Kingdom of Lesotho Improving Quality and Efficiency in Education…documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/256001468265773988/... · 2016-07-11 · Improving Quality and Efficiency in

/Report No. 8066-LSO

Kingdom of LesothoImproving Quality and Efficiency in Education:Toward a Plan for Reform and RevitalizationDecember 11, 1989

Population and Human Resources DivisionSouthern Africa Department

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Document of the World Bank

This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipientsonly in the performance of their official duties. Its contents may not otherwisebe disclosed without World Bank authorization.

Pub

lic D

iscl

osur

e A

utho

rized

Pub

lic D

iscl

osur

e A

utho

rized

Pub

lic D

iscl

osur

e A

utho

rized

Pub

lic D

iscl

osur

e A

utho

rized

Pub

lic D

iscl

osur

e A

utho

rized

Pub

lic D

iscl

osur

e A

utho

rized

Pub

lic D

iscl

osur

e A

utho

rized

Pub

lic D

iscl

osur

e A

utho

rized

FOR OMCIAL USE ONLY

LESOTHO: BASIC INDICATORS (1988)

Area ('0009 sq. km.) ........................... 30GNP per Capita (USS) .. ........... ......... ... .. 438Population (millions) .............. .............. 1.6Population Density (per sq. km) . .......... ... 52Population Growth Rate (per annum) .............. 2.62Life expectancy at birth (years) ............... 0 56Avg. Annual Inflation Rate, 1980-87........... 12.3%

COMPARISON OF BASIC EDUCATION INDICATORS FOR LESOTHOAND SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Sub-SaharanComparator 'esotho /1 Africa 12

Primary Enrollment ('000.) 320 51,345

Secondary Enrollment ('000s) 38 11,119

Gross Primary EnrollmentRatios (as 2 of age group) 116 75

Share of Girls amongPrimary Students (S) 56 42

Gross Secondary EnrollmentRatios (as 2 of age group) 24 20

Gross Tertiary EnrollmentRatios (as Z of age group) 2.2 1.4

Student-Teacher RatiostPrimary 55 39Secondary 21 30Tertiary 10 12

Annual Repeaters as 2 ofPrimary Enrollment 23 14

Expenditures on Education:as 2 of GNP 3.9 4.3as 2 of total expenditureo 13.9 15.3

/1: Data for Lesotho are for 1987.12: The latest available regional data is for 1983 from

Education in Sub-Saharan Africa, World Bank.

This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only in the performanceof their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization.

KINGDOM OF LESOTHO

IMPROVING QUALITY AND EFFICIENCY IN EDUCATION:TOWARD A PLAN FOR REFORK AND REVITALIZATION

Table of Contents

Page No.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . ............................................. i-xi

I. BACKGROUND

The Challenge of Human Resources Development . . 1 - 2Educational Strategies: Basic Orientations . ................ 2 - 3Study Rationale, Scope, and Organization .. 3Organization of Lesotho's Education System . .................. 4 - 6

II.THE LABOR MARKET AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Basic Economic Features .............................................. 7 - 10Internal Labor Market .............................................. 10 -11Regional Labor Market .............................................. 11 - 14Implications for Labor Policy ................ 14 - 15Implications for Education Policies ................ .................. 15 - 16Labor Market Information Systems ................................... 16 - 18

III.EXPENDITURES AND FINANCING OF EDUCATION

Introduction ........................................................ 19Recent Trends and Current Situation .... 20 - 25Issues in Education Finance .. 25 - 29R.ecommendations .. 29 - 31

IV.PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION

Introduction .. 32 - 33Primary Education

Achievements and Issues .... .......... ....... ..... 33 - 36Recommendations ....... * ...... .. .36 - 39

Secondary EducationAchievements and Issue ..... .39 - 43Recomendations .......... ...... 43 - 44

This report was prepared by Mr. R. Hecht, and was based on a sector mission inOctober 1987 composed of Mrs. N. Shields (Leader), Messrs. Hecht (Economist), N.Corwell (Educator), S. Hoenack (Consultant), J. Cobbe CODA Consultant) andMs. S. Harpring (USAID Consultant). A follow-up mission consisting of Mr. Hechtand Ms. J. de Beyer took place in February 1988. An earlier draft of the reportwas discussed with the Ministry of Education in December 1988. Secretarialsupport was provided by Mrs. S. Fernz, Ms. H. Phillips, and Ms. R. Mendoza.

V.POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION

National University of LesothoIntroduction ................................ 45 - 46Achievements and Issues ............................. 46 - 52Recommendations ............................. 5 2 - 54

Technical-Vocational EducationIntroduction .................. ............................... 54 - 57Achievements and Issues .......................... ........... 57- 60Recommendations ............................. 60 - 61

ANNEXES

Annex I: General Indicators on Education in Sub-Sah.ran Africa

Table 1. Gross Primary Enrollment Ratios, Sub-Saharan AfricaTable 2. Countries Grouped by Secondary Enrollment Ratios,

Sub-Saharan Africa

Annex II: Education Financing in Lesotho

Table 1. Public Investment Per Capita in Fducation, 1981-86Table 2. Lesotho Educations Stafftng Otcerns, 1986

Annex III: Primary and Secondary Education

Table 1. Primary Education: Enrollments, Teachers and Classrooms,1975-87

Table 2. Primary Education: Cohort Analysis for Primary School Pupils,1986

Table 3. Secondary Education: Enrollments, Teachers, and Classrooms,1975-87

Annex IV: NUL's Non-Teaching Units - Possible Cost Savings

Annex V: Technical/Vocational Educational and Teacher Training

Table 1. Enrollment in Technical/Vocational Schools by Course 1975-86Table 2. Enrollment at NTTC by Course, 1975-86

Annex VI: Charts

Chart 1. Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture, OrganizationChart - 1988

Chart 2. Education System, 1988Chart 3. Education Pyramid, 1986

LIST OF TABLES IN TEXT

Table 2.1. Source of GDP, Employment, and Output per Capita, 1986Table 2.2. Total Income and Employment, 1986Table 2.3. Currently Active (Non-migrant) Population By Sex and Industry,

1985Table 3.1. Total Expenditures for Education, 1986/87Table 3.2. Education Recurrent Expenditure, 1982-87Table 3.3. Education Recurrent Per Capita Expenditure, 1982-87Table 3.4. Education Recurrent Expenditure by Program, 1983-87Table 3.5. Government Recurrent Cost Per Pupil, 1986-87Table 3.6. Education Share of Planned Capital Expenditure, 1986-91Table 4.1. Primary School Overcrowding: Policy OptionsTable 4.2. Secondary School Efficiency: Policy OptionsTable 5.1. NUL Graduates by Faculty and Degree, 1986Table 5.2. NUL Budget by Major Expenditure Category, 1986Table 5.3. Technical-Vocational Institutions, 1987

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Introduction

i. The Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho (GOL) and donoragencies are increasingly recognizing that, as the country's naturalresource endowment is severely limited, Lesotho must emphasize humanresource development as the key to its future economic growth. This meansthat the GOL will need to formulate and implement policies and programs toeducate and train Basotho in a cost-effective manner for future employmentopportunities at home and within the Southern Africa region.

ii. The importance of cost-effective human resource developmenthas been stressed in a number of recent GOL policy documents, including theFourth Five Year Plan (1988), and in the World Bank's latest CountryEconomic Memorandum (1987) and Review of Public Expenditures (1988). Thesereports emphasize particularly the need to strengthen Lesotho's educationand training system as the central element im a strategy for human resourcedevelopment. While it is clear that other sectors must also contribute toan integrated human resources approach (e.g., health, family planning,nutrition), the key to success in this effort will be found in the area ofeducation and training.

iii. Since 1971, the World Bank, through its concessional financearm, the International Development Association (IDA), has provided Lesotho$31.5 M through four education projects, mainly to improve the quality ofprimary and secondary education, upgrade vocational training facilities,and establish programs for non-formal education. These projects have:egistered a number of important achievements. As one of the largestdonors in the sector, IDA has supported enhanced quality of education atthe secondary level, and provision of classrooms, textbooks, and teachersto keep pace with expanding enrollments at the primary level. Other donoragencies, including the USAID, EEC, Federal Republic of Germany, and U.K.Overseas Development Administration, have a'so provided substantialassistance to Lesotho's education sector.

iv. The GOL and donor community now recognize, however, thatthese past efforts have had only a limited impact on education andtraining. In fact, there is strong evidence that the quality of primaryeducation has deteriorated in recent years; secondary enrollments haveincreased only modestly; an excessive ahare of the university budgetcontinues to be spent on non-teaching items; and the technical-vocationaltraining system has not been able to meet the growing demand for technicalskills. On the macro-economic side, fiscal problems constrain theGovernment's ability.to spend more on education, while low growth of formalsector employment (about 2,000 additional jobs a year) in relation to newentrants into the labor force (20,000 persons annually) is creating seriousemployment problems.

v. To deal with these problems, new approaches must be adoptedto improve the quality and appropriateness of education in Lesotho.Increased emphasis must be placed upon achieving greater efficiencies andhigher levels of cost recovery in education, particularly since the GOL is

- ii -

expected to expcrience stagnant or even declining budgetary resources overthe next few years. In addition, efforts to enhance quality and efficiencyin the education sector will prove to be effective only if Lesotho'seducation and training programs are grounded in an informed analysis offuture manpower needs in the domestic and regional markets.

vi. In view of the above, the GOL and the World Bank agreed inmid-1987 to conduct an education sector review, that would assess thecapacity of Lesotho's education and training system to meet the futureemployment requirements of the local and regional labor markets in anefficient manner. The following report is the outcome of that sectorreview. Its main findings and recommendations are summarized below.

Education in the 1980's: Achievements and Difficulties

vii. During the period of the Third Plan (1981-86) and thebeginning of the Fourth Plan (1986-91), Lesotho registered a number ofimportant achievements in the education sector. Primary school enrollmentsincreased by nearly 30?, from 250,000 to 320,000. The current enrollmentratio of 1162 ofVthe primary school age cohort is one of the highest inSub-Saharan Africa, and is well above the regional average of 77Z. There isgood gender balance to primary_eArollmtnts, with female pupils actuallyoutnumbering male pup4r-oiiIke the situation in many other Africancountries where girls are not given an equal opportunity to attend school.As a result of in-service training programs, the percentage of unqualifiedprimary school teachers has dropped from 362 to 20X.

viii. At secondary education level, the number of schools increasedrapidly, from 108 in 1982 to 154 in 1986. In addition, several importantprograms to impreve math, science, and language skills were initiated orstrengthened substantially. In the area of technical-vocational -ducation,enrollments grew from less than 200 in 1975 to over 1,800 in 1986, andseveral major institutions for specialized training (e.g., the NationalHealth Training Center, the Center for Accounting Studies, etc.) wereestablished. Overall, while the Government plays a major role in fundingand regulating education in Lesotho, an important strength of the country'seducation and training system is the continuing major involvement of theprivate sector, especially church mission institutions, which own andoperate nearly all primary, secondary, and technical-vocational schools andaccount for about a third of the H 113.6 million spent on education in 1987(para. 3.05).

ix. Despite these important recent achievements, the GOL anddonors alike acknowledge that Lesotho's education and training system facesa host of serious problems and constraints as the country attempts todevelop its human resources in order to meet the demands of the local andregional labor markets and, ultimately, to improve the incomes and livingstandards of its population. In the area of labor policy and itsrelationship to education, perhaps the most difficult and intractable issuefor Lesotho is how to gear education and training programs for potentialemployment in the Republic of Soueh Africa (RSA), given that the highlyuncertain political situation in the RSA could have a major impact on workopportunities for the Basotho. In addition, at home where the GOL has

. i_i -

greater ability to influernce directly the employment situation, theexisting labor market information system for monitoring employment andunemployment, and job vacancies, and estimating likely future job creation,is weak and fragmented.

x. In the area of education financing and expenditures, a numberof problems persist:

- While the GOL budget is tightly constrained overall, education'sshare of the budget, at 16-192 of the total in recent years, isinsufficient in relation to the sector's needs and is below theaverage budget allocation for education for Sub-Saharan Africa:

- Per capita Govnrnment spending for primary and secondary education(M 53 and H 338, respectively) is significantly below the regionalaverage figures, while expenditures at the National Unniversity (M7922 per capita) exceed the mean figure for Africa. The result isextreme skewing in per capita expenditure at various levels of theeducation system, with nearly 150 times as much spent on auniversity student than for a primary school pupil. While 320,000primary pupils share 402 of the MOE budget, another 202 of the HOEbudget is spent to educate just over 1,000 university students;

- The planned MOE capital budget for 1986-91 also showsdisproportionately low investment in primary and secondaryeducation (162 and 142, respectively). At the same time, highlevels of proposed capital spending for the University (21X) andteacher training (192) seem hard to justify; and

- Underlying these problems in the patterns of expenditure foreducation are weaknesses in planning, budgeting, and financialmanagement. Symptoms include: unrealistic MOE capital budgetslacking a clear statement of priorities and estimates ofassociated recurrent costs; the absence of monitoring systemsrelating expenditures to the education service statistics whichare currently being collected; and centralized and generallyinflexible procedures for preparing annual recurrent budgets.Shortages of skilled personnel, systems, and equipment account formany of these difficulties.

xi. In primary education, the predominant problem is the low anddeteriorating quality of education, as reflected in poor test results andhigh levels of pupil drop-out and repetition. Poor quality of prLaaryeducation not only resnlts in lower skill levels and productivity among themajority of pupils who leave school at the primary level. but also has adeleterious effect on the performance of tniose who graduate and go on tostudy in secondary schools. The principal immediate cause for poor qualityof primary education is overcrowding: both the current averagepupil:teacher ratio of 55:1 and the pupil:classroom ratio of 82:1 are toohigh and have been getting worse in recent years. Overcrowding isespecially severe in the early primary grades, where classes of over 100pupils are comon. quality of instruction is also negatively affected bylack of school furniture (432 of pupils have no desks or chairs) andshortages of school inspectors and qualified school managers to ensure

- iv -

quality control. High rates of drop-out and repetition further underminethe cost-effectiveness of primary education and reduce efficiency: onaverage, more than 15 pupil-years of instruction are required to graduateone pupil from the seven year primary system.

xii. At secondary level, too, inadequate quality of instruction isan overriding problem linked to a relatively high proportion of unqualifiedteachers (202), lingering inadequacies in programs of instruction for math,sciences, and language skills, and insufficient learning materials inlibraries and classrooms. Despite a rise in secondary enrollments of almost402 between 1980 and 1986, the average pupil:teacher ratio has remainedsta.ionary at 21:1 because of the rapid proliferation of secondary schools(pa=a. viii). This pupil:teacher ratio is generally viewed by educators asunnecessarily low and represents a significant source of inefficiency inthe secondary education system.

xiii. At the National University of Lesotho (NUL), many educationofficials have questioned the academic relevance of a number of programs,particularly the fact that 752 of recent NUL graduates specialized ineducation or social sciences, while less than 152 specialized in thenatural sciences, where Lesotho is seriously short of highly-trainedpersonnel. The.e officials have also voiced concerns about the quality ofNUL education, which is adversely affected by several factors, including:(a) the time-constsming natura of NUL's committee system of governance,which detracts from teaching effort; (b) policies which base staffpromotion and compensation on seniority, rather than on teaching andresearch performance; (c) the absence of a system of external evaluation ofstaff and teaching programs; and (d) lack of incentives for faculty toundertake research, and weak links between NUL's four research institutesand the University's academic departments.

xiv. In addition, there is considerable room for enhancing thecost-effectiveness of expenditures at NUL. The 582 of NUL's budget of M 8.6million (1937) spent on non-teaching items is excessive, especially in theareas of maintenance (172) and administration (152). The overallstudent:faculty ratio of lO1 is below the regional average of 12:1, and isa second importance source of inefficiency. Cost recovery from student andtheir families is extremely poor (21 of NUL expenditures), because fees andtuition are low, many services are free (e.g., laundry), and the Governmentfails to collect most repayments from students receiving education loans.Such a system is not only inequitable, since many students come fromfamilies that could afford to contribute toward part of the cost of theirstudies: it is also inefficient, since students receiving a free educationare less inclined to choose co-rses of studies on the basis on the truerelationship between social benefits (additional productivity for Lesotho)and costs. Moreover, given that NUL already consumes 202 of the MOE budget,it is hard to see how an expansion of NUL enrollments can be financiallysustained, unless efficiency is improved and cost recovery raisedsubstantially.

xv. Finally, in the area of technical-vocational education (TVE),while the number of places in industrial-commercial training centers hasincreased significantly over the past decade, enrollments are still notexpanding fast enough, in relation to the demand for graduates from within

Lesotho and from the RSA. The main factor appears to be financial: the GOLdoes not have the resources to allocate to capital expansion and associatedrecurrent costs for Government-run institutions (especially since costrecovery is low), and in NGO and private facilities, fees meet only part ofoperating costs, with training grants from employers as yet undeveloped asa source of funds. The mismatch between TVE enrollments and labor forcerequirements may also be linked to weaknesses in the existing labor marketinformation system (Chapter 2).

xvi. In addition, while some TVE centers provide excellenttraining, the quality of instruction is not consistent across institutionsin Lesotho, because curriculum iz developed on an ad hoc basis, nationalstandards for trainers and facilities are lacking, and the suspension oftrade testing during 1984-88 seriously undermined the credibility of TVEprograms in the country. Cost recoverE in Government-owned TVE institutions(include the National Health Training Center. National Teacher TrainingCenter, and Lesotho Institute of Public Administration) is poor, withlevels considerably below those prevailing in private centers. This notonly inhibits the GOL's ability to expand these institutions and improvethe quality of training, but may even threaten their long-run financialsustainability.

Reform and Revitalization of the Education Sector: Main Recommendations

xvii. In recent years, GOL policy-makers and education officialsgenerally have become in-reasingly aware of the problem' and issues whichare summarized above and. are spelled out in more detail in the followingchapters of this report. They recognize that, to deal with these groblems,some of which are very basic to the entire education system, acomprehensive sectoral reform effort will be required. The full range ofpossible reform measures, as well as several options for dealing with themost pivotal issues, are elaborated in the chapters below. In thisExecutive Summary, only the key recommendations for reform andrevitalization of Lesotho's education sector are highlighted.

xvtii. Labor Markets and Education Policies (hapter 2). Given thelimited potential for increasing domestic employment in relation to thetotal Basotho labor force, Lesotho will continue in the coming years torely on exporting an important fraction of its able-bodied workers to theRSA. This means that the GOL must strive, through negotiations and othermethods, to maintain and possibly even expand the number of Basotho workingin the RSA mines. There may also be significant opportunities for Basothoto find work in other manufacturing and service industries in the RSA,especially if Basotho job applicants possess the required technical andmanagerial skills as a result of superior training in Lesotho.

xix. At home, the rate at which wage employment increases willdepend on GOL's macro-econozic policies and a series of external economicand political factors over which Lesotho has only limited control. However,the ability of Lesotho's education system to respond well to variousemployment scenarios will depend on having a large stock of well-educatedprimary and secondary school graduates who can adapt themselves quickly tochanging job opportunities. It will also require that Lesotho develop mote

- vi -

effective mechanisms for transmitting labor market signals to the educationsector: a well-functioning labor market information system and closer linksb are two importatL. examples of suchmechanisms. Increased tuition and fees at NUL would also encourage studentsto select programs of study leading to careers in fields with higher labordematd and corresponding salary levels.

sx. Education Sector Financing and Expenditures (Chapter 3). Inorder to develop the country's education and training system on the basisof the principles of adequate funding, efficient resource allocation, cost-effectiveness, and equitable cost-sharing, the following measures should beadopted:

(a) To rationalize th- MOE capital budget,

- The Ministry should reduce the overall amount of plannedinvestments from M 25 million a year to M 15-20 million annually,a level which is more feasible both in terms of MOE implementationcapacity and dono- interest in the sector;

- The capital budget should be restructured in a way that givessignificantly larger shares of planned investment to primary andsecondary education. Primary education's share should be raisedfrom 162 at present to about 40t, and secondary education's sharefrom 142 to 25X;

- Investments in new facilities at secondary level should beconditioned upon first achieving full use of existing capacity,i.e., by increasing enrollments and class size; and

- Capital projects are NUL should generally be deferred until awide range of efficiency gains has been achieved and cost recoveryhas increased at the University, thereby ensuring the financialsustainability of these new investments.

