Education in Tropical Areas 1952-1973

Bill Dodd CMG : lecturer 1965-1970, Consultant for Overseas Initiatives 1983-1991     

Bill recalls a trip to Botswana during his time as a lecturer and an unexpected meeting with a former student of the Department:

"The ETA Department in the days of John Lewis had tentacles in all international and governmental organisation and in 1970 I was seconded from the Department to become education advisor in the Overseas Development Administration. In 1971 I went on my first visit overseas from that institution to Botswana. In Botswana I was escorted round in the countryside by Mr Kgarebe, an elderly school inspector, who for some reason had been twice to the Institute of Education and twice in this particular department. It was hot and we were in a short-wheeled landrover. He wore his University of London blazer with his silver badge on it and in those days the department at the Institute had a tie, a green tie.  He sat there in the landrover in his blazer and his tie and escorted me round from Gaborone to Francistown.  As we bounced our way up to Francistown, a long, long way, he asked me questions about the Institute.  About the staff, this and that and the other. And then he said to me, “and what news now of Mr Hutton?” I said, “I don’t know. I’m new there you know, comparatively”. “Oh!”, he said, “you must know Mr Hutton. At the Oval in 1938 Mr Hutton made 364 runs against the Australians”. When he said that I knew that the education philosophy of the Department was fairly securely grounded."

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