and titling of their lands on the basis of traditional patterns of land use and occupancy, nor is there a procedure for addressing historical grievances for lands lost in the past (see paragraphs 57–63 below). Instead, the land boards hold all tribal land in trust and issue leases on an individual or collective basis, presumably in a tribally neutral fashion. However, Tswana customary law has continued to dominate the land board processes, and as a result, the administration of 7 GE.10-13968 Botswana, “The Revised National Policy on Education, April 1994”, as approved by the National Assembly on 7 March 1994, Government Paper No. 2 (1994), Deferred Recommendation 12. 11