(b) To develop a scund MOE recurrent budget,

- Education's share of the GOL budget should be raised from 17-192to 20-222 of the total, with most of the increase earmarked forprimary education (this recomrendation has already been made inthe World Bank's 1988 Review of Public ExPenditures); and

- The existing large differential in per student expenditure atvarious educational levels should be reduced over tine, byspending proportionately more at primary level and less attertiary level. At a minimum, Lesotho should strive to lower theratio of per capita spending for university:primary education from150:1 to the 45Sl average for Sub-Saharan Africa. Perhaps a moreappropriate long-term target would be the ratio for the middle-income African countries of which Lesotho is a member, i.e., 29:l.

(c) To underpin the above-mentioned reforms of public spending foreducation, the MOE should formulate and carry out a major programto improve financial planning and management throughout the

- vii -

education sector. This means providing a combination of training.equipment, and technical assistance to:

- MOE Planning Unit staff, in developing capital budgets andpreparing and appraising projects;

- The MOE Chief Accountant's Office, in building up recurrentbudgets from decentralized submissions, monitoring expenditures,and analyzing costs and efficiency; and

- School managers, ir planning, budgeting, and accounting forexpenditures incurrea and revenues collected.

(d) The MOE should also develop a comprehensive financial informationsystem to enable it to integrate financial data with the excellenteducation service statistics that are already being collected andpublished.

xxi. Primary Education (Chapter 4). In order to reverse the recentdecline in the quality of primary education and enhance cost-effectivenessat the same time, a package of priority actions needs to be adopted,including the following:

(a) HOE should implement, on an urgent basis, a program to reducesevere overcrowding in primary schools. through a combination ofbuilding additional classrooms, imposini ,a age limit on primaryschool attendance (e.g., 15 years of age', operating split shifts,and possibly re-introducing automatic promotion or limitedrepetition for individual pupils. All of the above measures rhouldbe fully exploited in order to bring the pupil:classroom andpupil:teacher ratios down to acceptable levels (e.g., 60:1 and40:1), before considering the more costly option of hiringadditional primary school teachers (para. 4.22-24). Assuming thatthe net enrollment ratio remains at its current level of 762, forexample, automatic promotion and an age limit alone would lowerthe pupil:teacher ratio from 55:1 to 36:1, and the pupil:classroomratio from 105:1 to 68:1. By building in additiona 27 classrooms(equivalent to just 14Z of the existing stock of c. 2srooms), thepupil:classroom ratio could be further reduced to 61.l;

(b) To enhance learning performance, basic school furniture should beprovided to the 432 of primary school pupils who still lack desksand chairs; and

(c) To monitor more effectively pupil, teacher, and school performanceand enforce quality standards across all primary schools, anational pupil testing system should be developed, and moreprimary school inspectors hired and deployed in the districts.

xxii. Secondary Education (Chapter 4). At secondary school level,GOL policy-makers should consider adopting the following key measurLs:

(a) To improve the quality of secondary instruction:

- viii -

- MOE should implement a plan to eliminate the remainingunqualified teachers (202 of the teaching force or about 350individuals) over the next five years, through a combination ofin-service training and replacing those unable or unwilling toupgrade their skills:

- MOE, foreign donors (governmental and NGO), and localcomnunities should together establish, staff, and furnish schoollibraries in the 502 of secondary schools where such librariescurrently are not functioning; and

- MOE should continue offering the highly successful specialenrichment programs for math and sciences, while simultaneous'ystrengthening the basic curriculum and teaching of these subjectswhich are vital in preparing Basotho for future employment intechnical fields.

(b) To increase the efficiency of secondary education, the averagepupil:teacher ratio should be raised from 21:1 at present to aminimum of 25:1, and probably to 30:1 before the end of the 1990s(para. 4.35). More concretely, this means that the MOE will haveto work with local communities to expand enrollments at existingschools, before allowing new schools to be created. Thereafter,the MOE will also have to ensure that proposed new schools arelikely to meet minimum size standards, before agreeing to payteachers' salaries at these institutions. By boosting thepupilsteacher ratio to 251, secondary enrollments could expand bynearly 7,000 students (an 182 increase), without hiring moreteachers. By achieving a ratio of 30:1, enrollments could grow bynearly 18,000 students or 422.

xxiii. National University of Lesotho (Chapter 5). As NULadministrators and MOE officials formulate their action plans for improvingrelevance, quality, and efficiency of University operations, they shouldto consider the following recommendations:

(a) To enhance the relevance of teaching, University officials shouldexpand natural science programs further, perhaps adopting a targetlevel of graduates in the sciences as a percentage of the total(e.g., 252). Student choice of field of study would also betterreflect employment and income prospects, if NUL tuition and feeswere raised from about 52 of actual costs at present to at least502, and student loan repayment was enforced (see below);

(b) To improve the quality of academic programs at NUL:

- The structure of University committees should be streamlined,and the number and size of individual committees reducedsignificantly;

- The University should initially experiment with, and thenestablish, a system of external evaluation of each department andits staff;

- ix -

- The University should prepare and implement an explicit staffdevelopment plan for each department member, which specifieshis/her objectives (in teaching, research, curriculum development.support to administration, etc.) and identifies essential trainingneeds; and

- NUL should set up a research fund for faculty and graduatestudents, using a part of the savings in the University budgetwhich can be achieved in the area of non-teaching expenditures(see below).

tc) To increase the efficiency of resource use at NUL:

- Following appropriate consultation with teaching staff, otheremployees, and students, NUL should prepare and implement on anurgent basiq a plan for reducing non-teaching expenditures.Through a combination of staff transfers, early retirement, andincentives for certain maintenance personnel to become privatecontractors to the University, net savings equal to 142 of NUL's1987 budget could be obtained (para. 5.13). Including reforms ofthe Universities research institutes, savings amounting to 172 ofthe budget could be achieved; and

- NUL officials should set higher targets for studenttfacultyratios which are more in line with regional averages (10:1 to 12:1for various courses) and adopt a phased plan for achieving them.In this way, enrollments could be increased by up to 202 withouthiring additional faculty.

(d) To safeguard the financial sustainability of NUL:

- The University should raise cost recovery through fees, so thatstudents bear a substantial share of the actual cost of tuition,board, and lodging (perhaps 502 or more);

- Consistent with recent Government actions in this area, thestudent loan scheme should be revamped to incorporate strictereligibility, a competitive interest rate on outstanding loanbalances, and tighter enforcement of terms and conditions forrepayment; and

- The Government should defer major planned investments at theUniversity, until a program is implemented to reduce unit costs,boost revenues through higher fees, and utilize fully existingclassroom and laboratory capacity. The recurrent cost implicationsof all capital projects for NUL should also be more closelyscrutinized by NUL officials and the MOE Planning Unit.

xxiv. Technical-Vocational Education (Chapter 5). In the area ofTVE, the priority actions for Government and NGO policy-makers shouldinclude the following:

(a) The GOL should encourage NGOs and the private sector to expand TVEenrollments through a combination of matching Government grants,

channeling of donor assistance, Government-backed loans to NGO

institutions, and capital and training grants from private

industry. Limited growth of Government-owned TVm institutions may

also be appropriate, especially when coupled with enhanced cost

recovery (see below);

(b) To improve the quality of TVE instruction, MOE should work closely

with training center staff and employers to enrich TVE curricula,

under the aegis of curriculum development committees for the

various trades. MOE should also reactivate trade testing and

expeditiously clear the backlog of candidates; and

(c) To improve the financial viability of the TVE system, MOE should

take the lead, in conjunction with other relevant ministries

(agriculture, health, etc.), in examining options for increasing

cost recovery in Government institutions, to cover at least 50 of

recurrent costs. This would require the establishment of a well-

administered education loan scheme for TVE students. MOE should

also promote the use of employers' training grants to TVE

institutions as another potential source of recurrent funding.

An Action Plan for Educational Reform

xxv. G6ven the above reconmendations, plus others that Government

policy-makers, educators, and local communities might formulate, the GOL

should seriously consider developing a clear and concrete action plan for

the reform and revitalization of education and training in Lesotho. A task

force composed of representatives of the public, private, and NGO sectors,

.ad reporting to the Ministry of Education. for example, might be a

suitable body to develop such an action plan. To be truly effective, the

-tan would need to have target dates for implementation of various reforms,

and measurable indicators of progress that can be easily monitored.

xxvi. The choice of reform measures to pursue rests, of course,

with the Government of Lesotho. Within the entire range of measures

summarized in the paragraphs above, however, there is a set of ten core

recommendations which could form the basis for a meaningful action plan.

Since many of these recommendation would be mutually reinforcing, the

Government should seriously consider adopting them simultaneously, as part

of a single reform package. They includes

(1) Rationalizing the MOE capital budget (H 15-20 million a year) and

reorienting it toward primary (402) and secondary (25) education

(para. xx(a));

(2) Increasing the MOE recurrent budget to 20-22? of the total, and

raising the shares for primary and secondary education while

reducing the per capita ratio of tertiary-to-primary expenditures

(para. xx(b));

(3) Strengthening financial planning and management throughout the

education system (para. xx(c));

- xi -

(4) Implementing the program to reduce overcrowding in primaryschools, through a combination of additional classrooms, an agelimit on attendance, split shifts, and limited repetition (para.xxi(a));

(5) Providing basic school furniture to all primary pupils (para.xxi(b));

(6) Phasing out the remaining 20i of secondary school teachers who areunqualified, through in-service upgrading or replacement (para.xxii(a));

(7) Increasing the average secondary school pupil:teacher ratio from21:1 to 25:1 and eventually to 30:1 (para. xxii(b));

(8) Implementing the quality improvement package for NUL (para.xxiii(b)), including streamlining of the committee system,establishing a system of external evaluation, preparing individualstaff development plans, and setting up a research fund;

(9) Improving cost-effectiveness at NUL by reducing non-teachingexpenditures by about 302 and increasing the student:faculty ratiofrom 10:1 to at least 12:1 (para. xxiii(c)); and

(10) Raising cost-recovery at the University through phased increasesin tuition and fees to cover 502 or more of expenditures, coupledwith strengthening of the student loan scheme (para. xxiii(d)).

xxvii. The formulation and execution of the action plan foreducational reform and revitalization would ultimately have to be aninternal exercise, built upon a strong consensus among Government andschool officials and parents within Lesotho. Nevertheless, the donorcommunity which has actively supported the education sector over the pastdecade can also play an instrumental role in supporting the reform effort.Donor assistance could take the form of technical advice and training, aswell as financial resources for the related investments in financialmanagement systems, additional classrooms, school furniture, in-serviceteacher upgrading, etc.

xxviii. Under these circumstance, what will be needed is stronger,more concerted donor coordination in the education sector. Once the actionplan for reform is finalized, and a budget and timetable for its executionare drawn up, it would probably be appropriate to organize a donors'conference, sponsored by the GOL, to solicit donor interest and galvanizeexternal technical and financial support. In this manner, Lesotho wouldobtain the maximum benefit from donor resources in its efforts to improvethe relevance, quality, as.d efficiency of its education and trainingsystem.

I. BACKGROUND

The Challenge of Human Resources Development

1.01 The Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho (GOL) and donor agenciesare increasingly recognizing that, as the country's natural resource endowmentis severely limited, Lesotho must emphasize human resource development as thekey to its future economic growth. This means that the GOL will need toformulate and implement policies and programs to educate and train Basotho ina cost-effective manner for future employment opportunities at home and withinthe Southern Africa region.

1.02 Lesotho's natural resource base is very limited relative to itspopulation of 1.6 million. Only 13Z of the country's land is cultivable, andits modest deposits of diamonds and coal are not economically exploitable atpresent. Agriculture's contribution to the national economy is falling becauseof declining soil fertility and yields, and is also unstable because Lesotho'srainfed farming systems are susceptible to the droughts which periodicallyoccur in Southern Africa. While trans-basin transfer of water from Lesotho'shighlands to the Republic of South Africa (RSA) through the Highlands WaterScheme will bring considerable revenues to the GOL and offer jobs for someskilled workers, its overall impact on employment will be limited (Chapter 2).

1.03 The emigration of about 200,000 Basotho workers to the Republic ofSouth Africa (RSA) is in part a response to the severe population pressureprevailing in Lesotho. The roughly 120,000 Basotho currently working asminers in the RSA are of vital economic importance to Lesotho, making a majorcontribution to the country's employment, household incomes, and GNP (abouthalf of GNP is accounted for by this group of migrant workers). However.these Basotho occupy mainly middle and low-skilled positions in the mines, andtheir prospects for obtaining better jobs in the future are highly restricted.At the same time, the employment picture inside Lesotho is severelyconstrained, with large numbers of school leavers unable to find jobs. Levelsof unemployment and underemployment are high and increasing (Chapter 2).

1.04 The prospects for improving this situation are limited by severalfactors:

(a) Rapid population growth of 2.6Z a year, which raises dependencyratios (and hence the need for gainful employment among adults)in the short run, and will expand the potential labor force inthe longer run;

(b) Relatively modest growth in the modern wage sector, whichcurrently provides about 2,000 new jobs a year, against ayearly rise in the labor force of 20,000 persons;

(c) Little or no employment growth in rural areas; and

- 2 -

(a) Increased competition from South African workers for jobs inthe RSA, as well as the threat of further tightening of legalrestrictions on Basotho labor migration to the RSA.

Educational Strategies: Basic Orientations

1.05 Under these circumstances, it seems clear that human rescurcedevelopment, including both gearing Lesotho's labor force to future domesticrequirements and making Basotho workers as competitive as possible in theregional labor market, should be a high priority. Given that Lesotho faces asituation of very constrained resources, public and private, such humanresource development must also be as cost-effective as possible (Chapter 3).Lesotho simply cannot afford to use resources for human resource developmentin an inefficient manner. Yet there is evidence of sub-optimal resource use atall levels of the education and training system: for example, high rates ofdrop-out and repetition in primary schools; unnecessarily low student:teacherratios in secondary institutions; and excessive expenditures on non-teachingitems at the National University of Lesotho (NUL).

1.06 The importance of cost-effective human resource development has beenstressed in a number of recent GOL policy documents, including the Fourth FiveYear Plan (1988), and in the World Bank's latest Country Economic Memorandum(1987) and Public Expenditures Priorities in Lesotho (1988). These reportsemphasize particularly the need to strengthen Lesotho's education and trainingsystem as the central element in a strategy for human resource development.While it is clear that other sectors must also contribute to an integratedhuman resources approach (e.g., health, family planning, nutrition), the keyto success in this effort will be found in the area of education and training.

1.07 In order to fashion an education and training system wbicheffectively enhances the employment of Basotho at home and theircompetitiveness in the regional market, it is important for the GOL to analyzethe future opportunities/demand for labor. Many political and economicuncertainties make precise labor forecasts and prescriptions for education andtraining extremely difficult; experience from elsewhere has shown that suchpredictions/recommendations can be seriously inaccurate. However, some broadobjectives for Lesotho can be stated from the outset, including the need to:

(a) Train enough skilled Basotho to occupy certain job categoriesat home (e.g., engineering, accountancy, etc.) where chronicvacancies persist;

(b) Impart basic skills to the thousands of Basotho who willinevitably end up working in the informal sector and in smallrural enterprises;

(c) Retain as many existing unskilled/semi-skilled jobs as possiblein the RSA;

(d) Protect the Basotho labor force against excessive dependency onone activitylindustry in the RSA (e.g., mining), where job

- 3 -

prospects might suddenly dry up, through efforts to diversifyemployment; and

(e) Open up new avenues of employment for Basotho in the RSA andthe Homelands, especially in skilled categories (e.g. teaching,medicine, clerical, etc.).

Study Rationale, Scope, and Organization

1.08 Since 1971, the World Bank, through its concesssional finance arm,the International Development Association (IDA), has provided Lesotho $31.5 Mthrough four education projects, mainly to improve the quality of primary andsecondary education, upgrade vocational training facilities, and establishprograms for non-formal education. These projects have registered a number ofimportant achievements. As the largest donor in the sector, IDA's support hasenhanced the quality of education at the secondary level, and helped to keeppace with population growth by expanding enrollments at the primary level.

1.09 The GOL and IDA now recognize, however, that new approaches must beadopted to improve the quality and appropriateness of education in Lesotho.Increas3d emphasis must alse, be placed upon achieving greater efficiencies andhigher levels of cost recovery in education, particularly since the GOL isexpected to experience stagnant or even declining budgetary resources in thenext few years. Most importantly, efforts to enhance quality and efficiencywill prove to be effective only if Lesotho's education and training programsare grounded in an informed analysis of future manpower needs in the domesticand regional markets.

1.10 In view of the above, the GOL and the World Bank agreed in mid-1987to conduct an education sector review, that would assess the capacity ofLesotho's education and training system to meet the future employmentrequirements of the local and regional labor markets in an efficient manner.The main mission took place in October-November 1987, with follow-up missionsin February 1988 and July 1988. The following report is the outcome of thatsector review.

1.11 The report is organized in six chapters. Following thisintroduction, the next two chapters set the stage for analysis of specificlevels of the education and training system, by presenting the broadereconomic and financial framework. In Chapter I1, the prevailing macro-economic and labor market situation is analyzed, various future employmentscenarios are considered, tad their implications for education and training inLesotho are adduced. In Chapter III, the financial and expenditure aspects ofthe education and training system are presented, including (a) the role ofeducation in overall GOL expenditures; (b) private outlays for education; (c)the allocation of resources to various levels of the system; and (d) therelative efficiency of expenditure. The final two chapters look in depth atthe various levels of education in Lesotho - primary/secondary and post-secondary (technical-vocation and university) in terms of access, educationalquality, cost-effectiveness, and lemployment value", i.e., how well the systemprepares individuals for the local/regional labor market.

4-

Organization of Lesotho's Education System

1.12 Lesotho's education system is a joint venture between the Governmentand the churches, with the latter operating 972 of the primary and 862 of thesecondary schools. Without this joint administration, Lesotho would not havereached in the past, and could not maintain now, its relatively high level ofliteracy (742) as compared to the average for Sub-Saharan Africa (42Z).

1.13 The administrative, financial, and academic control of the formaleducation system is vested in the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture(MOE). The MOE trains and appoints teachers, administers examinations,reviews and authorizes curricula, regulates the opening and closing ofschools, inspects the operation of all schools, and pays teachers' salaries.Although the NUL is administered by an independent council, the MOE providesthe bulk of its recurrent budget and is represented on its council. Thechurches generally own and operate the primary and secondary schools, andfinance both capital improvements and recurrent costs of maintenance and somesupplementary teachers. The organization of the MOE is shown in Chart 1 andthe structure of the education system in Chart 2.

1.14 The MOE'S Planning Unit is responsible for the preparation of long-term plans and policies, administration of the capital budget. ind thepreparation and review of proposed education projects. Major achievementshave been ihe completion of a school mapping exercise, the computerization ofeducation statistics, and the preparation of an Education Sector Survey. Amajor result of the Survey was the adoption of a new Education Act (July 1983)which provides legislation for, inter alia, the establishment of a unifiedTeaching Service Commission, under the MOE control, replacing the missions asteacher employers. The Planning Unit has recently prepared MOE's submissionto the Fourth Five-Year Plan (1986-91) and has organized a series of seminarsin 1987 and 1988 to follow up on the 1983 Sector Survey. As a result of theseminars, a second report entitled Clarification of Lesotho's EducationPolicies and Priorities, has been published.

1.15 The National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC), created in .975,is responsible for the review of curricula, adaptation of syllabi and trainingof teachers. NCDC has updated the English, Sesotho and mathematics syllabi,and work is continuing on other subjects.

1.16 Primary education (grades 1-7) is conducted in Sesotho (the nationallanguage) for the first four years and mainlv in English in grades 5 through7. In 1986, total gross enrollments were about 319,000, equivalent to 1162 ofthe population aged 6 to 12. About 35? of the primary enrollments wereoveraged students. The age of entry is dropping and more males are attendingschool, e.g. in 1975 females outnumbered males by almost 50?, while in 1986they outnumbered them by 25?.

