By Kefiloe Kajane
With external end-of-year examinations drawing ever so close, a dark cloud hangs over Lesotho’s education system after it was thrust into turmoil and uncertainty by the Covid-19 pandemic which forced closure of schools.
Former minister of education and training Mokoto Hloaele in May said grade seven Junior Certificate (JC), Lesotho General Certificate of Secondary Education (LGCSE) students were good to reopen, and promised that the ministry would be monitoring safety measures at schools.
However, except for a few private schools, the bulk of schools in the country were not prepared to take the chance, and did not reopen, leaving one question begging to be answered: whose responsibility is it to sanitise and ensure the safety of schools?
Lesotho Association of Teachers (LAT) spokesperson Letsatsi Ntsibolane says that is the sole responsibility of the school’s proprietor. Government is responsible for the safety of government schools and churches for theirs.
Commenting on the eventual impact of Covid-19 on children’s education, Ntsibolane insisted it is even more important is the health and lives of learners.
“I suggest that they be examined on the topics they had covered before the lockdown. We need to understand that this pandemic was not created or anticipated by anyone; it is a crisis that we all need to adjust to. We need to sit down and deliberate on the best way forward while still putting a premium on the health of learners.
“What makes it even trickier is the fact that the education laws of the land do not make a provision for emergencies like this.”
Meanwhile a group of 20 parents and guardians of students in Mafeteng have written to the ministry of education and training expressing their concerns over paying school fees during this time of Covid19 while students are not attending classes.
They indicated that even before coronavirus hit, they were already struggling to make ends meet due to pre-existing shocks and crises, meaning they were already struggling to pay their children’s school fees.
They said some of them work as bartenders, domestic workers, and waiters who have since been rendered unemployed due to the lockdown restrictions.
“Some of us relied solely on remittances sent by our children who work in South Africa, the majority of whom worked in the informal sector, often outdoors, and their activities were brought to an abrupt end by the lockdown.
“The lockdown made their hand-to-mouth existence untenable and now most of them are still locked up in South Africa without money to pay for accommodation and buy essentials. We have very little to fall back on, materially and financially speaking and could find ourselves forced to abandon our livelihoods. We might have to sell our animals and planting and sowing equipment. Once we do that, getting to be self-reliant again will become extremely difficult,” they said.
They said present education minister Ntlhoi Motsamai should surely understand how falling behind on school fees is a fear that many parents face, having grown up and attended school in this country herself.
“Now with so many parents having lost their incomes, it is a scary reality for parents who are now struggling to get enough food for their children and worry about their next meal.
“This, minister, is a real challenge for you and your ministry, one which needs immediate attention. We are asking you to make a solemn commitment that when classes resume, government will prohibit all public schools from preventing students from returning to school, suspending or expelling them due to the non-payment of school fees, depending on whether a parent has suffered a reduction in salary, has become unemployed or was forced to close down his/her small business.
“We know that as parents and guardians it is our responsibility to make sure the fees are paid, but due to the coronavirus pandemic it has become extremely difficult to make ends meet hence we are asking that no matter how far behind a parent is on fees, the schools should not expel the children or withhold their reports. This will ensure that learners are not deprived their right to education. We do understand that there will be an impact on the finances of schools which operate on shoestring budgets, in particular, and the education system in general, but these are unprecedented, stressful and dangerous times,” the parents stated.
They further explained that the financial impact that the situation is having on everyone needs to be considered. They urged the ministry to consider expanding secondary education and make it universal over time by abolishing school fees starting from next year, 2021.
Attempts to get a comment from minister Motsamai were unsuccessful as her phone rang unanswered.
