Lesotho Embassy in Washington

The education system in Lesotho is structured in accordance with the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) recommended to member states by UNESCO. The primary and lower secondary education remain distinct according to this classification. ISCED 1997 revised the level of education as the unit of classification. Each level may comprise more than one stage and a successful completion of one stage is a pre-requisite for entry into the next higher stage. Accordingly, there are six distinct levels of education being Level O, Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4 and Level 5. These correspond respectively to Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Primary Education, Lower Secondary Education, Higher Secondary Education, Post Secondary Non-tertiary Education and University Education.

EDUCATION AT LEVEL O (ZERO)

This is the pre-primary level that provides Early Childhood Development education. Its main objective is to build a strong educational foundation in the early years of child’s development and is the basis for further learning. The early Childhood care and Development Education remains low in Lesotho particularly in the rural and poverty stricken regions. The Ministry of education through ECCD programme has developed a vision that, by the year 2010, all children from 0 to 6 years of age will have access to services that provide Early Childhood Development.

EDUCATION AT THE FIRST LEVEL

According to the concept of “basic education”, this is the first stage and comprises reading, writing and arithmetic along with an elementary introduction to other subjects. This level is a seven-year programme designated in standards one through seven and the official entry and completion ages are 6 and 12 respectively. At the end of the seventh year, pupils sit for the external examination from which they are awarded Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) certificate. Its completion enables entry into the next stage of basic education.

EDUCATION AT THE SECOND LEVEL

Education at this level is classified into general (lower) secondary and vocational education. The general secondary education is the second stage of “basic education” and covers the three years from form A to C. The official age of entry is 13 years and 15 years for completion and the Junior Certificate is awarded after completion. Vocational education is designated to introduce students to skills that will enable them to meet labor market demand. This type of education is provided by institutions such as St. Elizabeth, Bishop Allard, St. Michael’s social center, Bernada Home Economics and St. Mary’s Home Economics.

EDUCATION AT THE THIRD LEVEL

This is the upper secondary education in which successful completion of “basic education” is a pre-requisite. The official age group for this level is 16 to 17 with duration of two years. At the end of this level of education students obtain a Cambridge Overseas School Certificate (COSC), which is also a basic requirement of entry into the next level of education. Within this level there is also Technical/Vocational education that encompasses basic electronics, carpentry and joinery, plumbing, electrical installation, brick laying and fitting and turning.

EDUCATION AT THE FOURTH LEVEL

This provides post-secondary non-tertiary education, which is divided into two types. The first type consists of teacher training programmes. This equips students with teaching skills for both primary and lower secondary education. The second type accounts for technical such as architecture and motor mechanics.

EDUCATION AT THE FIFTH LEVEL

The National University of Lesotho provides the fifth level. The minimum duration of study in this level is 4 years. The basic entry requirement for the first degree is COSC or Certificate and/or Diploma in teacher training programme or equivalent. Enrolment in the send-degree programme needs a successful completion of the first degree. The official age population of Lesotho for different educational programmes can thus be recast in six broad age groups as follows:

Table 1.1: Distribution of School Age population by age groups

Table 1.2: Number of Schools, Pupils and Teachers 1998-2002

The above table depicts that, generally, there are more primary than secondary schools in Lesotho. The numbers of both primary and secondary schools have been increasing since 1998 to 2002 with secondary schools increasing faster than primary schools. This is shown in the table where the percentage increase during the same period is 9.3 and 5.6 for secondary and primary schools respectively. The number of post-secondary institutions remained the same. However, the increase in secondary and primary schools brought an increase of 6.0 percent in the total number of institutions in the country.

Table 1.3: Number of Pupils/Students 1998-2002]

Table 1.3 shows that enrolment in primary has been increasing between 1998 and 2002 but declined by 1.2 percent between 1998 and 1999. Percentage increase in enrolment was high (12.6%) between 1999 and 2000 mainly because of the implementation of Free Primary Education and it declined thereafter. In secondary and Technical/Vocational schools, there has been an increase during this five-year period. However, enrolment in Technical/Vocational schools declined by 4.1 percent between 2001 and 2002. In the case of teacher training and the National University, there has been an incline in enrolment within this period. The figure below depicts that, generally total enrolment increased between 1999 and 2002 a highly fluctuating trend suggesting a great impact of Free Primary Education on general enrolment in 2000.

Figure 1: Percentage Change in Enrolment 1998-2002

Table 1.4: Number of Teachers 1998-2002

The number of teachers in all levels of education increased within this five-year period. The increase was 9.0, 13.2, 19.2 and 9.2 percent for primary, secondary technical/vocational and teacher’s training accordingly between 1998 and 2002. Between 2001 and 2002 the number of teachers at teachers training college declined by 1.8 percent. The number of teachers in general increased by 8.2 percent during 1998 to 2002. This increase is lower by 2.8 percent as compared to the previous five-year period (1994 to 1998).

Primary enrolment by gender and grade for 1998 to 2002 presents to same pattern as that of the previous five-years period (1994-1998). Enrolment seemed to have been high for males in grades 1 through 3 except for 1998 where it was higher for females in grade 3. From grade 4 to 7 there were more females than males in each grade. Figure 2 below presents the overall trend since 1998 to 2002. It portrays that, in primary education, females constitute a higher proportion than males. It also depicts that; enrolment has been increasing between 1999 and 2002 while it declined between 1998 and 1999. This increase is observed in both males and females. The overall primary enrolment increased by 14.4 and 8.2 percentage points for males and females accordingly from the previous five-years period (1994-1998). The percentage change in enrolment was high for males than females for both periods i.e. (1994-1998) and (1998-2002).

Figure 2: The overall Trend in Enrolment since 1998 to 2002

Males

Females

Table 1.6 presents secondary enrolment by gender and grade. It clearly reveals that, females were the most dominant throughout this period in all grades. However the overall female enrolment had been decreasing since 1998 through to 2000 and then increased thereafter. Male enrolment assumed a different pattern since it increased during the whole five-year period. This is shown in figure 3 below. Generally, percentage in enrolment for secondary education is also higher in males as compared to females. This change increased by 1.7 points for males and decreased by 4.4 points for females between the two five-years periods.

Table 1.5: Enrolment in Primary Schools by Gender and Grade 1998-2002

Grade	Year
	1998		1999		2000		2001		2002
	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female
1	36403	33263	35078	32699	63767	55076	53216	44263	46824	39826
2	32368	30591	31436	29802	29401	27653	46397	43546	43770	38152
3	28795	29351	28584	28092	27999	27899	25634	24797	39687	39316
4	25975	28185	26513	28522	26636	27834	26159

Table 1.1: Distribution of School Age population by age groups

Table 1.2: Number of Schools, Pupils and Teachers 1998-2002

Total

Table 1.4: Number of Teachers 1998-2002

Year

Figure 2: The overall Trend in Enrolment since 1998 to 2002