1.17 In 1980, automatic promotion was replaced by a system of continuousassessment which requires regular testing and recording of pupils'achievements, based on curriculum objectives. Nevertheless, in 1986, only

about 112 of the pupils who had in 1979 started the first grade were in theseventh grade and took the final national examination. About 88Z of those whosat for the primary completion examination passed the exam, with about 75? ofthese entering junior secondary schools.

1.18 In 1986, the primary school teaching force of 5,773, all Basotho,gave a teacher-pupil ratio of 1:55. About 20? of the teachers wereunqualified. To assi,st in the improvement of tha quality of the teachingstaff, an in-service program for unqualified teachers is operated jointly bythe National Teacher Training College (NTTC) a.ad the Lesotho Distance TeachingCenter (LDTC).

1.19 General secondary education (junior secondary in grades 8-10, seniorsecondary in grades 11-12) had a total enrollment of about 37,500 in 1986 (602girls), the equivalent of about 20? of the population aged 13-17. Of thegeneral secondary enrollmentz. about 20? were boarders. The language ofinstruction throughout the general secondary cycle is English. In 1986, 1,676secondary school teachers (about 18? unqualiiied) were employed, resulting ina teacher ztudent ratio of 1:21. As in primary education, an in-serviceprogram is underway to improve teacher qualifications and skills.

1.20 Largely due to the lack of a well-formulated expansion policy andstrong community-based demand, the number of general secondary schools hasincreased rapidly, from 60 schools in 1975 to 108 in 1982 and 154 in 1986.This rapid expansion has negatively affected efficiency in secondary schoolsand may be partly responsible for the worsening examinations results of theGeneral Secondary Junior Certificate (JC) and the Cambridge Overseas SchoolCertificate (COSC).

1.21 In 1986, enrollments in vocational courses were about 1,450, ofwhich over one-third were in home economica, about one-fourth in constructiontrades, and smaller numbers in motor mechanics, electrical engineering,secretarial, business and administrative skilla, etc. The courses wereoffered in eleven junior secondary level schools and in five senior secondarylevel schools, as well as in the Lesotho Opportunities IndustrializationCenter (LOIC) which provides vocational on-the-job training experience, workcounselling and placement assistance. Technical education is offered at thePolytechnic, located on the Lesotho Technical Institute School (LTI) campus.The Polytechnic consists of: the Technical Training School (TTS), which offersdiploma courses in civil, mechanical and electrical engineeting, andarchitecture, and the Commercial Training Institute (CTI) which offersbusiness courses.

1.22 Agricultural education is offered at the post-primary level at sixFarmer Training Centers (180 students in total) and, at the certificate anddiploma levels, at the Lesotho Agricultural College (LAC). LAC awardsdiplomas in general agriculture, agricultural engineering and forestry. Thediploma-level courses are taught under the dual sponsorship of the NUL and theLAC.

1.23 Teacher training for primary and junior secondary education isprovided by the NTTC. The college offers four courses leading respectively tothe Primary Teacher Certificate (PTC), the Advanced Primary Teacher

Certificate (APTC) (a special administrative course which upgrades qualifiedprimary teachers to become principals), the Junior Secondary TeacherCertificate (STC), and the Secondary Technical Teacher Certificate (STTC).Senior-secondary teacher education is the responsibility of the Faculty ofEducation at the NUL. The University offers Bachelor of Education and Masterof Education degrees. Since 1977/78, the NUL has run two special programs.the first to train more mathematics and science teachers, and the second totrain teacher trainers for the NTTC and for the MOE Inspectorate. In 1986,there were 1109 students enrolled at the NTTC, including 599 for the PTC, 101for the APTC, 382 for STC, and 27 for the STTC.

1.24 Non-formal education courses are provided by the MOE through theLDTC and by three other Ministries (Agriculture, Health, Interior). Inaddition, courses are provided by five non-statutory agencies, the NUL, and byover 400 church and voluntary groups. The LDTC provides: (a) correspondencecourses at the JC and COSC levels; (b) fonmal and non-formal educational radioprograms; (c) coordination for the MOE's adult non-formal education programs;and (d) support to mass media in Lesotho.

1.25 A School of Accountancy, established in 1980 with technicalassistance provided by the Government of Ireland, has been offeringaccountancy training to about 100 full-time and another 60 part-time trainees.Business and management certificate and short term courses in bookkeeping andthe management of cooperatives, are provided by the NUL's Institute of Extra-Mural Studies (IEMS).

1.26 NUL offers courses in education, humanities, natural sciences,social sciences, agriculture, theology, and law. In 1986, NUL enrolled 904Basotho and 215 foreign students (total of 1,119) attending degree, diplomaand other post-secondary programs. In addition, 300 students were pursuingpart-time certificate and diploma courses. Students qualifying for universitystudy now receive a loan from the Government which replaced the freefellowship program which had existed in the past.

- 7 -

II. THE LABOR MARKET AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Basic Economic Features

2.01 Lesotho, a small country surrounded by the RSA. possesses only twosignificant resources: water and labor. The country's terrain is moentainousand agricultural top-soils have been seriously eroded over the past century.The land can thus support only rudimentary animal husbandry and limitedcultivation: agriculture accounts for only 212 of GDP (Table 2.1) Thecountry's industrial base, while expanding in recent years, is still quitemodest.

Table 2.1

Lesotho: Source of GDP, Employment, and Output per capita, 1986

Estimated Employment Net OutputValue Added (000) Per Capita(Kaluti M) 2 2 (Haluti)

Agriculture 111 26 230.1 67 482Industry 139 27 30.9 9 4498Services 212 52 82.4 24 3301

Total 522 100 343.5 100 1520

Note: Above GDP figures are at factor cost, exclusive of indirect taxes.

Source: BOS National Accounts

2.02 Lesotho is unique among the world's nations, insofar as remittanceincome from workers employed nearly equals the total value of domesticeconomic activities (Table 2.2). The value added per migrant -orkers was 2.3times greater than that of their countrymen engaged in economic activitieswithin the country's borders. Furthermore, this external source of income tothe local economy has continued to grow at a faster pace than other income.From 1979 to 1986, GDP in current prices grew by 3172 (from H 216 million to M685 million), while migrant workers' remittances increased by 3462 (M 178million to H 614 million).

Table 2.2

Lesotho: Total Income and Employment, 1986

Income Employment Z Net Output Per(Maluti M) X (000) Head (Haluti)

Domestic 685 53 343.5 (a) 72 1994External 614 47 133.4 (b) 28 4603

Total 1299 100 476.9 100 2724

Note: Above income figures are at m3rket prices

Source: BOS National Accounts

2.03 While Lesotho lacks natural resources that are currently in demand bythe international economy and possesses a narrow industrial base, it is stillimportant to create as much domestic employment as possible, consistent withprinciples of efficiency. However, in the long-run Lesotho will almostcertainly need to exploit its position in the regional economy, by (a)enabling its workers to acquire the skills and abilities in demand in theregion, while (b) ensuring che greatest possible benefits to the country.This means, for example, framing policies to persuade workers to remit alarger share of their eartings back to Lesotho.

2.04 The Labor Force: Characteristics and Deployment. Reliableinformation on the characteristics and deployment of the Lesotho labor forceis not available. 1/ However, available data (Table 2.3) revedl severalimportant points:

(a) Two-thirds of the non-migrant population relies to some extenton income from farming activities;

(b) Despite recent investments in industry, the sector (mining,manufacturing, utilities, construction) still employs only about82 of the population:

(c) Private services provide more than five times as many jobs aspublic administration; and

1/ The results of the 1986 population census may give a better picture ofthe situation, but data analysis will not be completed until late 1988 orearly 1989. It is therefore necessary to rely on the sample survey of thelabor force carried out in 19R5/86, and on various estimates andprojections made for particular sectors.

-9-

(d) Women are very important in wage-earning sectors of the economy,especially in marufacturing (twice as many jobs as men), privateservices (six times the number of jobs as held b. men), and thecivil service.

Table 2.3

Currently Active (Non-migrant) PopulationBy Sex and Industry, 1985

(Percentage)

Rural Urban Total

Industry Hale Female Male Female Male Female Total

Agriculture, etc 81.4 65.9 13.1 6.9 74.9 60.8 66.6Mining/quarrying 1.7 0.4 3.5 0.3 1.8 0.4 1.0Manufacturing 1.2 2.5 8.6 14.2 1.9 3.5 2.8Utilities 0.0 0.0 3.0 0.6 0.3 0.0 0.2Construction 7.1 2.1 13.4 0.8 7.7 1.9 4.3Trade, restaurants,and hotels 1.9 1.8 14.7 19.8 3.1 3.4 3.3

Transport, andcomunications 0.6 0.1 7.5 2.5 1.3 0.3 0.7

Finance, andreal estate (,.1 0.2 3.5 1.7 0.4 0.3 0.4

Public admin. 1.5 1.0 22.3 18.1 3.5 2.5 2.9Private services 3.9 24.6 9.4 34.0 4.4 25.4 16.7Other 0.7 1.5 1.0 1.1 0.7 1.5 1.2

Total 100.0 .100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

(Numberof persons) 216,457 314,166 23,115 29,312 239,572 343,479 583,051

2.05 Unemployment and Under Employment. Despite the relatively highproportion of men and women who are economically inactive2, there is still ahigh level of unemployment and underemployment in the country. Self-reportedopen unemployment amounts to 172 of men and 91 of women, and is concentratedamong the less educated. The absolute number of educated unemployed is alsoquite large (7000 persons). Over 90? of the unemployed did not reljrt anyprevious job, suggesting that they have been unemployed since leaving school.In addition, more than half of those reportin6 themselves as usually employedcould be considered to be under-employed, since they work fewer than 30 hours

2 This is because of large over-age primary school enrollment (106,677 peopleaged 13 or older in 1985), and because the earnings of migrants in the SouthAfrican mines are sufficiently high that many wives in receipt of remittancescan afford to be "homemakers' as their primary activity.

- 10 -

a week. Taken together with the overall unemployment rate of 13Z of the totalpopulation aged 12 and above, and the large number of economically 'inactive'persons which conceals many 'discouraged workers,' (i.e., persons who would bewilling to work if an opportunity was available), this points to a low levelot utilization of the potentially available labor force in the country.

Internal Labor Market

2.06 While the prospects for modert. wage erployment in Lesotho aremodest, some improvements can be expected in the coming years to which theeducational system must respond. Some bright spots include the following:

(a) Manufactured goods of Lesotho origin move freely betweenLesotho and the RSA, and also have preferential access to theEuropean Community, the USA, and African members of thePreferential Trading Area (PTA). Since South African goods arerestricted by legislation or consumer boycotts, a number ofSouth African manufacturers, for whom the current exchange rateof the rand (and hence the loti) and depressed economicconditions within South Africa make exports attractive, havemoved their assembly operations to Lesotho. In late 1987, forexample, six South African textile manufacturers were reportedto have moved to Lesotho. Future employment growth inmanufacturing is therefore expected to increase to about 2000jobs a year in the 1990s;

(b) The Highlands Water Scheme, entailing several billion dollarsin infrastructural investments, will have important employmenteffects in the coming decade. By 1990, Highlands Water isexpected to generate about 3000 additional jobs in constructionand 600 jobs in supplier industries, with more employmentcreated in allied services (transport, housing, repair, retailtrade);3

(c) The informal sector is large and growing, with importantpotential in the coming years. A 1984 survey of 3,000 small-scale enterprises identified welding, brick-making, motorrepair, carpentry and tailoring as offering good potential forexpansion. The informal sector is a primary source of incomefor 6Z of the total labor force - about 50,000 people in 198C -

3 Many jobs in the Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) itself, and in theimplementation stage of the project, will require skills not currentlyavailable in Lesotho, and planning for training is already underway withassistance from the EC and ODA, which have produced detailed projections ofmanpower needs. There is a strong possibility that the Highlands Water schemewill employ skilled Basotho who transfer from other jobs, leaving vacancieselsewhere. The relative attractiveness of LHDA terms of service and paylevels is indicated by the fact that in 1987 over 3000 applications werereceived for slightly more than 100 positions.

- 11 -

and a subsidiary income source, through part-time and sporadicactivity, for about 150,000 people in rural areas.

2.07 Constraints on Domestic Job Creation. While growth in selectedareas of the wage economy can be expected to take place in Lesotho in comingyears, the overall picture is one of large numbers of school-leavers competingfor a limited number of jobs in the domestic market. The public service,which employs about 12,000 persons, and the teaching service, with 7,000, areunlikely to grow in the next years, given the severe budget squeezeconfronting the GOL. In fact, studies are about to be undertaken in the areaof civil service reform, which might ultimately lead to cut-backs ir. the totalnumber of government posts. At best. Lesotho should probably be aimiz.& to (a)replace with Basotho the large numbers of expatriates currently fillingprofessional, technical, and math/science based positions, and (b) train andappoint Basotho to the numerous senior posts which are currently vacant. Whilethe vacancies can be partly explained by the budget difficulties, they alsoreflect the unavailability of suitable Basotho candidates.

2.08 Future employment in most other industries (construction,commerce, transport) is heavily dependent upon the level of remittances fromexternal migrants. Such remittances, mainly coming from miners working in theRSA, can either stimulate or depress economic activity in these areas,depending on their magnitude. In the short-run, the recent lay-offs ofBasotho miners in the wake of the 1987 strike by the National Union ofMineworkers (NUM) have had a negative impact on construction and trade inLesotho. Long-run employment prospects for Basotho in the RSA and Homelandsare not entirely clear. It is to this topic that we now turn.

Regional Labor Market

2.09 Official statistics and the few available studies on Basotho labormigration outside the country tend to understate the actual situationsignificantly, as they fail to capture important groups of Basotho working inRSA or in the Homelands.4 However, some facts are known which allow ameaningful broad picture to emerge. Virtually all Basotho working outsideLesotho are located in the RSA and its Homelands; few Basotho have foundemployment elsewhere in the SADCC countries of the sub-region. Thosemigrating to the RSA amount to about 200,000 persons, including (a) 120,000

4 Those excluded by the official statistics include (a) persons entitled toLesotho citizenship, but who are concealing that status from the South Africanauthorities, because they also qualify for South African or Homelandsdocumentation; and (b) those who are illegally present in South Africa.Despite repeated tightening of the official penalties for both employee andemployer, it is clear from anecdotal evidence that illegal employmentcontinues, mainly in the low-skill, low-wage occupations of agricultural laborand domestic service.

- 12 -

mineworkers5; (b6 fewer than 5,000 farm laborers; (c) perhaps 50,000 personsin the Homelands ; and (d) about 25,000 others.

2.10 Given the importance of this migratory flow for the economy ofLesotho, future trends in Basotho labor migration vill have a major impact onthe country. In assessing the prospects for Basotho migrants, there areseveral positive factors:

(a) Basotho miners are particularly well-regarded by mine-owners.They have an advantage over other foreign workers because theyare largely English-speaking, are better educated than workersfrom Mozambique, have a virtual monopoly in the highly-specialized dangerous task of shaft-sinking, and have goodmorale because they live close enough to the main mining:enters to make occasional weekend visits home.

(b) The Bantustan (Homeland) policy has created a demand for

5 The average number of mineworkers grew from about 77,000 in 1967, the yearafter independence, to a peak of 129,000 in 1977, by which time the realaverage annual cash wage had approximately tripled. In 1973, foreign Africansaccounted for 80S of the black labor force on the gold mines. In the mid1970s, the Chamber of Mines of South Africa decided thats (a) the proportionof foreign Africans should be reduced to a maximum of 40t; (b) real wagesshould be raised to facilitate the recruitment of South African black workers;and (c) the labor force should be *stabilized in the sense of continuousemployment to facilitate training, skiil acquisition, mechanization of minesand replacement of (expensive) white miners by blacks. As a result of thesepolicies, and political differences with some neighboring states, the numberof Basotho migrant miners has fallen somewhat, but Lesotho has also become byfar the largest foreign supplier of migrants to the industry, accounting in1985 for about 50S of foreign Africans and over 202 of black workers onChamber mines. Nevertheless, total employment of Basotho on the mines hasfallen slightly to about 121,000, mainly as a result of shrinking employmentin coal mines due to mechanization and closures in the face of exportdifficulties. These numbers understate the total number of mineworkers byabout 15S, as they do not take account of works *resting' between contracts.

6 The bulk of recent migration by skilled workers from Lesotho to its neighboris not captured by the existing data collection system, because the majorityof cases involve movements to the Homelands or to jobs in the common areas ofSouth Africa by Lesotho individuals who first obtain Homelands residencydocumentation. The numbers of Basotho involved are believed to besubstantial, given the serious shortages of skilled manpower in South Africa.An official survey of South Africa excluding the Homelands carried out in 1984revealed over 40,000 vacancies in the professional, semi-professional, andtechnical occupational categories. Projections of labor supply and demandalso suggest large shortages of educated black workers in all skillcategories. The shortages may be more severe at the skilled manual level thanat tertiary educational level: a 1985 study showed that demand for apprenticesand tradesmen was growing at 2.32 a year, whereas the supply was growing atonly 0.6? annually.

- 13 -

skilled manpower, which cannot be met by South African blacks.South African labor law restricting migration from neighboringstates does not apply to the 'independent homelands ofTranskei, Venda, Bophuthatswana, and Ciskei (TVBC) and is notconsistently applied in the other homelands. Wh1ile thehomelands have surpluses of unskilled labor, educated Basothoare able to double their incomes by accepting employment there.

(c) While South African government policy is to prohibit newcontracts for migrant work by foreign Africans in agriculture,the long-standing traditions of informal seasonal migration tofarms close to the border will continue, because it isadvantageous to all parties involved and there are no strongincentives for the South African authorities to devotesubstantial resources to interdicting it.

2.11 On the other hand, future employment of Basotho in the RSA isclouded by problems and uncertainties:

(a) Stringent controls on movement of blacks, including foreignAfricans within the RSA, severely limit opportunities forBasotho. Since the early 1960s the central government of SouthAfrica has made it clear that the only role it wishes to seefor foreign Africans within South Africa is as unaccompaniedmale migrant workers in the mining industry, and restrictionsto achieve this objective have been progressively tightened:

(b) Short-rum impact of the 1987 mine strike is likely to benegative for Basotho. Anglo-American Corporation (AAC). whichbefore the strike employed about 30X of Lesotho's migrantminers, appears to have become disillusioned with the NUM, aunion to which it had given some support. Migrants fromLesotho were prominent in the NUM leadership, and substantialnumbers who returned to Lesotho during the strike may not berehired. In addition, since the strike MC has decided toclose two shafts which had employed about 16,000 black workers,half whom were Basotho;

(c) Increasing mechanization of the mine industry and acorresponding shift toward skilled and semi-skilled jobs,especially in the coal mines, is likely to reduce employmentopportunities. It is estimated that about 452 of all blackmining employment in 1990 will be skilled/semi-skilled,compared to 38Z in 1980, while unskilled jobs will fall from532 to 462. New rock-loading and drilling technologies arebeing introduced, which will reduce the number of jobssubstantially. Unless Basotho are trained for positions withhigher skill content, they could suffer a serious loss of jobsand related remittances; and

(d) While historically, the education system in Lesotho has beensuperior to that for blscks in South Africa, black education in

- 14 -

South Africa appears to be catching up. Sout.h Africa hasprimary school pupil-teacher ratios comparable to, or lowerthan, in Lesotho, and has been expanding its secondary system.The pass rates of South African candidates at the school-leaving examination compare well with Lesotho COSC results.South African spending per black pupil in 1987 was about R395,compared to R338 in Lesotho. Unless Lesotho takes decisiveaction to improve the quality of its educational system itshistorical 'comparative advantagen over the RSA may soondisappear.

