The Examination Council of Lesotho (ECoL) donated blankets to people living with disability at Thaba-Bosiu on Sunday (14/04/2019).
The Chief Executive Officer of ECoL, Dr. Lits’abako Ntoi and her counterpart from Eswatini (Swaziland) Edmond Mazibuko handed over 20 blankets to people living with disability at Masekoeng, Thaba Bosiu after thorough identification and selection by the area chief.
Dr Ntoi said members of the examination councils of both countries have been visiting each other during the past five years to give back to their societies. She said funds used to buy the blankets were from them as individuals. Each of the recipients was given to two blankets so that they could keep warm in winter as Lesotho experiences a very cold winter.
She called upon working Basotho people to spare funds to help vulnerable people so that the country could be a better place to live in. She therefore appealed to working professionals to find it in their hearts to give to the poor and vulnerable people in the society, adding that the recipients expressed their gratitude for the blankets.
“We as the Examination Council of Lesotho and Eswatini have a working relationship. We decided that whenever we visit each other we should offer donations to the needy in our various communities. This is the fifth time that we have been visiting each other and donated clothes to needy people, spending our own money. We gave 10 people two mink blankets each so that they could be warm in winter. We had asked Chief Joseph Mafa of Masekoeng to select people from his village that would be recipients of the donation,’’ she added.
In response, Chief Joseph Mafa of Masekoeng in Thaba-Bosiu said he was happy that ECoL Officers donated blankets to his people, particularly those living with disabilities.
“I’m very happy for the people who received the blankets. We plead with others to donate more so that the lives of our people can change for the better,” said Chief Mafa, adding that the Officers had further contributed money which was given to the beneficiaries of blankets for them to also be able to buy food.
On the other hand, Dr Ntoi pointed out that external examinations for Junior Certificate and COSC were going to be held at the set dates despite the recently ended teachers’ strike. She said the examination papers had already been printed and would be fetched when the writing of examination dates gets close, adding that parents should also play their part by teaching their children whenever there are problems in the education sector such as strikes.
“The examinations for JC and COSC are going to be written on the set dates. We would not change the dates for examinations just because the teachers had been on strike. The examination papers have been printed a long-time ago. Also the pupils should study hard and I wish them the best of luck in their coming final examinations which would be held as usual towards the end of the year,” she said.
Regarding the Life Skills and Sexuality Based Education, she said it was aimed at teaching learners about the dangers that they could face or experience so that they could be able to defend themselves. She therefore strongly refuted allegations that the subject would expose and be a bad influence to learners.
“Children should be vigilant of the dangers that they could end up experiencing due to lack of information. Some old men and women do take advantage of children sexually. A child should be able to tell an old person not touch her or his body if he or she does not approve. Children should be able to tell their story clearly in the court of law when there is a rape case. This subject is going to empower our children with important information,” she emphasized.
