Politicians and government officials have become known for, among others, constantly going on about well-intentioned policies framed periodically to improve school education and high-sounding goals.
However, the situation on the ground tells a different story. It betrays total apathy.
Children in government, church and community schools in remote rural regions of Lesotho continue to suffer from glaring disadvantages emanating from manpower and infrastructural deficiencies compared to their big town counterparts.
They are plagued by the same old problems year after year, and 58 years after independence, they are noticeable by glaring lack of basic facilities.
This brings into question the will on the part of government and churches to end the neglect that poor village boys and girls are condemned to. They continue to languish in an underprivileged life due to denial of equality in their learning tools.
Underscoring this stark reality is the reality of schools that lack proper classrooms to accommodate learners in a conducive facility. At such schools, pupils are forced to take turns to use a makeshift classroom. A case in point is Ha Long Primary in ultra-rural Thaba Tseka where the infrastructure leaves much to be desired; the school has only two teachers.
The innocent unsuspecting youngsters deprived of proper schooling are vulnerable to lifelong repercussions. Unlikely to be equipped to overcome difficulties ahead, a fringe existence is likely to be their destiny.
It is criminal that this inequitable distribution of resources, prohibited under the Right to Education section of the National Constitution, is allowed to recur in a sector that is mandated to be a breeding ground for a robust generation of human resource.