Implications for GOL Labor Policy

2.12 The foregoing analysis of the labor situation within Lesotho and inthe larger Southern Africa market has a number of important implications forfuture GOL labor/employment policies. In order to improve employmentopportunities for its citizens, Lesotho must attempt tot

(a) Fill as many domestic job positions as possible, both byoccupying existing vacancies and by reducing the number ofexpatriates in high level posts. This is especially crucial inskilled technical and managerial categories;

(b) Keep civil service salaries for skills in demand outsideLesotho competitive with wage levels in the RSA and Homelands.Given the political and legal costs imposed upon Basotho livingin the RSA, salaries in Lesotho do not need to match thoseoutside the country, but the differential should not be allowedto widen so much that the GOL is unable to attract and retainqualified personnel;7

(c) Emphasize labor-intensive technologies, when these can be shownto be as efficient as more capital-intensive methods. Someparts of the Highlands Water Project (e.g., access roadconstruction, housing, etc.) and other public works activities,for example, may be suitable for labor-intensive technology;

(d) Maintain, and even expand, traditional employment 'niches' forBasotho in the RSA. This essentially means retaining jobs in

7 A more flexible approach to public service remuneration and terms of servicemight be considered, which allows periodic adjustment for particularcategories of workers, in response to market conditions, independently of thegeneral reviews of public service pay. One possibility would be non-pensionable pay adjustments for specific categories awarded for definiteperiods of time, say 12 months, at the end of which they would be reviewed bya committee of senior officials. In this way, the overall structure of thecivil service's remuneration and terms of service would not be in constantflux, and differentials between particular skills would not be locked into thesystem.

- 15 -

the mines, through a combination of negotiation and skillsupgrading, in line with increasing mechanization of the miningindustry;

(e) Diversify areas of employment for Basotho in the RSA and theHomelands, so as to increase the number of jobs and reduce thevulnerability of excessive concentration on one industry,mining. The recent migration of significant number of Basothodoctors, nurses, teachers, and administrative personnel to theHomelands is a good example of such diversification which,provided it does not lead to understaffing within Lesotho, canhelp to meet the country's employment and income objectives.There could be major job opportunities for Basotho in othernon-traditional areas, especially in private manufacturing andservices in the RSA; and

(f) Encourage the continued repatriation of earnings by Basotho inthe RSA. Creating investment opportunities, e.g., in housing,small industries, commerce, etc., is the best inducement tocontinued repatriation of earnings. Life insurance and otherschemes for long-term savings might also attract additionalresources from across the border. Without discouraging suchrepatriations, the GOL should also consider means of capturinga larger share of repatriated earnings through the tax system.

Implications for GOL Education Policies

2.13 In order to ensure that Basotho occupy the full range of jobsavailable at home, and also improve their competitiveness in the regionallabor market, the GOL must strengthen its system of education and training.While other sectors (e.g., health, family planning, nutrition) can also playan important role in enhancing the economic value of Lesotho's humanresources, education and training are surely the key to any successful humanresource development strategy. The foregoing analysis of the labor situationsuggests a number of general points of orientation for education and training,which can be supplemented by more detailed recommendations in the laterchapters of this report. In general, Lesotho should strive to:

(a) Provide basic literacy/numeracy skills to the vast majority ofprimary school students who will not go on to secondary level,and will end up working in agriculture and the informal sector.In addition, the GOL should continue to enrich the primaryschool curriculum with practical content in basic areas ofrelevance to primary school leavers: farming, small businessmanagement, environmental protection, family planning, hygieneand preventive health;

(b) Improve and maintain the quality of primary and secondaryeducation in the country, in order to stay ahead of, or keeppace with, advances in black education in the RSA. Any strategy

- 16 -

for regional employment of Basotho would be seriously impairedif Lesotho's education system were to fall behind the RSA;

(c) Emphasize the teaching of math, sciences, and management skillsat the secondary and post-secondary levels, in order to trainBasotho for the senior technical and administrative jobs whichare currently vacant or filled by expatriates, or which are±ikely to be created in Lesotho and the RSA over the comingdecade. Special programs such as AMSTIP and LESPEC are alreadymaking an important contribution in this area, and the EEC-sponsored training project for Highlands Water and IDA-fundedNational Health Training Center should also help. Much more canbe done, however, through a combination of curriculumdevelopment, special schemes, and cost recovery policies whichencourage post-secondary students to select courses of study inareas of high labor demand;

(d) Recover more fully the costs of post-secondary education fromthose who go abroad to work and repatriate few or none of theirearnings. University education on Government scholarship issimply too costly for a resource-constrained country likeLesotho, to have such important *human capital' go abroadwithout a reasonable wreturn' on the GOL 'investment'.

Labor Market Information Systems

2.14 Given the major political and economic uncertainties facing Lesotho,it would not be advisable for the GOL to attempt to prepare detailed forecastsof labor demand and then set education and training policies and programs tomeet such specific targets (e.g., to estimate that Lesotho will need Xadditional engineers by 1995, and to train them a total of Y places should beset aside at an engineering school). Other countries which have tried such arigid approach have found that the errors committed through such specificforecasting and its application to education/training have turned out to beenormous and costly.

2.15 In order to deal effectively with the great uncertainties facingLesotho, it is essential that the education and training system be flexibleand responsive to changing conditions. This will require effective managementof the education sector and development of teachers and physicalinfrastructure which can be rapidly adapted to changing conditions. It willalso require accurate and timely analysis of trends in the labor market, toassist job-seekers and their families, private investors/employers, andeducation planners and other GOL policy-makers.

2.16 For this reason, the existing labor market information system needsto strengthened significantly. The present system exhibits several importantweaknesses, including the following:

- 17 -

(a) While at least seven manpower reports on Lesotho have beenprepared over the past two decades, they have not left behindmeaningful administrative structures to continue their work;8

(b) A number of different Government units are involved in themanpower area, but they have unclear and sometimes overlappingfunctions and are weakly coordinated. The roles of the NationalManpower Development Secretariat (NMDS), National EmploymentSecretariat (NES), Central Planning and Development Office(CPDO), Bureau of Statistics (BOS), and Office of Localizationand Training (under the Ministry of Public Service) have notbeen stable or clear-cut over the years. While NMDS wassupposed to have both data-gathering and manpower planningresponsibilities, in practice its activities have been limitedto administering sponsored training and the GOL loan-bursaryscheme. The NES, which was to provide contingent capacity todeal with mass repatriation and gather domestic labor marketinformation, has been inadequately staffed by the Department ofLabor. The BOS is the only unit which has conducted periodicsecial surveys and possesses a team of enumerators and analyststo analyze sample survey data, but BOS has been slow inproducing practical, policy-oriented reports and its relationswith data users have been weak; and

(c) Little useful data on labor market conditions is beinggenerated as a by-product of routine administration. A valuableopportunity to gather such data is thus being lost at present.

2.17 In order to improve the existing labor market information system,the GOL needs to designate one unit with chief responsibility for collectingand analyzing data on internal and external labor markets and formulatingpolicy alternatives. The recent reorganization of the Ministry of Plannilg andEconomic Affairs, under which a Division of Population and Manpower has beencreated, provides a natural home for such a unit. Its responsibilities shouldinclude the followings

(a) Ensuring collection of appropriate survey data by the BOS on aregular basis;

(b) Organizing collection of labor market information as a by-product of routine administration;

(c) Itself gathering data and market intelligence on externalmarkets employing Basotho;

8 One exception came in the mid-1970s, when the GOL established the NationalManpower Development Secretariat and the National Employment Secretariat.

- 18 -

(d) Assessing the extent to which skilled manpower is employedoutside the country by utilizing tracer studies of University,teaching training college, and other grae tes, plus exitinterviews of persons voluntarily separating from the publicservice;

(e) Producing assessments of the stock of trained manpower andbroad projections of future demand;

(f) Advising the GOL on appropriate salary scales and terms ofservice for particular categories of manpower; and

(g) Making related recommendations for education and training.

2.18 At the same time that this aew division is being mobilized, GOLshould review and rationalize the roles and staffing of other concerned unitsincluding NMDS. NES, and Localization and Training. It may be feasible, forexample, to combine MNDS with Localization and Training in a single unit forsponsored training. Since the University's Institute of Labor Studies does notprovide any independent analysis, consideration might be given to phasing outthe Institute and transferring its staff elsewhere.

2.19 Finally, in order to implement fully the above-mentionedrecommendation on obtaining labor information through routine administration(para 2.16 (c)). a number of relatively easy steps could be takens

(a) For high-level manpower, the Income Tax Department couldproduce valuable data on numbers of taxpayers and Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) employees;

(b) For miners in RSA, the administrators of the Deferred Pay Fundcould provide information on number of participants andearnings;

(c) The Public Service Commission could generate more timely dataon staff establishment, pay scales, vacancies, and expatriateemployment.

2.20 Until such data is gathered through routine administration, surveysare the only feasible way to collect information on labor force andemployment. The BOS should carry out baseline surveys of the entire laborforce at five-year intervals, supplemented by an annual survey ofestablishments which can be performed by mail. In the private sector, files oflicenses issued for trading and industrial activities can also be used. TheBOS plans to carry out such an establishment survey in late 1988, withassistance from Statistics Sweden.

- 19 -

III. EXPENDITURES AND FINANCING OF EDUCATION

Introduction

3.01 Lesotho will only be able to pursue a successful human resourcesdevelopment strategy and improve educational quality if its education andtraining system is adequately funded. As the country's financial resources areseverely constrained, those funds which are available through public andprivate channels will also need to meet two other tests: (a) they should beallocated to the highest priority activities, and (b) for any selectedactivity or part of the education and training system, they should be deployedin a cost-effective manner.

3.02 In order to attain these financial objectives of adequate funding,rational allocation, and cost-effectiveness, education planners and policy-makers must be equipped with the appropriate analytical tools. This meanshaving trained manpower, computers, and so on, plus well-defined terms ofreference, work plans, and procedures for ensuring that the results ofanalysis are translated into effective policies.

3.03 In this chapter, we examine the financial base for education andtraining in Lesotho. This involves looking at recent trends in educationexpenditures and financing and the related institutional framework; notingachievements and outlining problems; and offering a series of suggestions forpossible future improvements in sectoral finances.

3.04 A brief description of the uses and sources of funds in educationand training is given below. A few of the more salient poi-ts can beswuarized at the outset:

(a) Capital expenditures, mainly foreign-funded, have beenincreasing in recent years. This is a welcome trend, ashistorically there has been under-investment in the sector.

(b) However, projected shares of capital expenditure (1986-90) forprimary education appear to be too low, while shares for someother programs (administration, University) seem to beexcessive;

(c) Nearly a quarter of GOL recurrent expenditures goes to the NUL.This translates into Government outlays per student at NULabout 150 times larger than in primary schools, and about 23times larger than in secondary schools;

(d) Private financial contributions to the recurrent costs ofeducation (from parents and external donors) are nearly of thesame magnitude as GOL outlays, and thus remain an importantstrength of the education and training system:

(e) GOL recurrent expenditures have been declining in recent years,both on a real per capita basis and as a share of totalGovernment spending. This development is a cause for seriousconcern.

- 20 -

Recent Trends and Current Situation

3.05 Overall Picture. Total expenditures for education and training inLesotho in 1986/87 (including the value of school feeding programs andparents' contributions) amounted to about M 113 million (Table 3.1). This wasequivalent to about 10.1? of the country's GNP, and translated into per capitaoutlays for education of M 68.8, or US$ 34. Several other importantobservations can be made:

(a) The GOL accounted for M 47.5 million of expenditures, or nearly42S of the tctal. This was equivalent to about 4.2Z of GNP andtranslated into M 28.8 (US$14) per capita Both of thesefigures are relatively low by Sub-Saharan Azrica standards;

(b) Domestically-generated resources covered 71? of educationexpenditures and foreign funds the remaining 29Z. As might beexpected, domestic resources dominated recurrent expenditures(the one exception being the large World Food Program sponsoredschool feeding program), while external funds (mostly officialforeign aid) accounted for most of Lesotho's capital outlaysfor the sector; and

(c) Public funds (including the GOL budget and foreign aid, bothmultilateral and bilateral) made up 692 of expenditures, withprivate sources providing the balance of 31?. These privatefinancial contributions emanated mainly from parents and localcommunities (slmost entirely for primarv and secondary schools.see below), although private donors abroad Also provided modestsupport for capital projects.

Table 3.1

Lesotho - Total Expenditures for Education, 1986/87(In Maluti Millions)

Type of ExpenditureSource of Funds Recurrent Capital c/ Total Share

.

Govt. of Lesotho 44.2 3.3 47.5 41.8Private-Local a/ 31.0 2 0 33.0 29.0Private-Foreign ---- 3.0 d/ 3.0 2.6Foreign Asst-Public -/ 16.7 13.4 30.1 26.5

Total 91.9 21.7 113.6 100.0

a/ Includes fees (M 16 million) and outlays for school uniforms and books (M15 million). Figure for fees is consistent with 1986/87 household budgetsurvey, which estimates cash expenditures for education and recreation ofM 19.8 million.

- 21 -

b/ World Food Program-supported school feeding program.c/ Capital projects of MOE include 80Z foreign and 20S local financing on

average. Excludes foreign-assisted scholarships.d/ Estimate.

3.06 Capital Expenditures. In recent years, investments in educat'on andtraining have come mainly from foreign aid. In 1986/87, for example, aidaccounted for more than three-quarters of expenditures for educationalfacilities, transport, and technical assistance (Table 3.1). Foreignassistance, in turn, is currently dominated by the USAID-funded Basic and Non-Formal Education Systems (BANFES) Project and the IDA-funded Training forSelf-Reliance Project (TSRP). Other important donors in education include theFederal Republic of Germany (especially in technical-vocation education atLerotholi Polytechnic), the European Community (also at Lerotholi, plus mathand science enrichment), the U.K. Overseas Development Administration(National University of Lesotho, DepaLtment of Secondary Education), and theGovernment of Ireland (teacher training). Planned capital expenditures by theGOL have increased in recent years, from M 11.2 million in 1984/85 to M 24.2million in 1986/87, and actual outlays have also risen (althoughimplementation rates are continuing to run at only 701 of planned levels).This recent growth in capital expenditures should be seen as a welcomedevelopment, as certain parts of the education sector (especially primaryschools) have suffered in the past from under-investment.

3.07 Recurrent ExPenditures. As Table 3.1 shows, local privateexpenditures for recurrent items are nearly as large as GOL outlays. Moreover,as these private payments are concentrated in primary and secondary education,they tend to be equal to or exceed Government expenditures at these levels ofthe system. In 1986/87, for example, parents spent about M 19.1 million forprimary education, high3z thar, the GOL allocation of H 17 million; and parentsspent M 10.8 million for secondary education, only slightly less than theGOL's M 12.6 million. The Government pays most teachers' salaries; whileparents cover the costs of building maintenance, some teacher and teacher-aidesalaries, books and writing materialt, school uniforms, and stuident transport.

3.08 On the other hand, the GOL finances virtually all the costs oftertiary education, with private outlays negligeable at this level of thesystem which produces graduates with the highest income-earning potential (seebelow). At NUL, for example, students and their families pay only M 0.4million or 4S of the University's recurrent budget of M 8.9 million.Furthermore, since the students' payments (H 350 a fear, to cover part of theactual cost of room and board) are mainly financed out of loans which aL-uniformly in default, their effective contribution to NUL's running expensesis nil.

3.09 The planned level of Government recurrent expenditures for educationas a share of the GOL total, including debt service, has been declining inrecent years, from 17.4Z in 1982/83 to 13.9? in 1986/87 (Table 3.2). Since theMinistry of Education has been allowed to overspend its recurrent budget by anaverage of 192 during this period, actual outlays as a share of the GOL havebeen somewhat higher, but still accounted for only 17S of the Governmentbudget in 1986/87. This is lower than in most Sub-Saharan African countries,where education makes up at least a fifth of the government budget.

- 22 -

Table 3.2

Lesotho Education Recurrent Expenditure, 1982-87(current M '000)

Total MOE 2 Total Actual 2 Total Z MOEYear Alloc. Alloc. Expen. Alloc.

82/83 147361.0 25711.0 17.4 26562.0 18.0 103.383/84 158630.0 25765.0 16.2 28663.0 18.1 111.284/85 193028.0 26422.4 13.7 31665.0 16.4 119.885/86 204265.0 29629.7 14.5 40041.0 19.6 135.186/87 260365.0 36176.7 13.9 44263.0 17.0 122.4

Average 192729.8 28741.0 14.9 34238.8 17.8 119.1

Source: GOL Revenue Accounts. 19A2-87

3.10 In addition, real per capita GOL expenditures (Table 3.3) have alsobeen declining during the past five years. vith planned levels dropping by 272(from M 31.4 to M 22.9) and actual outlays by 13Z (from M 32.4 to M 28.1). Inview of the currently inadequate levels of teacher compensation, especially atsecondary level (see Chapter IV), lack of inspectors and other supervisorypersonnel, continuing shortages of teaching materials, and insufficientmaintenance of facilities, there are compelling arguments for increasingeducation's share of the recurrent budget to at least 202 (the recent WorldBank Review of Public ExDenditures (June 1988) proposed a level of 20-222).

- 23 -

Table 3.3

Lesotho Education Recurrert Per Capita Expenditure, 1982-87

Part A: In Current M'OOO

Fop. Budget Percap. Actual Percap.Year (' 000) Alloc. Alloc. Expen. Expen.

82j83 1414.0 25711.0 18.2 26562.0 18.883/84 1453.0 25765.0 17.7 28663.0 19.784185 1492.0 26422.4 17.7 31665.0 21.285/86 1529.0 29629.7 19.4 40041.0 26.286/87 1577.0 36176.7 22.9 44263.0 28.187/88 1620.0 44850.0 27.7

Average 1514.2 31425.8 20.6 34238.8 22.8

Part B: In constant 1986 H '000

Pop. Budget Percap. Actual Percap. PriceYear I' 000) Alloc. Alloc. Expen. Expen. Index

82/83 1414.0 44329.3 31.4 45796.6 32.4 0.58083/84 1453.0 40638.8 28.0 45209.6 31.1 0.63484/85 1492.0 37372.6 25.0 44787.8 30.0 0.70785/86 1529.0 34981.9 22.9 47273.9 30.9 0.84786/87 1577.0 36176.7 22.9 44263.0 28.1 1.00087/88 1620.0 42552.2 26.3 1.054

Average 1514.2 39341.9 26.1 45466.2 30.5

Source: GOL Revenue Accounts, 1982-87

3.11 A breakdown of recurrent expenditures by HOE budget program (13programs at present, Table 3.4) shows that almost 902 of GOL funds arePllocated to primary and secondary education and the Government's block grantto NUL. This is consistent with the facts that (a) salary costs make up morethan nine-tenths of recurrent outlays for education and (b) most of Lesotho'steaching personnel belong to these three branches of the system. In recentyears, primary education has absorbed about 402 of the HOE recurrent budget,with just under 302 going to secondary schools and about 202 for KUL. Onlyabout 22 of the GOL education budget is earmarked for technical-vocationaleducation (shown in Table 3.4 as Lerotholi and Tech/Voc), as all institutionsin this field, with the exception of Lerotholi Polytechnic, are privatelyowned and operated.

- 24 -

Table b 4

Lesotho Education Recurrent Expenditure by Program, 1983-87

(00 M)

----83/84--- ----84/85---- ---85/86---- ----86/87----

Program Amount (Z) Amount (Z) Amount (Z) Amount (1)

Admin 427.0 1.5 619.0 2.0 799.0 2.0 1022.0 2.3Inspec 754.0 2.6 879.0 2.8 1153.0 2.9 1317.0 3.0Sports 210.0 0.7 290.0 0.9 384.0 1.0 168.0 0.4Lerotholi 620.0 2.2 694.0 2.2 830.0 2.1 763.0 1.7LDTC 223.0 0.8 220.0 0.7 315.0 0.8 294.0 0.7TSU 120.0 0.4 130.0 0.4 151.0 0.4 124.0 0.3P'TC 1374.0 4.8 1462.0 4.6 1873.0 4.7 1983.0 4.5Primary 10228.0 35.7 12404.0 39.2 16136.0 40.3 16979.0 38.4Secondary 7368.0 25.7 8396.0 26.5 11692.0 29.2 12434.0 28.1NUL 7339 J 25.6 6571.0 20.8 6572.0 16.4 8865.0 20.0TSC 20.0 0.0 119.0 0.3LHS 116.0 0.3 175.0 0.4Tech/Voc 20.0 0.0-

TOTAL 28663.0 100.0 31665.0 100.0 40041.0 100.0 44263.0 100.0

Source: Ministry of Education

3.12 Among all developing regions, Sub-Saharan Africa displais the widestvariation in Government outlays per student at different levels of education,with expenditures at university level typically 50-70 times the amount spentfor each primary student. This tendency is particularly accentuated inLesotho, where parents' expenditures and other private donations defray asubstantial portion of the costs of primary and secondary education, whilevirtually all university education costs (including tuition, room and board,books, travel, laundry) are borne by the Government. As a result, public -expenditures per student at NUL in 1986/87 (M 7922) were more than 23 timesthe amount spent by GOL for secondary students (M 338) and nearly 150 timesthe funds allocated by Government for each primary student (M 53, Table 3.5).Even wben parents' contributions are taken into account, per student outlaysat NUL are 13 times greater than for secondary students and 71 times largerthan for primary school pupils.

