By Neo Kolane
It is not easy being a teacher in Lesotho, according to local non-governmental organisation, Help Lesotho. Teachers have limited resources, earn poor salaries, and teach in overcrowded classrooms, sometimes up to 100 students per class, the organisation says. They are forced to live in poor housing conditions in remote areas, far away from their families. These challenges inevitably lead to poor education.
The Lesotho Association of Teachers (LAT) secretary general, Letsatsi Ntsibolane, tells theReporter’s Neo Kolane in this interview that the situation has been worsened by the government’s failure to honour its repeated pledges to address the teachers’ plight. For instance, Ntsibolane says, the government has failed dismally to fulfill its pledge to implement an agreed 2019 career and salary structure, which seeks to ensure teachers are paid according to their qualifications.
The Teaching Service Department recently said it was working tirelessly to ensure that acting principal’s outstanding allowances are paid. How does non-payment of acting principals’ allowances affect their work and that of schools?
Around 2018, the minister at that time was Professor Ntoi Rapapa who coincidentally is the minister now. He would address the public as well as teachers and give assurances that the ministry was doing all it could to address teachers’ problems including outstanding allowances for acting principals.
It was the same tone even in 2019 when we went on strike. And now we are in 2023, we can comfortably count four years and yet the same challenges still persist. This adversely affects the provision and quality of education.
The Education Act N0. 3 of 2010 stipulates that a school shall have a principal; it does not say that a school may have a principal. There are more than 1000 schools without principals and the question is “How can a school run without a principal but rather, someone who is just acting?”
Firstly, acting principals cannot be firm or have a strong voice. They find it hard to reprimand teachers who are not committed to their work.
Secondly, those who are still owed across the board are demotivated. In 2019, there was a bogus attempt by government to deduct teachers’ salaries on the pretext of the no-work-no -pay principle and it was illegal.
But even today, some acting principals have still not been paid despite repeated promises by the government over the years.
The results of failing to do so cannot be over-emphasized. It goes without saying that a demotivated teacher results in demotivated pupils and students.
A circular from the ministry of education dated January 25 2023 stated that due to the financial challenges the country is currently facing, the ministry will no longer be able to support new teacher appointments in private and independent schools. What does this mean to the country’s education system?
Yes, the government can have some financial challenges but education must be prioritised because of the role it plays; it determines our future as a country.
We have an intergraded curriculum or a learner centered curriculum which requires that a pupil-teacher ratio be user friendly in that a teacher is not supposed to teach many learners. This ideal situation ensures that teachers are able to focus on every learner and that proper learning occurs.
If the government does not employ enough teachers across the country, it puts more pressure on those in service. It’s not desirable when teachers cater for way too many learners than they are supposed to.
Also, some schools do not have teachers even as we speak. It’s worse when those who retire, resign or die are not replaced.
We still need to ask ourselves some critical question as a country. What direction are we giving to education in terms of both human and financial resources?
We’re condemning the education system to a crisis. We’re basically saying we are not interested in the future but rather prefer seeing students and teachers just going to school.
Last year the ministry through the then principal secretary suggested that many professional teachers did not have the zeal to teach at rural schools. Do you agree with this contention? To what extent is this true, and how can it be remedied?
The policy in Lesotho is that when a teacher works in a hard-to-reach place, there is provision for a ‘mountain allowance’. Since time immemorial, the amount has been M275, which is subjected to tax.
The allowance was introduced to motivate teachers to go and teach in rural areas, but this has not worked because the amount is too little.
We want this allowance to be increased so that it becomes meaningful and worthwhile. We have been fighting for this since 2019 after the so-called incentive was introduced way back in 2005. Unfortunately, we’ve not succeeded because the government always says that it does not have money.
However, it is true no one wants to teach in the remote areas where there are no adequate facilities.
The International Commission of Jurists this year reported that without proper pre-service training on inclusive education, teachers are unable to provide children with disabilities with the support and accommodations they may require. To what extent is this true for Lesotho, and what do you think is the best way to ensure an inclusive education?
The United Nations (UN) sustainable development goal No. 4 calls for the provision of quality education; this includes inclusive education to cater for people living with disability. According to the UN, member countries should by 2030 have eliminated gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations
Marginalised groups such as herd boys and the LGBTQI (Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and intersex) community should also have equal access to quality education. These groups are often excluded.
The crux of the matter is that our institutions of higher learning call for inclusive education and proper teacher training. There have been efforts to hold courses but these have been sporadic.
We’re aware of the UN’s call for inclusive education and we’ve made efforts as a country to come up with policies to address such challenges but the implementation has left a lot to be desired.
A principal at a rural school once claimed parents influence their children to doubt the competence of teachers, citing a high level of school dropouts. What is the danger of such attitudes?
Society determines attitudes or behaviours. For instance, a child who grows in a community where the majority of people are illiterate citizens is likely to pick up the same tone, messages, language and adopt the same kind of thinking. This might include a negative attitude towards education and its importance in life.
Such a student may adopt an anti-educational philosophy. It is not foreign for such attitudes to manifest in communities but again, it takes the strength of a teacher to overcome that.
A well-trained teacher would not succumb to that at all. He/she will produce students who go on to prove their community wrong. That’s why it’s important to have motivated teachers who see this profession as a calling.
Teachers in Thaba Tseka are calling for the establishment of a human resources unit in the district’s education office to take care of issues relating to employment and payment of teachers. How important is it to have such a unit in district education offices?
The unit is there, but it’s now three years without human resource personnel responsible for the appointment of teachers and dealing with issues of retirement and notches/promotions. Such personnel deal with everything relating to services directed to teachers.
The office was also riddled with allegations of corruption in relation to the employment of teachers. Prospective teachers were allegedly made to pay some money in order to secure jobs. The previous official manning the office was eventually dismissed and not replaced by the ministry of education.
