Lesotho

THE ORIGINAL Khoisan hunter-gatherer communities in present-day Lesotho were displaced in the 16th century by Bantu-speaking farmers migrating south as part of the general dispersal of black Africans from the eastern parts of West Africa. The original Lesotho people spoke a unique seSotho dialect and called themselves the Basotho. They lived in reasonable harmony for nearly 250 years, but with the 19th century came a series of disruptions that was to change their lives forever...Read more.

The Ministry of Education and Training is responsible for the management, provision and regulation of education and training in Lesotho. The education sector consists of four years of pre-primary education (non-compulsory), seven years of primary education, five years of secondary education and three to six years of tertiary education. Post-secondary education has two main strands: higher education and technical and vocational education and training. The National University of Lesotho (NUL) is the only university, although there are close to 20 other tertiary-level public institutions and 15 private tertiary institutions (Ntimo-Makara, 2003).

Type of Higher Education Institutions	Number of Institutions
Publicly funded universities	1
Publicly funded HE Institutions and Colleges	1
Publicly funded HE Institutions	6
Other (Centre for Accounting Studies)	1
TOTAL	9

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Source: Lesotho MoE questionnaire response

The more global policy principle of the MoET, guided by the MDGs and EFA, is that basic education is an integral part of social and economic development and that it is a fundamental human right. It is also seen as an essential pre-condition for mid-level employment and secondary and post-secondary education and training, which is expected to lead to practical skills and knowledge. The SADC Protocol on Education and Training has explicitly influenced national HE policy and practice in that students from SADC students are treated like home students in terms of paying fees. Science and technology has officially been identified as a priority area for HE, according to the MoET. The value of HE is noted in both the National Indicative Plan and Country Strategy Paper (2008-2013) as well as the Poverty Reduction Strategy (2005) (MCRI Report).
 

Higher Education Legislation	Brief Description
Higher Education Act 2004	Provides for the regulation of HE, for the establishment, composition and functions of a Council for Higher Education, for the governance and funding of public HE institutions, for registration of HE private institutions, and for quality assurance.

List of Statutory Bodies in the Higher Education Sector

Statutory Bodies	Brief description
None

 

Public Expenditure on Education as a % of Gross National Income (GNI)	10.0%
% Education budget allocated to higher education	37% (2004/5)
Loan/Grant scheme in place	Yes

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Source: SARUA (2008) – Pillay report

Key Indicators	Lesotho
R&D Intensity [The ratio of Gross expenditure on R&D (GERD) to Gross Domestic Product (GDP)]	0.1% (2004)
ISI Output (Number of papers published in the 7500+ journals of the ISI Web of Science)	1990-1995: 79 1996-2001: 59 2002-2007: 68

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Source: SARUA (2008) – CREST Report