- 25 -

Table 3.5

Government Recurrent C^st Per Pupil, 1986-87

Level Amount Pupils Unit Cost(M million) (Haloti)

Primary 16979.0 319128 53.2Secondary 12609.0 37343 337.7Teacher Training 1983.0 1109 1788.1Technical Vocational 783.0 1435 545.6University 8865.0 1119 7922.3

Source: Ministry of Education

3.13 Cost Recovery. Cost recovery by the Ministry of Health itself (i.e.,excluding fees which are retained by the church mission schools and parents'outlays for books, uniforms, etc.) is modest, amounting to about M 1.3 millionin 19n6/87, or 32 of GOL recurrent expenditures. There are basically foursources of cost recovery: the primary examination fee, student fees atLerotholi Polytechnic, the secondary tuition levy (M 25 per student), andstudent fees at the National Teacher Training College (NTTC). NUL studentsalso pay a M 350 annual fee, but since this is mainly financed by studentloans which are more than 952 in arrears, there is vitually no cost recoveryinvolved. Since parents bear directly a major part of the financial burden oftheir children's educations at primary and secondary schools, it isunderstandable that further cost recovery efforts should be limited at theselevels of education. On the other hand, minimal cost recovery at NTTC andespecially the University, where many parents are able to pay and students canlook forward to high earnings after graduation, is a matter of seriousconcern.

Issues in Education Finance

3.14 GOL Capital Expenditures. MOE's submission to the Fourth Plan (1986-91) shows total projected capital expenditures of M 127.1 million, or anaverage of about H 25.4 million a year (Table 3.6). L/ Past performance inthe sector would suggest that this target level of investment may be tooambitious: it seems unlikely that Lesotho's education and training system can

1/ The overall level of projected capital expenditure should be interpretedvith some caution, however. According to MOE, only M 85.7 million or abouttwo-thirds of the capital budget has firm donor coumitment. Nearly 782 ofthis amount (M 66.7 million) is for BANFES and TSRP. Several programs,including NTTC (N 10.4 million) and NUL (M 27.1 million), have little or noassured funding for their investment proposals.

- 26 -

absorb this amount of resources over a five-year period. It may be useful toscale back this capital program to a more manageable level.

Table 3.6

Lesotho Education Share of Planned Capital ExpenditureBy Category, 1986-91

(M 000)

Category Amount Percent

Primary 19664.0 15.5SecondaryGeneral 17865.0 14.1Teacher Training 24647.0 19.4Tech/Voc 10710.0 8.4Tertiary (NUL) 27096.0 21.3OverheadInspectorate 11708.0 9.2Administration 15421.0 12.1

Total 127111.0 100.0

Source: Ministry of Education Planning Unit

3.15 Of equal concern is the proposed distribution of GOL capitalresources among the various parts of the education system. The five-yearcapital budget (Table 3.6) indicates that primary education would receive only16Z of total investment resources, even though there is a severe shortage ofclassrooms and instructional materials in Lesotho's primary schools. On theother hand, the large allocations of capital funds allocated for some otherprograms seem hard to justify:

(a) NUL proposals (H 27.1 million, 211 of the total) would requiremajor incremental overheads at an institution which alreadysuffers from excessive adminstrative and overhead charges, andwhich could expand its current enrollment without additionaiinvestments, simply by making better use of existing teachingpersonnel and facilities (see Chapter V);

(b) New investments proposed for NTTC (H 24.7 million, 19Z) wouldnot result in any increase in trainee capacity, even thoughthere is a grave shortage of qualified teachers, and the gapbetween the supply of teachers and the target number requiredto achieve a reasonable pupil-to-teacher ratio appears to bewidening each year;

(c) While HOE does need to upgrade its capabilities to plan andmanage education and training programs, the capital allocationfor administration (M 15.4 million or 12Z) seems excessive.

- 27 -

3.16 Inadequate Donor Coordination. While the donor community has made amajor contribution to Lesotho's education sector in recent years, providingvaluable technical and financial assistance, this support could be madeconsiderable more effective if donor coordination in education was improved.Donors working in the same area (e.g., primary education, university,technical-vocational training) have, in general, maintained only minimalcontacts with each other. As a result, sub-sectoral investment programs havebeen partially and inadequately funded; sectoral analysis has been duplicated;and opportunities to develop comprehensive programs and policies (e.g., toenhance quality of primary education, increase secondary enrollments, increasecost recovery at university, expand the role of the private sector intechnical-vocational training) have been squandered. In order to improve thisdonor coordination, a number of options should be considered by the GOL andthe donor community, including co-financing of specific programs and projectsand und.ertaking sectoral studies and policy analyses jointly. Donorsconferences to review broad programs for the entire sector or certain sub-sectors, e.g., higher education, technical training, as part of the UNDP-sponsored Roundtable or as separate exercises, would also help strengthendonor coordination.

3.17 Insufficient Recurrent Expenditures. As mentioned above (para 3.09),education's share of the GOL budget has averaged less than 202 in recent yearsand has been declining on a real per capita basis. This trend is particularlyworrisome, in view of the vital importance of human resource development toLesotho's social and economic future. Moreover, it is not clear that theallocation of MOE recurrent budget resources to the various levels of thesystem accurately reflects the relative priorities that Lesotho attaches -- orshould attach -- to these various educational activities. The large multiplesof expenditure per student at NUL, as compared to primary and secondaryinstitutions, are too high (even when private expenditures are taken intoaccount). The share for primary education, in particular, seems too low,especially since additional recurrent resources will be needed to overcomesome of the key recognized constraints upon primary education in Lesotho (e.g,shortages of new teachers and high attrition rates for established teachers).Given the high social returns to basic education in the country, it is notpossible to justify such high multiples of expenditure at tertiaryinstitutions relative to lower levels of the sytem. The GOL should thereforeconsider adjusting the relative shares of the recurrent budget for primary,secondary, and tertiary institutions accordingly (para 3.22).

3.18 As mentioned above (para 3.07), parents bear a signficant portion ofthe costs of primary and secondary education, yet University education isvirtually free to those offered a place at NUL. This implies a heavy burden onpublic finencing of higher education, as nearly a quarter of the GOL recurrentbudget (3-4Z of the entire GOL budget) has to be utilized to pay for theeducation of just over 1000 students. It is also socially inequitable, since alarge proportion of university students come from relatively affluent familieswho could afford to pay for part of their education, and these universitygraduates also enjoy very favorable lifetime income prospects. Moreover,afreer (from the students' persp,ctive) university education leads to a seriesof inefficient individual choices of field of study, since private costs aremuch lower than the true social costs. For all of these reasons, Lesotho

- 28 -

should begin instituting measures to increase private financing of tertiaryeducation, especially through direct payment by students and their families.

3.19 Shortcomings in Cost-Effectiveness. Various studies, includinganalyses undertaken by the HOE Planning Unit and the World Bank's 1985 reporton higher education, have highlighted areas of Lesotho's education systemwhere greater cost-effectiveness can be achieved, thereby generating resourceswhich can be redeployed to other high priority activities or used to expandenrollments (i.e., at lower unit costs) in the same area. Some of the majorweaknesses in cost-effective use of existing resources include:

(a) In primary education, the low quality of instruction in manyschools contributes to high drop-out and repetition rates, sothat an average of 15.2 student-years of school attendance isrequired to graduate one pupil through the seven primarygrades. This means that a total of H 2295 (15.2 years X HlSl/year) in Government and private recurrent expenditures isbeing spent on each graduate. Increased expenditures foradditior.al teachers, improved teacher training, and moreinstructional materials would not only improve quality but alsolower unit costs of graduating primary school pupils, byreducing wastage through repetition and drop-out. Unit costscould also be lowered by introducing double-shifts, which maybe required in any case to cope effectively with the currentshortage of classrooms;

(b) In secondary schools, the decline in the student-to-teacherratio from 27:1 in 1976 to 21:1 at present has resulted inunnecessarily high unit costs of instruction. The drop in thepupil-to-teacher ratio has been caused by a proliferation ofsmall secondary schools under the proprietorship of the variouschurch mission societies, which the Government has been unable(or unwilling) to regulate (even though the GOL pays theteachers' salaries). Educational specialists generally agreethat the ratio could be raised to 25:1 without any loss in thequality of instruction. This would, in theory, permit animmediate increase in enrollments of nearly 202, from 37,300 to44,500, without any additional expenditure.

(c) As discussed in the Bank's 1985 report and in Chapter V of thisreport, non-teaching overheads at NUL are excessive by allaccounts, absorbing more than half of the University's budget.These overheads, for building and vehicle maintance, studentfeeding and laundry, etc., could be significantly reducedwithout affecting the quality of education at NUL. In addition,several institutes attached to the University consume a majorportion of the budget, yet their contribution to teaching andresearch does not seem to justify the costs involved. Unitcosts of teaching also appear to be unnecessarily high, forseveral reasons: faculty spend a disproportionate share oftheir t'me in committees and other non-teaching activities;average class size in some departments is too small; andfaculty workloads are not evenly or equitably distributed. The1985 sector report suggests, for example, that M 1.5 million or

- 29 -

16Z of the entire NUL budget could be saved by adopting apackage of measures to cut overhead costs; and enrollments atNUL could be increased by 15Z without any additional staff.simply by raising the student-to-teacher ratio from 10:1 to12:1 (this might also require phasing out some micro-departments with low student demand).

3.20 Weaknesses in Financial Planning and Management. While the MOEPlanning Unit has made some important advances in recent years the Unit andthe office of the MOE Chief Accountant continue to exhibit a number ofshortcomings. For example, in the area of capital budgeting, the Planning Unittends to collate projects, rathar than appraising and ranking them; projectedlevels of investment are not accompanied by estimates of implied incrementalrecurrent costs; and annual capital budgets are not updated on the basis ofactual implementation performance and exchange rate movements.

3.21 The Chief Accountant's Office faces similar problems, largelybecause of shortages of adequately trained staff. Annual recurrent budgetstend to be based upon historical trends, rather than on a fresh and systematicassessment of the financial requirements of various MOE programs. Budgeting isalso highly centralized in headquarters. The Chief Accountant's office doesnot have the capacity at present to review the efficieacy of recurrentexpenditure and identify areas for possible cost-savings, or to incorporateinto medium-term (five years covered by national plans) expenditure scenariospossible changes in education investment patterns or other educationalpolicies.

3.22 Given the size of the MOE budget, the magnitude of totalexpenditures (Government and private) for education in Lesotho, and theimportance of increasing cost-effectiveness in the sector, high priorityshould be attached to improving financial planning and management at alllevels of the education and training system. This will require a major programcomprising: revised (or new) procedures for planning, budgeting, expenditure,and control; training of MOE officials and school administrators; and relatedtechnical assistance. To complement and exploit fully the educationalstatistics currently being compiled by MOE, the Ministry should also maintainand publish a set of education finance statistics and develop a capacity toanalyze these data for evaluation and policy-making purposes. One importanttask of the Planning Unit might be, for example, periodically to prepareeducation policy papers on key selected topics for discussion and decision bya high-level MOE policy committee chaired by the Principal Secretary.

Recommendations

3.23 If Lesotho's education and training system is to pursue a successfulhuman resources development strategy based on sound financial principles ofadequate funding, rational allocation, cost-effectiveness, and equitable cost-sharing, the following summary recommendations should be seriously considered:

(a) MOE should prepare and implement an achievable investmentprogram, based on a realistic assessment of donor interest,which emphasizes primary and secondary education and expanded

- 30 -

output of teacher trainees. An annual program of M 15-20million would appear to be feasible;

(b) Investment in new facilities at secondary level should beconditioned upon a school mapping exercise and fuller use ofexisting capacity (via increased enrollments), while capitalprojects at NUL should generally be deferred until variousefficiency gains (including expanded use of existingfacilities) are obtained;

(c) Education's share of the GOL recurrent budget should be raisedto 20-222, with most of the increase going to primary (moreteachers and instructional materials) and secondary (morecompetitive teacher salaries) education;

(d) Concomitantly, the existing large differentials in per studentexpenditure at various educational levels should be graduallyreduced, perhaps aiming at 'target' multiples. This would beachieved in part by increasing expenditures at primary andsecondary level, in part by lowering unit costs at NUL. Relatedto this, the GOL should also cut back its grant to the NUL andreduce its relative contribution to the total cost ofuniversity education, by adopting significant cost recoverymeasures;

(e) A range of measures to increase cost-effectiveness in primaryschools should be considered, and an action program adopted.Some measures, such as recruiting additional teachers with goodqualifications, intensifying supervision, and providing moreinstructional materials, would increase total costs but alsolower unit costs per graduate, by reducing repetition and drop-out rates. Other potentially cost-effective measures wouldinclude split shifts and automatic promotion in the lowergrades;

(f) GOL should enhance the cost-effectiveness of secondaryeducation by increasing the pupil-to-teacher ratio to 25:1.This can be achieved through a combination of Governmentlicensing of new secondary schools and consolidation of smallexisting schools. HOE's payment of secondary teacher salariesand access to special MOE programs (e.g., construction ofscience laboratories) should be used as incentives to obtaincompliance of secondary schools in this domain;

(g) KUL should formulate and implement a program of major financialreforms, including cut-backs in overhead expenses and morecost-effective use of resources currently allocated forteaching and research. A portion of the savings thus obtainedshould then be used to expand enrolments somewhat and toimprove the quality of high-priority academic activities;

(h) At the same time that the MOE grant to the University isreduced, cost recovery from students and their families shouldbe increased. NUL should prepare and implement a phased plan

- 31 -

to charge fees to cover part of the costs of tuition, room, andboard at the University. The number of students receivingGovernment loans should be limited to the truly needy, and theloan scheme should be overhauled and strengthenedadministratively, to ensure that borrowers comply withrepayment conditions;

(i) The MOE should formulate and carry out a major program toimprove financial planning and management at all levels of thesector. Such a program woul entail extensive reform ofexisting financial procedures and training of financialpersonnel and school administrators, complemented by selectivetechnical assistance.

- 32 -

IV. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION

Introduction

4.01 In chapter II, it was emphasized that the GOL should strive to developits education and training system to meet the evolving labor forcerequirements of the Southern Africa region. attaching importance to both thedomestic and regional markets. Regarding primary and secondary education,this means:

(a) Providing all primary school pupils with a high-quality basiceducation, which requires well-qualified teachers, adequateteaching materials, and a manageable class size;

(b) Ensuring that pupils complete the full primary cycle, with aminimum of drop-outs;

(c) Offering a range of practical subjects to primary students, most ofwhom will not be able to go on to secondary school; and

(d) Developing a secondary school curriculum that prepares studentseffectively for post-secondary training, both at the SEL and otherinstitutions of higher education and in the technical-vocationalenvironment (on-the-job and in specialized institutions).

4.02 In chapter III, the importance of enhancing the cost-effectiveness ofexpenditures for education and training was stressed, particularly givenLesotho's situation of seriously-constrained resource availability. Inaddition to adjusting the intra-sectoral allocation of funds (with greateremphasis on primary and secondary education), this means that within theprimary and secondary systems, greater efforts must be made to:

(a) Keep primary pupil cohorts flowing through the system, with aminimum of repetition;

(b) Invest in additional educational inputs that enhance the quality ofinstruction at a modest incremental cost (e.g., textbooks and otherteaching aids); and

(c) Make optimal use of teachers and facilities in secondary schools,by maintaining appropriate student:teacher ratios and contact hoursand planning for full utilization of classrooms, libraries,laboratories, etc.

4.03 Lesotho has achieved notable successes over the past decade in pursuingsome of these objectives. At primary level, the proportion of qualifiedprimary teachers has risen, more practical subject curricula have beendeveloped, and textbook availability has improved considerably. At secondarylevel, instruction in math and sciences has been significantly improved by thespecial donor-funded Advanced Math and Sciences Teaching Improvement Program(AMSTIP) and Lesotho Program for Enriched Curriculum (LESPEC) and by theconstruction and equipping of science laboratories.

- 33 -

4.04 Despite these achievements, many weaknesses in the primary andsecondary systems remain. These will need to be overcome if Lesotho is toattain its broad objectives in education and training. Primary school classsize is too large, for example, especially in the early grades, and theserious shortage of classroom buildings has worsened in recent years. Morethan half of all primary school pupils drop out before completing the seven-year primary cycle, ar4 nearly a quarter of all pupils each year end uprepeating their current grade. Exam results for secondary school studentshave been deteriorating in recent years, and the large numbers of unemployedsecondary and university graduates co-existing with job vacancies in the localeconomy suggest that students are not developing the right skills to meetlabor demands. The proliferation of small secondary schools since 1980 hasmeant that Lesotho is deviating further and further from accepted norms forcost-effective use of secondary teachers and facilities.

4.05 An account of recent achievements in primary and secondary education,and an analysis of related issues and possible solutions, follow below.

Primary Education: Achievements and Issues

4.06 During the period of the Third Plan (1981-86), Lesotho registered anumber of important achievements in primary education:

(a) Enrollment increased by 30Z to nearly 320,000 pupils, equivalent to116Z of the primary school age group (6-12 years of age).Lesotho's gross primary enrollment ratio is one of the highest inSub-Saharan Africa, and is significantly above the regional averageof 77Z;

(b) While the number of girls enrolled in primary schools continued toexceed the number of boys, the ratio narrowed from 1.42 in 1980 to1.25 in 1986. Lesotho is exceptional in the Africa region inencouraging education of girls, having the highest percentage offemales in the total enrollment of any African country;

(c) Eighty new primary schools were built, and schools offering thefull seven years of primary instruction increased from just overhalf to nearly two-thirds of the total;

(d) As a result of in-sorvice training programs, the proportion ofunqualified primary teachers was reduced from 36Z to 20S; and

(e) Many syllibi were revised, field tested, and disseminated toschools, and teachers' guides wece developed for more than half ofprimary school subjects.

4.07 While Lesotho has done an admirable job of providing full and equitableaccess to primary education, those involved in the system, including teachers,advisors, and GOL officials are concerned that the quality of primaryeducation has been declining in recent years. Deteriorating quality isreflected in increasing rates of repetition in the primary grades and infalling pass rates for the internationally-administered secondary school exams

- 34 -

(it is felt that poor overall performance in these exams is due in large partto inadequate preparation in primary school for the next level of the system).One symptom of the decline in the quality of primary education is theovercrowded classrooms, with pupils sitting on floors because they do not havedesks and chairs.

4.08 Poor quality of primary education in Lesotho has multiple causes. Theunfavorable learning environment is strongly related to overcrowding,especially in the lower primary grades, which is in turn caused by shortagesof classrooms and teachers and high rates of repetition. The learningenvironment for primary pupils is also negatively affected by inadequately-trained teachers and shortages of desks, chairs, and instructional materials.Finally, the primary school system lacks the quality-control mechanismsrequired to ensure that the learning environment is satisfactory: there arenot enough school inspectors or qualified school managers, and there is nostandardized system for assessing pupils' performance in school. Each ofthese factors contributing to poor quality of primary education is consideredbelow.

4.09 Overcrowding. Lesotho's primary school classes are seriouslyovercrowded, with attendant negative effec*s on classroom learning. While onaverage, a primary school teacher handled 48 primary pupils in 1980, by 1986the number had risen to 55. By comparison, the GOL has stated that its long-term objective is to provide a teacher for every 40 pupils, in order toprovide a manageable learning environment. The actual pupil:teacher ratio iseven higher than 55:1 in the early primary grades, where rates of wastage(drop-out and repetition) are greatest. A chronic and worsening shortage ofprimary teachers is the principal cause for these unacceptably high ratios.Even if automatic promotion and a maximum age limit were instituted and allpupils completed .-he primary cycle (see below), an additional 2200 teacherswould be required to reach the target ratio of 40:1.

