The National Manpower Development Secretariat (NMDS) disbursed stipends for three local universities on Tuesday, following protests by students.
Students from Lerotholi Polytechnic (Fokothi), Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (LUCT) and National University of Lesotho (NUL) had demonstrated against NMDS on Monday. Students from these three institutions of higher learning had protested outside the NMDS premises, singing and showing placards demanding the sponsor to release their monthly allowances.
A meeting between NMDS management and the students’ representatives is said to have been held and the students were informed that their monthly allowances for April would be delayed, though they were allegedly not given reasons why.
After LUCT Students’ Union General Secretary Ntsane Moahloli told the students that NMDS had promised to release their stipend quickly, they were indeed pleasantly surprised when the money reflected on their bank accounts on Tuesday night.
Motjetje Senakane from NUL said it was unfortunate that the student’s education was taken for granted and those responsible for disbursing their allowances were dragging their feet. “Many students depend on the NMDS money for buying food, printing of assignments at the bookshops and paying of rent,” he stated. Protests by students from institutions of higher learning has become almost an annual occurrence as if it is not one institution demonstrating it is the other.
