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GENERAL
INFORMATION
Historical Note
The opening of the University of Basutoland,
Bechuanaland and Swaziland (UBBS) on January
1st 1964 was the outcome of an agreement
reached in mid-1962 between the High
Commission Territories and the Oblate of Mary
Immaculate of Pius XII Catholic University, Roma,
Lesotho. Pius XII College of Roma, 35 kilometres
from Maseru, was itself the product of the desire
for an institution of higher learning for Africans
by the Catholic hierarchy in Southern Africa. It
opened its doors to students in 1946, with five
students and five priest-lecturers. In 1950, it was
taken over by the Catholic Order of the Oblate of
Mary Immaculate. By 1963 there were 180
students, both men and women, and several
buildings, including a science block, refectory,
administration complex and workshops. Courses
followed at Pius XII College were taught and
examined under a special relationship entered
into in 1955 with the University of South Africa,
which awarded students its degrees and diplomas
in Arts, Science, Commerce and Education. Pius
XII College experienced difficulties over finance
for the expanding institution and over racial
restrictions on student residence required by the
University of South Africa. Negotiations with the
High Commission Territories to transform the
University College into a fully fledged University
were therefore initiated during 1962. On June
13, 1963, a deed of cession and indemnity was
signed by the Oblates and the High Commissioner
of Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland. The
new University, with Ford Foundation and British
Government funds, purchased the assets of the
Roma Campus for an indemnity of half of its
value, in exchange for guarantees of a continuing
Catholic presence on the campus. UBBS became
UBLS (The University of Botswana, Lesotho and
Swaziland) in 1966 on the Independence of
Botswana and Lesotho. From a total of 188
students in 1964, the University grew to 402
students in 1970, of whom 145 were from
Lesotho, with lesser numbers from Swaziland,
Botswana, Rhodesia, South Africa and elsewhere.
UBLS conferred its first degrees in April 1st 1967
after a transitional period during which the
former Pius XII College students continued to
take University of South Africa degrees. UBLS
offered its own four-year undergraduate degrees
and diplomas in Arts (including Economics and
general
information
Administration), Science and Education, with Law
students following a five-year degree, including
two years tuition at the University of Edinburgh.
Students seeking specialised degrees in Medicine,
Engineering, etc, proceeded to other universities
after completing Part I (Years 1 and 2) studies in
Science. The number of academic staff grew from
31 in 1964 to 78 in 1970. Staff were recruited
from many countries, but the University pursued
an active localisation policy from 1971. UBLS was
equally funded by the Governments of Botswana,
Lesotho and Swaziland, but had comparatively
little presence in Botswana and Swaziland in the
first phase of its existence during 1964-1970. The
only substantial ‘devolution’ of UBLS from Roma
Campus came towards the end of this phase of
University development and was the association
of the Swaziland Agricultural College of Luyengo
with the University, as the Swaziland Agricultural
College and University Centre. This College, built
for the Swaziland Government with Oxfam and
‘Freedom from Hunger’ funds, had been opened
in 1966. In 1970, the Swaziland Government
agreed to hand over the College to UBLS, together
with the Research Division of the Ministry of
Agriculture and its experimental station at
Malkerns near Luyengo. From 1972, these
together constituted a new Faculty of Agriculture.
In Botswana, the UBLS presence was limited to
the energies of the Division of Extra Mural
Services and the School of Education, and a small
Short-Course Centre built during 1969. With
independence, the three countries began to take
a closer look at the colonial inheritance of
education, including their joint University, and
began to identify the role of UBLS in higher and
middle-level training. A series of academic
planning reports for UBLS produced after 1966
culminated in the second Alexander Report of
1970, which combined, ‘The major
recommendations of previous reports for the
development of university campuses in each
country and the unified development of higher
education and vocational and teacher training’.
The report recommended that Part I studies begin