4.10 Because of the severe shortage of primary school classrooms, theaverage number of students sharing each classroom is higher than thepupil:teacher ratio. Overall, there are about 3900 classrooms in Lesotho,implying an average pupilsclassroom ratio of 82:1. If the 860 church hallswhich serve as makeshift classrooms are excluded, the ratio increases to over100:1. The situation is once again particularly acute in the lower primarygrades, where several hundred pupils typically receive instruction from two ormore teachers in a single room or hall. Under such conditions of extremeovercrowding, it is not surprising that pupils often sit for long periods oftime without stimulation, concentration is difficult, and problems withdiscipline easily arise.

4.11 Overcrowding in primary schools is also couxnected with high rates ofrepetition. On average, nearly one-quarter oi all primary school pupils inany recent year were held back in the previous year and asked to repeat thesame grade. Repetition rates are especially high in early primary grades andin Standard 7, the final primary grade, leading to bunching and seriousovercrowding at these points in the primary cycle. Repetition, overcrowding,and poor quality of education create a particularly vicious circle in theearly primary grades. Classrooms swell with repeaters; learning suffersbecause there are too many pupils for the teacher to handle, and becauseteachers' morale and self-confidence are undermined; school performance istherefore generally poor; and because of poor performance, a large proportion

- J.J -

of pupils must repeat the grade during the following year. Repetition ratesrise again in Standard 7, where pupils who fail the Primary School LeaversExam (PSLE) are allowed to study and sit for the exam again. The existingsystem permits such repetition, since there is no limit on the number of timesa pupil can sit for the PSLE, nor is there an age limit for attending primaryschool. This explains the large number (112,0O0 or 352 of the total) of"over-age' (13 years of age or older) pupils, and the related fact that whilethe gross enrollment is 116?, the net enrollment is only 76?, i.e., nearly aquarter of the 6-12 year population does not attend primary school.

4.12 Problems of Teacher Quality. While the proportion of the primaryteaching corps who are formally unqualified has declined in recent years, in1986 there were still about 1,150 teachers (20Z of the total) who lacked basicteacher training. Unqualified teachers are generally less effeLtive inplanning lessons, communicating with pupils, and evaluating their performance,and therefore add to the problem of low quality of primary education inLesotho. In addition, teaching suffers because qualified teachers do notreceive in-service training and refresher courses on a r6gular basis, and headteachers and school principals often lack the necessary background tosupervise effectively the teachers whom they oversee. To deal with thislatter problem, the GOL has stated that it intends to upgrade thequalifications of school managers, including their capacity to superviseteachers.

4.13 Shortages of School Books and Furniture. Through a nationwide bookloan scheme and other innovations in recent years, the MOE Book Supply Unithas managed to provide an average of 3.6 books per pupil in the primarygrades. This is an impressive achievement, and is well above the average forSub-Saharan Africa. Some problems still remain in this area, however. Thebook loan scheme has apparentlv been experiencing increasing levels ofarrears; this situation will need to be closely monitored and any shortcomingswill need to be promptly resolved, if the scheme is to remain financiallyviable. In addition, while book supply is generally plentiful, some schoolsstill lack enough books because of snags in the distribution system. Manypupils have access to their books only during class hours, too, having beentold (incorrectly) that they are not allowed to take the books home for study.

4.14 In addition to the shortage of classroom facilities, many of Lesotho'sprimary schools are also drastically under-equipped with basic schoolfurniture, espec3ally desks and chairs. According to a recent MOE survey, 43?of primary pupils do not have school furniture in their classrooms and aretherefore forced to sit on the floor. Many others share wooden benches withtheir classmates but do not have desks, and must therefore balance exercisebooks on their knees to write. As usual, the situation is worst in the earlyprimary grades (Standards 1 and 2), where about two-thirds of the pupils haveneither desks nor chairs. Lack of furniture h-s been shown to have a negativeimpact on quality of education, as pupils in under-equipped classrooms areunable to sit comfortably and concentrate on their lessons.

4.15 Weak Inspectorate System. While the primary school inspectorate isfirmly established (as compared to the recently-created secondaryinspectorate), it is nevertheless woefully understaffed to perform its tasksof enforcing minimum educational standards in primary schools and assistingschool staff in upgrading their teaching. At present, there are only 12district officers charged with inspecting nearly 1,200 primary schools. The

- 36 -

result is that most schools are only inspected once a year, and some are noteven visited a single time in a given year.

4.16 Inadequate Student Assessment. Lesotho does not currently have asystem of minimum competency testing in each primary subject that mightinclude end-of-standards tests for promotion or diagnostic tests to guideinstruction at the beg"mning of the school year. Teachers must base theirassessment of student performance on locally-designed classroom tests, whichvary considerably from school to school and sometimes lack relevance to thenationally-developed curricula. Primary teacher trainees at NTTC are nottaught how to construct valid classroom tests for their pupils. In theabsence of such a testing system, MOE officials are not able to measure thequality of instruction across classes and schools or to assess accuratelypupils' relative academic performance. This also contributes to the lowquality of education.

Primary Education: Recommendations

4.17 GOL Policy. The GOL policy on primary education, as expressed mostrecently in MOE's 1987 submission to the Fourth Plan, recognizes theimportance of enhancing the quality and relevance of education in the primarygrades. To do so, the MOE envisions a broad range of actions, including: (a)building an additional 800 classrooms; (b) reducing the pupil:teacher ratio to50sl (presumably by hiring more teachers) in the short-term and 40:1 in thelonger-run; (c) expanding the primary school inspectorate; and (d) trainingschool managers.

4.18 The key issues in primary education in Lesotho relate to quality andrelevance of instruction, rather than access, as highlighted above in thischapter. Under these circumstances, the Government's own planned actions forthe coming years are appropriate and merit support from donor agencies.However, they will need to be complemented by other actions, if the problem ofschool quality is to be aidressed effectively. More needs to be done toimprove the classroom environment, for example, by providing desks and chairsfor all pupils and disseminating more teaching aids. In addition, since theachievement of some GOL objectives for primary education will require theorchestration of several related policies, their complex interactions willneed to be carefully analyzed. Reducing the pupi.l:teacher ratio, for example,could be accomplished by a combination of (a) hiring more teachers (but thisalso has implications for the capacity of NTTC), kb) recruiting para-professionals such as teachers' aides, rather than engaging more teachers, and(c) lowering gross primary enrollments through automatic promotion and an agelimit on primary school attendance.

4.19 Strategy for Reducing Overcrowding. A central element of any effort toimprove educational quality in Lesotho will be to reduce the severeovercrowding that currently prevails. This means lowering the average numberof pupils per classroom, as well as the average number assigned to a singleteacher. To do so, GOL will -indoubtedly need to build more classrooms, andlocal communities (through contributions of labor, materials, and cash) canplay an important role in this area. Low-cost construction methods arevitally important, given the number of classrooms which will need to be builtand the financial constraints facing the Government. The Training for SelfReliance (TSR) projects can continue to have a major impact in primary school

- 37 -

construction, by pioneering low-cost approaches and community participation.and by financing civil works.

4.20 The overcrowding problem cannot be solved solely by building moreclassrooms. Such a uni-dimensional approach is probably not financiallyfeasible: at present levels of enrollment, for example, just to reduce thepupil:classroom ratio to 75:1, Lesotho would need to build an additional 1,130classrooms, equivalent to about one-third of all existing classes. In anyevent, more ptimary school teachers will also need to be trained and recruitedto attain a more manageable pupil:teacher~ ratio, and this will have majorfinancial implications for the GOL, too, since the Government pays teachers'salaries. At present enrollment levels, MOE would need to hire an additional600 teachers (or 102 of the existing teacher corps) immediately to achieve a50:1 ratio, and more than 2,200 teachers (a 38? ri4e) to reach the statedtarget ratio of 40:1. One lower-cost alternative for reducing thepupil:teacher ratio, which GOL may wish to explore, would be to hire and trainas teachers' aides community volunteers or part-time paid workers (such asretired teachers).

4.21 A vitally important part of the strategy for reducing overcrowding andimproving the corresponding pupil:classroom and pupil:teacher ratios would befor the GOL to reduce the gross primary school enrollment by institutingautomatic promotion and imposing an age-limit on school attendance. Theevidence from a number of developed and developing countries is thatrepetition generally does not improve the academic performance of repeatingpupils. On the contrary, their performance worsens with the second attempt,and repetition also has a negative impact on their self-image and attitudetoward learning. Moreover, the presence of repeaters in the classroom canhave a deleterious effect on non-repeaters, by: increasing class size and therelated burden .n the teacher; absorbilig a disproportionate share of theteachers' time trying to assist the repeaters; and generally by slowing theacademic progress of non-repeaters to a level of 'lowest common denominator'.To minimize the hardship for those pupils who are not able to complete primaryschool under the given age limit, due to a late start or unavoidableinterruptions in their schooling, the Government should consider expanding thescope of the Lesotho Distance Teaching Centre to offer correspondence coursesto such young adults.

4.22 Automatic promotion and an age limit would provide a more affordableapproach to decongesting the classroom, too. Assuming that net enrollment inprimary school remained at its present level of 762, for example, these twomeasures alone would lower the pupil:classroom ratio to 68:1 and thepupil. teacher ratio to 36:1, without building extra cl.ssrooms or hiring moreteachers (Table 4.1). With the adoption of the two measures, Lesotho couldincrease net enrollment to 95Z and still achieve ratios of 87:1 and 46:1,respectively.

- 38 -

Table 4.1

Primary School Overcrowding: Policy Options

Scenario Enrolllmnt Pupil: Pupil: Addi Class- AddiClesospqm Teacher rooms to Teacher.Ratio J, Ratlo L Reach 60:1 to Reach 40:1

1. Status quo 2' 320000 105.J 55.4 2293 2226

Automatic promotiun, agelimit, net *nrollmentremains at 75X !/ 206000 63.4 86.0 427 ---

S. Sam as (2), but notenrollumnt up to 953 261500 66.7 45.6 1352 613

!/ No age limit on attendance, teachers determine pupils' promotion or repetition, 75X notenrollmnt rate

t Assuming 3040 classroom, currently available.f Based on 6775 primary school teacher. currently employed.

4.23 Another way to use existing classroom and teaching resources moreeffectively and also reduce overcrowding would be to operate split shifts ini ny or all primary schools. Half the pupils could attend from 7:30-11:30 and.he other half from 12:30-16s30; another alternative would be to staggerattendance, with two overlapping sessions (8:00-14:30 and 9:00-15:30) and thefirst and last hours reserved for intensive instruction in key subjects suchas mathematics and language. While teachers would probably have to becompensated for working longer hours under such a set-up, evidence fromseveral countries suggests that this could still be a more cost-effective andquicker way of eliminating overcrowding than training and hiring moreteachers. This could be adopted as an interim measure, until more classroomscan be built and more teachers trained and hired.

4.24 Given the complex interaction among these policy variables (classroomconstruction, teacher training, pupil promotion, schedulirng of classsessions), more detailed analysis of various policy scenarios is urgentlyrequired to devise a strategy to reduce overcrowding. Such analysis should bedesigned to reveal the cost (capital, salary, maintenance), employment, andeducational quality (pupil:classroom and pupilsteacher ratios) effects ofspecific policy packages.

4.25 Other Recommendations. In addition to the above recommendations forreducing overcrowding in primary schools, the GOL may wish to consider thefollowing actions designed to improve school quality:

(a) To increase the availability of teaching aids, the existing 30educational resource centers should be converted to mini-materialscenters, where teachers can obtain a supply of articles to createinstructional aids;

- 39 -

(b) To improve the quality of teaching:

-Unqualified teachers should be systematically upgraded throughin-service courses. Adequate opportunities and incentives(promotion, salary increase, tuition remission) should be given tounqualified teachers to participate in such upgrading. Teacherswho fail to achieve such upgrading after a reasonable period oftime should be terminated; and

-Qualified teachers should be required to attend in-servicerefresher courses on a regular basis;

(c) To maintain quality standards across the primary school system,more inspectors should be hired and deployed throughout thecountry. The target numbers of inspectors shlould be based onagreed norms for frequency of school inspections, as well asoverall recurrent budge, considerations;

(d) To monitor more effectively pupil, teacher, and schoolperformance, a nationwide system of pupil testing should bedeveloped and implemented. Such a system would ideally bediagnostic and summative in nature, and would enable teachers tovalidate their own judgments regarding pupils' mastery ofessential skills as identified by MOE curriculum specialists; and

Ce) To enhance the learning environment, basic school furniture (desksand chairs) should be provided to all pupils. These could beproduced locally.

Secondary Education: Achievements and Issues

4.26 During the course of the current decade, Lesotho has made noteworthystrides in expanding and strengthening secondary education. Some of the keyaccomplishments:

(a) Secondary enrollment expanded by 382 between 1980 and 1986, fromjust over 27,000 to nearly 37,500. Since the secondary school agepopulation was also growing during this period, the grossenrollment rate increased somewhat more slowly, from 202 to 242;

(b) The number of secondary schools grew rapidly, from 108 in 1982 to154 in 1986. While the creation of so many new schools (virtuallyall of them owned and operated by the church mission groups)reflected a most welcome initiative from local communities andNGOs, it also exacerbated the problem of small, economically-inefficient secondary institutions (see below); and

(c) Several important programs to improve the math, science, andlanguage skills of Basotho secondary students, including LESPECand AMSTIP (para 4.03) were initiated or strengthened

- 40 -

4.27 Despite these achievements in secondary education, several majorproblems persist and some new problems have emerged. The solutions to theseproblems need to be identified and adopted urgently, to ensure that secondaryeducation in Lesotho plays an effective role in preparing Basotho forproductive future employment, and that the country's scarce resources areefficiently utilized in education and training. Three of the main problems,explored in more detail below, are: (a) unsatisfactory quality of secondaryeducation; (b) inefficient resource use in small schools; and (c) shortages ofBasotho teachers in secondary schools.

4.28 Problems with School Quality. Educators, teachers, and GOL officialsalike have expressed their dissatisfaction with the overall quality ofsecondary education. Some are concerned that quality may even havedeteriorated in recent years. There are several ways to measure such alowering of quality:

(a) On the output side, results from Lesotho in the internationally-administered secondary school exams (Cambridge Overseas SchoolCertificate, COSC) declined significantly during the late 1970sand early 19809, with the pass rate dropping from around 30Zduring 1975-77 to about 19Z in 1981-83. Pass rates for 1984-86rose again to the 25-30Z range, but MOE officials remain concernedthat the quality of secondary education in Lesotho may not bekeeping pace with other countries.

(b) On the input side,

-Public expenditure per student, generally a useful indicator ofquality, is significantly lower than the norm for other Africancountries at Lesotho's level of GNP per capita. In 1983, Lesothospent about US$230, equivalent to only about two-thirds of theregional norm of US$348;

-Many school facilities which help to enrich the quality ofsecondary education are lacking. For example, less than half ofall secondary schools in 1986 had library facilities, and a numberof these were not performing an active library function.

4.29 There appear io be several important factors that help to explain theunsatisfactory quality of Lesotho's secondary schools. Aside frominsufficient ezpenditure per student, the poor quality of education in primaryschools appears to account for part of the problem at the secondary level.When students admitted to secondary institutions are inadequately prepared, itis difficult for instruction in secondary schools to overcome this handicap.A *cascading, effect occurs, with a negative impact on secondary and post-secondary education. This is why it is crucial for Lesotho to strengthen itseducational base in the primary grades.

4.30 In addition, the quality of secondary education may be adverselyaffected by the persistently high number of unqualified teachers. While someupgrading of the teaching corps has taken place, nearly one in five secondary

- 41 -

teachers in 1986 was still unqualified. Finally, the absence of an effectiveinspectorate has had negative consequences for educational quality. Althougha Department of Secondary Education has recently been created within MOE. itis still largely unstaffed, and secondary school inspectors have not yet beenappointed at district level.

4.31 Small School Size and Low Efficiency. Despite the fact that resourcesfor education, both public and private, are extremely scarce in Lesotho, thereis considerable evidence showing that the use of those resources at secondarylevel, especially teachers (and their corresponding salaries paid by MOE), hasbecome increasingly inefficient in recent years. The average student:teacherratio has declined over the past decade, from about 26:1 in 1976 to 21:1 in1986. This is one of the lowest ratios in Sub-Saharan Africa, and issignificantly below the regional average of 30:1. It is also well below the25:1 minimum ratio recommended by most educators for secondary schools. Inother words, over the past decade the average secondary teacher in Lesotho hasbeen assigned fewer and fewer students, yet this has not yielded anycorresponding increase in educational quality.

4.32 This inefficient development has taken place because a large number ofsmall secondary schools have been built in recent years, mainly by localcommunities and church mission groups. These new institutions have such smallenrollments that sub-optimal student:teacher ratios inevitably arise. Nearly90Z of Lesotho's junior secondary schools (Standards 8-10) have fewer than 200students, the minimum size set by MOE; and about 60Z of high schools (all sixsecondary standards) have fewer than 400 students, the minimum normestablished by MOE.

4.33 A few of these schools are in sparsely-populated mountain areas whichcan only support modest secondary enrollments, but most are in lowland towns,where several schools are located close to one other. Pressures from localchurch groups appear to be the main factor accounting for the proliferation ofsmall, inefficient schools. While such an expression of private localinitiative should generally be welcomed, it would also be appropriate for theGovernment to encourage more effective resource use in secondary education.The fact that the MOE pays the salaries of most secondary teachers gives theGovernment significant leverage to work closely with the churches toconsolidate some existing schools and plan for creation of larger institutionsin the future.

4.34 Use of resources in secondary schools could also be improved byincreasing the share of teachers' working hours spent instructing students.According to MOE, the average teacher has about 21 periods of instruction perweek, meaning that only slightly more than half of teachers' working hours aredevoted to teaching.

4.35 Major efficiency gains could be obtained if measures were adopted toraise the studentsteacher ratio and increase teachers' time engaged directlyin instruction. If the average student:teacher ratio were boosted to 251,for example, secondary enrollments could grow by nearly 202, from 37,500 toabout 44,600, with no change in the number of secondary teachers (Table 4.2).Or, if Lesotho wished to see secondary enrollments remain at current levels or

- 42 -

grow more gradually, or to achieve savings in teachers' salaries, the numberof secondary school teachers could be reduced by up to 285 or about 15Z of theteaching corps, while keeping total enrollment at its present level of 37,500.A combination of measures to increase the student:teacher ratio to 25:1 andraise the proportion of teaching hours to 702 of the school week would permita two-thirds increase in secondary enrollment, to almost 62.500.

Table 4.2

Secondary School Efficiency: Policy Options

Scenerio Enrollment Number of Pupil :Techor RelevantTech-er Ratio Impact

1. Status Quo 57600 1772 21.2 -----

2. Larger class sixe, sawteaching force: enroll-ment effect? 44300 1772 26.0 Increase of 6,800 (181)

enrollment.

3. Larger class sizo, preeentenroll_mnt: teaching forcereduction? 37500 1600 25 Reduction of 272 teachers

(15X)

4. Larger class sizes, ateaching force, contactbre up to 701: enrollmenteffect? 62020 1772 26 Increase of 24,520 (665)

enrollment.

Source: OE Annual Statistics

4.36 Shortage of Basotho Teachers. Even though the NTTC graduates 60-80secondary teachers annually, there is a chronic shortage of Basotho teachersin the secondary grades. Vacancies are generally filled by expatriates: in1986, there were 484 such expatriates occupying about 272 of the 1,772secondary teaching posts in Lesotho. Shortages of Basotho teachers areespecially acute for math and science, where expatriates account for 452 ofall secondary school staff teaching those subjects. By failing to staff theseteaching posts with Basotho, valuable employment opportunities for localgraduates are lost. In addition, while some expatriate teachers are paid byforeign aid agencies, Lesotho cannot count on this situation to continueindefinitelys if external assistance were reduced or withdrawn, GOL would haveto choose between paying these expatriates out of the Government's recurrentbudget or losing crucial teaching expertise.

4.37 The shortage of Basotho secondary teachers persists largely because asignificant number of local teachers have migrated to the South Africavhomelands in recent years to teach. MOE urgently needs to carry out adetailed study of this recent migration of teachers from Lesotho, as fewquantitative data on this "brain drain' are currently available. The overalltrend is clear, however. Basotho are attracted to the Homelands by teachingsalaries which are often two to three times higher than in Lesotho.

- 43 -

4.38 Some amount of skilled labor migration from Lesotho to the RSA isinevitable and may even be desirable, especially if there are no vacant postsfor skilled workers within Lesotho. However, the GOL also must solve thesevere arl chronic shortage of Basotho secondary teachers, for the reasonsmentioned above. This means making salaries more competitive with (but notnecessarily equal to) those prevailing in the Homelands, and also improvingconditions of service and other non-salary benefits for secondary teachers inLesotho. Establishment of career development streams based upon merit ratherthan seniority, and creation of a pension scheme for teachers, are two suchbenefits that might help to attract and retain well-qualified Basothoteachers.

Secondary Education: Recommendations

4.39 The GOL in 1986 signaled the importance it attaches to improvingsecondary education by creating a Department of Secondary Education (DSE)(check exact date). To reinforce the efforts of the DSE staff and those ofcurriculum development specialists of the MOE, school officials, and parents,the following recommendations should also be considered:

(a) To improve the quality of secondary education,

-The package of measures described above (para 4.17-4.25) toenhance quality of primary education should be adopted;

-MOE should develop a plan to eliminate the remaining unqualifiedsecondary school teachers through a combination of in-servicetraining and lay-offs for those who are unable or unwilling toupgrade their skills;

-MOE, foreign donors (governmental and NGO), and local communitiesshould cooperate in accelerating the establishment of activeschool libraries and provision of adequate textbooks ininstitutions where these are insufficient;

-MOE should continue special enrichment programs for math andsciences, while simultaneously strengthening curriculum andteachings of these subjects which are vital in enhancingemployment for Basotho in technical fields; and

-The secondary school inspectorate should be adequately staffedand deployed.

(b) To increase the efficiency of secondary teachers,

-MOE should work closely with school administrators and parents toensure that minimum school size standards are observed, exceptunder special conditions (e.g., schools in remote mountain areas).The prevailing minimum standards should be reviewed, if necessary;once accepted by all Government and NGO parties, they should be

- 44 -

scrupulously observed. This would mean (a) expanding existingschools, when feasible and financially justified, (b) striving toconsolidate small schools which are not slated for expansion, and(c) planning for future construction of only those schools whichwill meet the minimum size criterion. MOE must be prepared towithhold part or all of the Government subsidy for teachers'salaries for schools which are ultimately unwilling to cooperatein this effort to make best use of scarce resources for educatingthe nation's youth; and

-School managers should also review teachers' workloadst with helpfrom MOE if requested, and develop plans for increasing theproportion of the school week that teachers spend providinginstruction. MOE should establish norms for teaching loads andwork with school managers in assessing their plans for utilizingmore efficiently teachers' working hours. MOE should be preparedto withhold a part of the Government subsidy from those schoolswhich fail to comply with the established norms for averageteaching loads.

(c) MOE should carefully review existing salaries, non-salarybenefits, and conditions of service for secondary school teachers,and make the necessary adjustments to ensure that the vastmajority of teaching positions are filled by Basotho. This willrequire analyzing in detail the migration of Basotho teachers tothe Homelands, especially the magnitude, direction, anddeterminants of such migration.. It will also require acomparative study of remuneration and other conditions of servicefor teachers in Lesotho and in the Homelands, upon which soundrecommendations can be based for achieving full employment ofBasotho as teachers in the nation's secondary schools.

- 45 -

V. POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION

Part 1: National University of Lesotho

Introduction

5.01 The National University of Lesotho (NUL) is an integral and vitalpart of Lesotho's education and training system. NUL is the principalpost-secondary institution in the country, imparting advanced skills toBasotho in a wide range or social science, humanities, and natural sciencefields. NUL graduates occupy many of the senior positions in Government,the teaching profession, and the private sector within Lesotho, andconstitute most of the Basotho professional workers emigrating to theRepublic of South Africa and, especially, the Homelands. It is thereforeextremely important that the University educate appropriate numbers ofBasotho in relevant skill areas in a high-quality manner, given the demandsof the local economy as well as the stiff international competition forjobs in the regional labor market.

5.02 At the same time, the Government and donors alike recognize thatuniversity education in Lesotho, as in most African countries, is a veryexpensive proposition. In recent years, the MOE grant to NJL has amountedto about 201 of the entire MOE budget. HOE expenditure per student in 1986was over M 7900, and total public expenditure per student was nearly M10,000, including student loans thich arc not counted as part of the MOEbudget. This is 150 times the HOE outlay per primary school pupil in 1986,and 23 times the amount spent for each secondary school student. It isalso high in relation to absolute expenditure levels for universityeducation in other developing regions of the world. In view of the seriousbudget constraints facing the Government, as well as its legitimate desireto see university enrollments expand over the coming years, it is crucialfor policy-makers and adminstrators to implement measures that willincrease the efficiency of resource use at NUL.

5.03 The sections which follow below touch upon some of the key issuesrelated to improving the relevance, quality, and cost-effectiveness ofeducation at NUL. Many of these issues have already been described andanalyzed in a 1985 World Bank report (Cost Effectiveness of Education inthe Kingdom of Lesotho), which focuses primarily on NUL. This chapterattempts to update the data and summarize some of the main findings in thereport, and to focus on those recommendations which are closely related tothe twin themes that underpin the present sector review: enhancingemployment prospects for Basotho graduates and increasing efficiency.

5.04 At the time the 1985 report was being prepared, NUL had alreadystarted to take a number of steps to improve teaching and increaseefficiency at the University. In the financing area, for example, therefectory was handed over to a private firm, and the size of the Bursar'sstaff was reduced. Since 1985, NUL has continued to examine areas forimproved operations, most notably through a task force on Universityreforms which was expected to complete its report in 1988. The World Bank,recognizing that the most effective and sustainable improvements are thosethat come from within the institution concerned, views this chapter as a

- 46 -

constructive contribution to the efforts of University faculty,administrators, and students which are already under way.

NUL: Achievements and Issues

5.05 The NUL has registered a number of important accomplishments over thepast decade, in response to the social and economic needs of the country.Enrollment at the University more than doubled between 1976 and 1986, fromabout 500 students to nearly 1200. NUL has also opened its door to Africanstudents from other countries in the region, especially political refugees,enrolling more than 200 foreign students in 1986. The University hasdeveloped creative programs in non-formal education through its Institutefor Extra-Mural Studies (IEMS), and has provided a home for research on keysocio-economic topics affecting the sub-region through the Institute forSouthern African Studies (ISAS). As mentioned above, modest financialreforms of NUL have also taken place in recent years.

5.06 These achievements notwithstanding, NUL administrators and MOEofficials recognize that the University will need to solve several basicproblems over the coming years, if it is to fulfill its mission as thepivotal post-secondary insititution in the country. Broadly speaking,these problems relate to the relevance and quality of education at NUL, andto the cost-effectiveness and affordability of University operations. Eachof these topics is briefly examined below.

5.07 Academic Relevance. Even though GOL and donors have placedincreasing emphasis on training Basotho in science, through enrichmentprograms such as AMSTIP and funding of scholarships for science students,it appears that NUL will need to accelerate further its efforts in thisarea, if Lesotho is to produce enough scientists and engineers to meet theneeds of Highlands Water and the rest of the economy. In 1986, only 142(60 of 435) of NUL students received first or post-graduate degrees,diplomas, or certificates in natural sciences (Table 5.1). The bulk ofgraduates specialized in social sciences (412) or education (342). Whileboth of these fields undoubtedly produce needed professionals for thesenior civil service, teaching, and private business, the relatively lowproportion of science graduates is worrisome.

Table 5.1

NUL Graduates by Faculti and D-sr-o, 1986

Faculty Post- First P.rce-nageGraduate Degree DiDlan Certificate Total (5)

Education 12 s6 73 0 178 41.4Humanities 0 2 0 0 2 0.6Law 12 21 12 0 45 10.5Science 0 J9 21 0 e0 14.0Social Sclence 0 74 21 s0 146 33.7

Total 24 224 132 s0 430 100.0

Soureo: MOE Annual Statistics

- 47 -

5.08 The absence of a close fit between the choice of field of study andthe requirements of the economy may be caused in part by the Government's costrecovery policy for NUL. At present, students are charged only a small partof the actual (social) cost of their education, and since most of them do notrepay the student loans which are widely provided to cover these charges,University education is effectively free of private costs for most students.As a result of this disrepancy between public and private costs, students maynot be selecting courses of study which correspond to the needs of the economyand which offer higher lifetime earnings opportunities.

5.09 Weaknesses in Academic Quality. While NUL employs many well-trainedand motivated faculty and offers some outstanding courses, Universityofficials have voiced considerable concern over the quality of education atNUL. Several factors have been identified which tend to mitigate againsthigh-quality education:

(a) Although NUL's committee system of governance is democratic,faculty members spend excessive amounts of time engaged incommittee activities, and this detracts from their teachingperformance. Since faculty are partially rewarded for theirparticipation in committees, current incentives lead faculty todevote a large part of their time to committee work;

gb) At present, faculty promotion and levels of compensation are nottied to teaching and research performance, but are based mainlyon seniority;

Sc) While student performance is evaluated by external examiners,University programs, courses, and individual faculty are notrigorously examined on a regular basis. Without such a system ofexternal evaluation, NUL forgoes the opportunity to benefit froma critical review of its teaching programs which could lead tomajor quality improvements. Related to this, funds are allocatedequally to different departments and programs, rather than on thebasis of performance and need;

(d) Standards imposed on faculty sent abroad for training aresometimes too lax, with these staff not required to completetheir degrees within a specified time; and

(e) NUL faculty undertake relatively little research, theoretical orapplied, which could help to enrich teaching at the University.Faculty are not rewarded for their research efforts, and researchfunds from GOL and donors are insufficient. Furthermore, facultyof the University's four research-oriented institutes are notrequired to rotate in and out of NUL's academic departments in amanner which would promote a positive interaction betweenteaching and research.

5.10 Cost-Effectiveness. As mentioned above (para 5.02), NUL spendsnearly M 8,000 per student each year in recurrent costs, including the

- 48 -

expenses of the four institutes. This is more than eight times Lesotho's percapita GNP. and is a multiple of 151 and 23 times the amount spent for eachprimary and secondary school pupil in the country, repectively. While afigure of H 8,000 per stud..nt is similar to the unit costs for universityeducation in several other African countries with small enrollments, it stillraises serious questions about the equity, external efficiency, and financialsustainability of Lesotho's university system as currently constituted:

(a) Is it equitable for the country to devote such a large proportionof its resources to a small minority of students, especially on avirtual grant basis, while others may not have access to primaryor secondary education because of a shortage of funds?

(b) Should Lesotho be spending so many resources for an institution(?rT'.) which yields a relatively lower social rate of return thanprimary and secondary instruction? 1/

(c) Perhaps most importantly, can Lesotho afford to continueexpanding enrollments at NUL at such a high level of unitexpenditure, given that the University already absorbs about afifth of the MOE budget? The 1982 Education Task Force reportprojected an increase in NUL enrollment from 1,200 at present toaround 3,000 at the turn of the next centuryt without asignificant reduction in unit costs, however (as well as anincrease in cost recovery), the financial feasibilty of such anexpanded enrollment appears to be doubtful.

5.11 The factors which help explain the high unit costs of education atNUL include excessive non-teaching expenditures for maintenance,administration, and other overheads, and unnecessarily low student:facultyratios. Fortunately, these problems are amenable to correction. They havealready been analyzed in considerable detail in the 1985 World Bank report,and will only be summarized below. NUL officials are well aware of theseproblems, and are actively seeking solutions to them.

5.12 In 1986-87, non-teaching costs amounted to M 4.96 million, or 582 ofNUL's total expenditures of M 8.62 million, while teaching absorbed only 422of the budget (Table 5.2). Even though NUL's small size precludes certaineconomies ot scale for these non-teaching expenses, they are clearly excessiveby any standards. While the *non-teachingo part of the NUL budget is actuallymade up of a large number of distinct activities (e.g., garage, laundry,hostels, bookstore, etc.). most of which could achieve greater efficiencies,the two items which require the greatest attention are university maintenanceand administration. Maintenance currently employes about 111 persons andtakes up nearly 172 of the NUL budget, while adminstration accounts for afurther 71 staff and 15Z of the budget. Through a combination of staff

1/ According to a 1983 HOE study, social rates of return were 102 for NULgraduates, 15Z for primary school graduates, and 31? for lower secondaryschool graduates. See Newaye Gebre-ab, 'Cost Benefit Analysis of Educationin Lesothom, MOE, November 1983.

- 49 -

transfers, early retirement, and incentives for certain maintenance personnelto become private contractors to the University, significant savings couldemerge for these non-teaching categories of expenditure.

Table 5.2

NUL Budget by Major Expenditure Category, 1986

Item Amount Percentage(Haloti M) (Z)

1. Teaching

Educdtion 0.39 4.5Humanities 0.52 6.0Social Science 0.66 7.7Science 1.14 13.2Law 0.33 3.8Other 0.62 7.2

Subtotal 3.66 42.5

2. Non-Teaching

Institutes 0.78 9.0Library 0.57 6.6Administration 1.32 15.3Maintenance 1.43 16.6Other Support Services a/ 0.57 6.6Miscellaneous 0.29 3.4

Subtotal 4.96 57.5

TOTAL 8.62 100.0

a/ Includes hostels, laundry, wardens, printing, stationery, andbookstore.

bl Includes NUL subsidy to its primary school, and non-teachingitems in the Vice Chacellor's special account.

Source: MOE Annual Statistics

5.13 Detailed analyses of potential savings for all types of non-teachingexpenditure at NUL were carried out as part of both the 1985 Bank sector

- 50 -

mission and the current sector review (the former analysis analysis issummarized in Table 7 of the 1985 report, while the latter is presented inAnnex IV of the present report). The 1985 report estimated possible annualsavings for non-academic items at M 1.38 million, or about 212 of theUniversity's 1983-84 budget. The current report found that net savings ofabout 1.23 million could be obtained, equivalent to about 14Z of NUL's 1986-87budget, while maintaining enrollments at their existing level; includingpossible reforms of the University's institutes -- merging the Institute ofLabor Studies and the Institute of Education with other faculties or schoolsin the country -- savings could rise to M 1.48 million, or 17Z of the NULbudget. A portion of these savings cou'd then be reallocated to high priorityacademic programs and activities, such as science and business studies and thecreation of a university research fund.

5.14 While NUL expenditures for teaching-related activities are for themost part well justified, it may also be possible to realize some minorsavings in this area, especially in employee benefit programs. Through acombination of policy changes which are consistent with national policies(e.g.. applying Government subsidy levels for the primary school at NUL,rather than the existing NUL allocation of H 120,000 a year) and bettermanagement of other benefits (e.g., purchase of air tickets for faculty goingabroad), it 's estimated that NUL might be able to save an extra M 0.3 million(Annex V). At thae same time, teachers' salaries should be adjusted to makethem competitive with regional alternatives, and a new pay policy should beadopted to permit compensation to be based on merit rather than seniority.

5.15 The overall student:faculty ratio of 9.9:1 is lower than the worldwideaverage for universities, and is an important source of inefficiency. Thisinstitution-wide average masks ratios of less than 6:1 in a number of courses,including science education, French, language and social education, Africanlanguages, theology, geography, and pharmaceutics. The 1985 Bank report,which the current review fundamentally endorses, concluded that the number ofacademic programs at NUL had been allowed to proliferate beyond the boundariesof present and likely future needs. It recommended that NUL:

(a) Explore options for combining some smaller departments into largerdepartments;

(b) Consider sending Basotho students to institutions in other Africancountries or elsewhere for training which cannot be providedeconomically at NUL because of small enrollments; and

(c) Phase out some academic programs experiencing very low demand, andraise the present requirement of a minimum of four students percourse.

The 1985 report further recommended that KUL develop and implement a plan thatwould increase student:faculty ratios to at least 10:1 in sciences and 12:1 inall other departments. This would permit an immediate 15? increase in studentenrollments, from 1,200 to 1,380, without any corresponding rise in academiccosts.

- 51 -

5.16 In the MOE submission to the Government's current five-year plan(1986-91), NUL has proposed a series of new investments for the Universitytotaling about M 25.8 million. Most of these investment items, includingdormatories, classrooms, and recreational facilities, are as yet unfunded.The 1985 Bank sector mission found that existing University facilities wereseriously underutilized at that time: only 312 of effective weekly places inclassroomis and laboratories were being occupied. In view of this fact, plusthe additional recurrent expenditures that would be entailed by a capitalexpansion program at NUL, University and Government officials and donorrepresentatives should approach such proposed new investments withconsiderable caution. Only the highest priority items should be seriouslyconsidered for funding. All investment proposals should be closelyscrutinized for their recurrent cost implications, impact on unit costs (wouldit be accompanied by an offsetting increase in enrollments?), and likelycontribution to quality of education at NUL.

5.17 Financial Sustainabilitv and Burden-Sharing. As mentioned above, the1986-87 MOE block grant to NUL was M 8.9 million, or about 201 of the MOErecurrent budget. In fact, the net budgetary transfer from Government is evengreater, since most of the 900 Basotho students at NUL receive student loansof about H 2,000 a year, and only 2? of these loans are actually being repaid.Of this loan amount, M 350 is paid to the University to cover a fraction ofthe actual yearly costs of tuition and dormatories, while the balance is usedfor subsistence, books- and other expenses.

5.18 While the student loan scheme, which is managed by the NMDS, is asound idea in principle, the existing set-up has several drawbacks. NMDSmakes loans to nearly 90Z of Basotho students, without determining eligibilityon the basis of need. Repayment performance has been extremely poor, anduntil recently, NMDS has not taken action to try to enforce timely repayment.In 1987, the Government announced its intention to improve the student loanscheme, by computerizing the records of all borrowers since 1978 and matchingthem against the lists of public service and parastatal employees. Since thevast majority of NUL graduates end up working in the public sector or forparastatal enterprises, they would presumably either be encouraged to repayoutstanding loans, or repayments would be automatically deducted from theirsalaries. This would be a welcome change.

5.19 The current system for financing University education in Lesotho thuscontains two main weaknesses:

(a) With the Government providing virtually all of NUL's resources, itis doubtful whether a major expansion of enrollments can befinancially sustained. Any such expansion will almost certainlyhave to to accompanied by major efficiency gains (i.e., lower unitcosts) and by higher levels of direct cost recovery from students.The latter change would probably mean both charging higher levelsfor tuition and accommodation and effectively collecting studentloans; and

(b) The actual financial contribution of students and their familiesis extremely low. At the same time, as mentioned in Chapters 3and 4 of this report, parents bear a heavy share of the cost-

- 52 -

burden of primary and secondary education in Lesotho. A series ofchanges that would raise fee levels at NUL to cover a largerportion of actual costs of education, and would also improve thestudent loan scheme to make it moh.e equitable and administrativelyefficient, would seem to be appropriate responses to thissituation. NUL and MOE officials are already beginning to takesteps in this direction, but more will need to be done in thisarea over the next few years.

NUM: Recommendations

5.20 As NUL administrators and MOE officials formulate their action plansfor improving relevance, quality, and efficiency of University operations,they may wish to consider the following recommendations:

(a) To enhance the relevance of teaching at NUL:

-University officials should expand the science and businessstudies programs further. NUL may wish to set phased targets forincreasing enrollments in these areas and others which areidentified through a labor information system (Chapter 2); and

-Student fees should be raised, so that the choice of field ofstudy better reflects expected employment and income prospects.There are other sound reasons why fees should be boosted, too,including equity and financial viability of the university system(see below).

(b) To improve the quality of academic programs at NUL:

-The structure of committees should be streamlined, and the sizeof individual committees reduced. This could be accomplished bydelegating many routine decisions to administrators and havingsubstantially fewer representatives on committees (e.g., fromfaculties instead of departments). Committee deliberations couldalso be shortened by adopting rules of closure. NUL may wish toexamine the committee processes of other, larger universitieswhich are far less cumbersome, and then borrow those approacheswhich are appropriate to NUL;

-The University should experiment with, and eventually establish,a system of external evaluation of each department and its staff.The results of such evaluation would be used to reward teachersfor their performance and to determine priorities for allocationof University resources. External evaluators should be selectedwith considerable care, to ensure their competence, objectivity,and appreciation of the unique role that NUL must play in theLesotho and Southern Africa context;

-The University should prepare and implement an explicit staffdevelopment plan for each department member, which specifieshis/her objectives (in teaching, research, curriculum development,

- 53 -

administrative support, etc.) and identifies essential trainingneeds. Such a plan would then be used in evaluating staffperformance and determining compensation on a merit-orientedbasis; and

-NUL should establish a research fund for faculty and graduatestudents, using a part of the savings in the University budgetwhich can be achieved in the area of non-teaching expenditure (seebelow). The fund could be earmarked for research topics of localand regional importance, with awards based on competitiveproposals. In addition, NUL should require that relevant teachersrotate in and out of the associated University institutes, andshould generally encourage staff to engage in research by makingthis an integral part of each staff development plan.

(c) To increase the efficiency of resource use at NUL:

-University officials should carefully review the functions,performance, and budgets of the institutes, and adopt appropriatemeasures for streamlining them. NUL adminstrators have alreadyexpressed their intention to phase out the Institute of LaborStudies and reassign its staff to the Ministry of Labor. Inaddition, the Institute of Education might effectively be mergedwith the existing faculty of education, with education researchstaff required to obtain a major share of their funds from extra-budgetary sources such donor-assisted projects and privatefoundations. Since the Inititute of Extra-Mural Studies'clientele is distinct from the University's constituency and itsongoing activities are separate from NUL's academic programs,consideration should also be given to making IEMS financiallyindependent of the University;

-Following appropriate consultation with teaching staff, otheremployees, and students, NUL should prepare and implement on anurgent basis a plan for reducing non-teaching expendituresconsiderably. As noted above, administration and maintenence aretwo prime areas for achieving savings, but economies can in factbe obtained in virtually every expenditure category. While thelevel of potential savings shown in the two World Bank reports (M1.38 million and M 1.48 million) should be viewed as purelyillustrative, these figures do indicate that as much as 15-20X ofthe NUL budget could be saved (and part of this reallocated tohigh priority activities) without adversely affecting academicprograms;

-NUL officials should set higher targets for studentsfacultyratios (10sl to 12sl for various courses) and adopt a phased planfor achieving them. As mentioned above, this may require acombination of merging some departments, eliminating others,sending some students abroad, and revising the University policyon minimum course size; and

- 54 -

-The University should appoint a part or full-time staff member toexpand the existing management information system for theUniversity. The expanded system would include data onenrollments, staffing, academic programs, and expenditures, andwould permit better monitoring of resource use for teaching andnon-teaching purposes. The person appointed to develop the systemwould prepare periodic reports for NUL and MOE officials oncurrent expenditure patterns and options for future resourceallocation.

(d) To safeguard the financial sustainability of NUL:

-A moratorium should be imposed on any expansion of enrollments,until there is clear evidence of efficiency gains and lower unitcosts at the University;

-The Government should also defer major planned investments at theUniversity, until a plan is implemented to reduce unit costs,boost revenues through higher fees, and utilize fully existingclassroom and laberatory capacity. As a rule, the recurrent costimplications of all capital projects for NUL should be closelyscrutinized;

-The University should raise fees, so that students bear a largershare of the actual cost of education: and

-Consistent with recent Government actions, the student loanscheme should be revamped to incorporate stricter eligibility, acompetitive interest rate on outstanding loan balances, and muchtighter enforcement of terms and conditions for repayment. Onepractical way of obtaining better repayment performance would befor the Government to deduct monthly payments from salaries ofcivil servants who received student loans. In order to protectthe disposable income of borrowers under the loan scheme, a cap(e.g., 10-15Z of monthly earnings) could be placed on payments,thus lengthening the maturities on some student loans.

Part 2: Technical-Vocational Education

Introduction

5.21 Technical and vocational education (TVE) is a crucial part ofLesotho's overall education and training system. TVE institutionsprovide post-secondary training to Basotho to perform jobs in bothpublic and private sectors and in a wide range of industrial and serviceoccupations, including agricultural extension, health care, andsecretarial/clerical work. Teachers themselves are trained in avocational training institute.

- 55 -

5.22 If Lesotho is to enhance future employment opportunities for itscitizens at home and within the larger regional labor market, thecountry's TVE institutions, in conjunction with employers, must offerhigh quality and cost-effective training. In this regard, the existingTVE system has a number of positive attributes. For example. Lesotho'sindustrial and commercial training centers, most of which are privatelyrun, effectively impart skills which are currently in demand, and manageto do so within highly-constrained budgets. These centers also arestaffed with highly-committed trainers and managers.

5.23 However, the TVE system exhibits a number of limitations andfaces a series of important challenges for the future. Among these:

(a) While the number of places in industrial-commercial trainingcenters has increased significantly over the past decade, itappears that enrollments are still not expanding fastenough, given the demand for graduates within Lesotho andfrom the RSA;

(b) In areas where a single Government-operated traininginstitution provides skilled manpower to the economy (mainlypublic sector employment), there is always a risk that theoutput of trained manpower may not match the requirements ofthe labor force. Quality of education may also suffer,since there is no effective competition among institutionsfor enrollees. There is some evidence that this ishappening: the quality of teacher training at NTTC, forexample, appears to be unsatisfactory, and at the same timethe number of NTTC graduates is also inadequate to meet theneeds of Lesotho's primary schools;

sc) Links between the TVE system and private employers remainweak. The Government's efforts to strengthen such ties and,more generally, to encourage higher standards of technicaland vocational education in public and private institutions,have thus far been sporadic and ineffective. Given theresource constraints facing the MOE, the Ministry will haveto be selective in identifying those areas of TVE where itspositive involvement can yield the best results.

5.24 Institutions and Enrollments. Lesotho's TVE system is made upof more than 17 public and private institutions (Table 5.3). There are11 training facilities in the industrial-commercial sphere: of these,seven are private schools sponsored by church missions and other NGOs,and the remaining four institutions are Government-operated (three ofthese -- Lerotholi Technical Institute, the Technician Training School,and the Commercial Training Institute -- have recently come under commonmanagement, as the Lerotholi Polyter'imic). In addition, the Governmentruns training centers for agricultural officers (the LesothoAgricultural Collage, LAC), primary and secondary school teachers(NTTC), and para-medical health workers (the National Health TrainingCenter, NHTC), and administrative cadres (the Lesotho Institute ofPublic Administration, LIPA). Training of nurses takes place mainly in

- 56 -

private facilities linked to church mission hospitals, and there is alsoa private school to develop accounting skills for the private sector(the Center for Accounting Studies, CAS).

Table 5-aTechnical-Vocational Institutions

Institution Ownership Type of Enrollent,

Instruction 1936-67

1. Technicion Training School /a GML Engineering, diplom 1372. Commercial Training Institute /a COL Business/scretaril 1173. Thaba Taska SkiIlls Training Center GML Basic skills training 634. Lerotholl Technical Institute /a COL Diversified craft-level 2S05. Leloaleng Trade School NCO-Mission Diversified craft-level 1266. Technical School of Leribe NCO-Mission Diversified craft-level 1667. Bishop Allard Vocational School NCO-Mission Diversified craft-level 300S. St. Elizabeth Home Econ. School NCO-Mission Hom economics 1589. St. Francis NCO-Mission Home economics 85lO.Hermitage NCO-Mission Home economics 1221I.Leotho Opportunities Industrial- Diversified craft-levol and 300

ization Center NCO /b business studies

Subtotal 1823

12.National Health Training Center GOL Paramedical /d 10013.Lesotho Institute for Public Admin. COL In-service courses for govt. /-14.Lemotho Agricultural Colleg COL Ag. technician training 140:_.Thaba Khupa Ecumenical Center NCO-Mission Farmr training 60l .Center for Accounting Studies Private /c Private sector accounting 16017.National Teacher Training Center GOL T"cher training 1100

Subtotal 1660

TOTAL 3383

/a LTI, TTC, and CTI togethr form Lerotholl Polytechnic./b Started In 1973 with assistance from OIC International and USAID./c Started In 1980 with assistance from the Coverneent of Ireland./d Expected enrollmnt for 190700. N1TC opened in mid-1978./e LIPA offers minly short in-eervico courss.

Sources: (1) MOE Annual Statistics(2) Interviews with school a1minletratore

5.25 Enrollments in 1986-87 in the 11 industrial-commercial trainingcenters amounted to 1,823. If the other TVE institutions are also taken intoaccount, including NTTC (1,100), NHTC (100), LAC (140), and the CAS (160),total TVE enrollment rises to nearly 3,400.

5.26 Financing. The Government finances the full operating costs of someTVE institutions, including NTTC and the Polytechnic (through the MOE budget),NHTC (Ministry of Health budget), ATS (Ministry of Agriculture), and LIPA(Ministry of Public Service). In other training facilities, including themission-run nursing schools and industrial training centers, MOE covers thecost of some trainers salaries, while the mission proprietors meet the balanceof expenses through fees and private donations from abroad. The remaining TVEinstitutions, notably the CAS and the Lesotho Opportunities IndustrializationCenter (LOIC) are entirely financed from private sources. It does not appear

- 57 -

that employers contribute to the operating costs of Lesotho's TVE systemthrough a training levy.

5.27 HOE expenditures for TVE in 1986 amounted to about M2.76 million,including MO.76 at Lerotholi and H2.00 million at NTTC. It is difficult toestimate non-goversnmental expenditures for TVE, but these probably exceed thelevel of HOE outlays.

5.28 Trainees at the Polytechnic pay fees of M500 for boarders and M260 forday students, while fees charged by the church-mission schools vary from M120to M560 a year. In view of the demonstrated willingness and ability of thesetrainees (or their families) to pay for a part of the cost of their educationand the severe budgetary difficulties facing the GOL, direct cost recoverywould appear to be a viable policy to help finance any future expansion of theTVE system.

TVE: Achievements and Issues

5.29 During the past decade, Lesotho has made important advances in theareas of TVE, including:

(a) A ten-fold increase in enrollments in industrial-commercialcourses, from 172 in 1975 to 1,823 in 1986;

(b) Establishment of several new TVE centers, including the LOIC andthe NHTC;

(c) Creation of a Department of Technical and Vocational Training(DTVT) within MOE, which has recently begun to fulfill its mandateby surveying training institutions, reactivating trade testing,fostering linkages with private industry, and seeking additionaldonor support for TVE; and

(d) Launching a major program to strengthen the Polytechnic, withprincipal donor support from West Germany.

5.30 Despite these achievements, Lesotho's TVE system must overcome anumber of serious weaknesses and resolve a series of related issues, if TVE isto play its vital role of imparting technical and vocational skills to Basothosecondary school graduates. These issues concern the capacity of TVEinstitutions in relation to the requirements of the local and regionaleconomy; the quality of technical-vocational training; opportunities forincreasing cost recovery at TVE institutions; and the appropriate strategy andprogram of MOE support (through DTVT) to TVE. Each of these issues isdiscussued below.

5.31 Limited Capacity. While TVE enrollments have increased substantiallyduring the past ten years, there is evidence that the current capacity ofLesotho"s mVE institutions is still not adequate to meet the demand frompotential trainees and prospective employers:

(a) The number of applications at training centers far exceeds theavailable places. In 1987, for example, the ratio of applications

- 58 -

to places was 10:1 at Lerotholi Technical Institute, 8:1 at theCommercial Training Insitute, and 3:1 at the Bishop AllardVocational School;

(b) Even though Lesotho has more than 1000 unqualified primary schoolteachers and an unacceptably high pupil:teacher ratio of 55:1,NTTC is still graduating only about 150 new primary schoolteachers annually. In the absence of other reforms to limit thegrowth of enrollments, this level of output from NHTC is likely toresult in a worsening of the pupil:teacher ratio; and

(c) While systematic employer surveys and tracer studies for TVEgraduates have not been carried out (and need to be), anecdotalevidence suggests that most trainees are finding jobs withoutdifficulty. The principal of CTI. for example, indicated thatvirtually all of her graduates are obtaining employment readily,and she felt that the school's capacity could be doubled withoutaffecting its success in placing graduates in suitable jobs.

5.32 The main factor accounting for this under-capacity in TVE appears tobe financial. In the case of Government-run institutions, the GOL simply doesnot have the resources to allocate to capital expansion and the associatedincremental recurrent costs, especially since trainees and prosective privatesector employers do not help to cover even a portion of training costs.kegarding church mission and privately-operated facilities, fees meet onlypart of total operating costs, and training grants from private industry havenot been developed as a funding source. In addition, the mismatch between TVEenrollments and labor force requiremetxts may also be related to weaknesses inthe existing labor information system (see Chapter 2) and the absence ofsystematic studies of specific induL ries and professions, on the basis ofwhich future TVE training could be planned.

5.33 Of course, required training capacity should not be estimated simplyby examining applicant-to-place ratios and existing job vacancies. Sincetrainees pay for only a fraction of the actual costs of training in Governmentfacilities, such ratios do not reflect the true economic returns to trainingexpenditures. Vacancy rates may be high in certain professions (e.g.,secondary teaching and nursing) because of large-scale labor migration to theHomelands; vacancies will only be filled if salaries are increased and otherconditions of service improved, so that working in Lesotho is relatively moreattractive than abroad. Even taking these factors into account, however,there still appears to be a need to encourage some expansion of TVEenrollments. Applicant-to-place ratios are high even in the NGO and privatetraining centers where trainees and their families must pay significant fees.And some amount of "excessu training capacity for professions where Basothoare able to gain employment in the RSA (as well as filling all posts inLesotho) may also be desirable.

5.34 Inadequacies in Quality of Training. MOE officials and othereducation specialists in Lesotho have expressed concern that the quality andappropriateness of TYE education may be suffering, for several reasons:

(a) Links between employers and TVE institutions are weak. There hasbeen a conspicuous lack of communication concerning TVE curricula

- 59 -

and competency testing, especially in the industrial andcommercial fields;

(b) Curriculum development takes place on an ad hoc basis inindividual TVE institutions, without overall coordination, advice,or standards. As a resuit, there is great variation in TVEcurriculum, even among institutions providing training in the samefield (e.g., automotive mechanics, electrical repair); and

(c) Trade testing was suspended for three years following the creationof the DTVT in 1984, leading to a backlog of more than 1200candidates. Trade testing had previously been handled by theMinistry of Labour. The suspension was particularly seriousbecause salaries for skilled workers are based on trade testing:employers refuse to recognize certificates issued to graduates ofTVE institutions, given the variable quality of training provided.While trade testing resumed in early 1988, the backlog ofcandidates still needs to be cleared and testing proceduresimproved.

5.35 MOE Support to TVE. The 1984 Technical and Vocational Training Act,which created the DTVT, gave the Department a broad mandate, including overallpolicy-making, course validation, upgrading of instruction, curriculum review,administration of trade tests, fostering links with external institutions, &ndsoliciting donor assistance for programs and projects. While all of theseactivities are worthwhile. taken together they far exceed the existing andlikely future capacity of the DTVT, at least for the next five to ten years.At present, the Department is seriously understaffed, with only an expatriatedirector and a Basotho deputy director.

5.36 The Government needs to appoint at least a small core staff for theDTVT and provide enough office space and transport to make the Departmentfunctional. However, given the severe budget constraints upon the Government,it would be unrealistic to expect that the DTVT will be able to expand beyondsuch a core size over the next few years. Under these circumstances, theDepartment will have to identify a few high priority areas of involvement.Otherwise, it risks spreading its energies too thinly and ineffectively acrossa great many activities. Based on discussions with MOE and technical-vocational officers, it appears that the priority areas might include tradetesting, curriculum development, and forging closer links with employers.

5.37 Cost Recovery. As mentioned above (para 5.27), cost recovery levels,for Government-operated TVE institutions are generally low. Fees at thePolytechnic cover less than 20Z of recurrent costs, and at NTTC, LAC, NHTC,and LIPA such fees are nominal or non-existent. Trainees pay only modest feesat the Polytechnic and Thaba Seka Skills Training Center. The cost of runningthese public TVE institutions imposes a burden on the Government, even thoughTVE graduates will generally earn considerably enhanced personal incomes as aresult of their training. In addition, heavy levels of public subsidy to TVEinstitutions distort the patterns of demand for training, since the privatecosts of training are substantially lower than the social costs. As a result,students may seek training (and institutions offer courses) in skill areas forwhich there is relatively weak demand from employers.

- 60.-

5.38 The church mission training centers and private accountancy instituteprovide strong evidence that students and their families are willing and ableto pay for technical-vocational training, when they perceive that significantbenefits will ensue. There would thus appear to be compelling logic to begincharging TVE trainees more substantial fees to cover at least a part of thecost of their training. Such a cost recovery policy should be ascomprehensive as possible, applying not only to institutions operated by MOEbut also to public training centers operated by other ministries includingHealth, Agriculture, and Public Service. The Government's recently-statedintention to start charging higher fees to students at the National Universitywould provide a strong precedent for imposing commensurate fees at the otherpost-secondary institutions. As at NUL, student loans could be made availableto economically disadvantaged persons.

5.38 Experience from other developing countries also indicates thatemployers are often willing to pay for part of the costs of training forprospective new employees and existing staff who are temporarily released toreceive additional training. Employers view such training grants asprofitable investments in human capital. Not only does such an arrangementimprove the financial viability of TVE institutions, it also helps to promoteemployer-institution links and ensure that training is relevant to the needsof the economy. There appears to be great scope in Lesotho for encouragingthe employer grants to training centers.

TVE: Recommendations

5.39 To ensure that existing and future TVE programs adhere to highstandards of quality, appropriateness, and cost-effectiveness, Government,NGO, and private officials involved in the TV! system might wish to considerthe following recommendations:

(a) To align TVE enrollments with the needs of the local and regionaleconomy:

-MOE should conduct a study of existing institutional capacity inrelation to demand from prospective trainees and employers. Sucha study, which would examine recent applicantsplaces ratios, jobplacement rates for graduates, and employers' projected skillrequirements, would aim to identify areas of important over- orunder-capacity in the existing TVE system. The study could thenbe updated periodically, in line with the labor information systemproposed elsewhere in this report; and

-In the event that some expansion of the current TVE system isrequired, a range of financing options for capital items should beexplored, including Government grants, donor aid, and Government-backed loans to NGO and private institutions, plus employer grantsto both public and private training centers. Since expanded TVEenrollments would also entail incremental operating costs, optionsfor increased cost recovery would need to be assessed as well (seebelow).

- 61 -

(b) To boost the quality and relevance of TVE instruction:

-MOE should work closely with training center staff and employersto enrich TVE curricula, under the aegis of curriclum developmentcomittees for the various trades. The training materialsdeveloped should probably be in modular form, to allow forflexibility in instruction;

-HiOE should reactivate trade testing and expeditiously clear thebacklog of candidates. This could be done by conducting tests notonly at the Polytechnic, but also at other institutes andindustrial establishments. Qualified representatives of localemployers should be invited to particiapte in trade testing assoon as possible. A trade testing committee should also reviewexisting trade tests for relevance and upgrade them as needed;

-MOE should consciously and systematically promote stronger tiesbetween TVE institutions and employers. This could includemembership in the above-mentioned committees for curriculumdevelopment and trade testing; participation in assessments offuture TVE training needs and planning for expansion of the TVEsystem; financial contributions to the capital and recurrent costsof specific TVE institutions; and sponsoring of apprenticeshipprograms for trainees.

(c) To maximize the effectiveness of the DTVT:

-MOE should provide the Department with a basic minimum of staff,equipment, and transport. This means filling the posts ofdirector, deputy, curriculum developer, and officer for tradetesting; and

-The DTVT should prepare and implement a selective work program.consisting of a few high-priority activities, probably in theareas of curriculum, trade testing, and sub-sectoral planning.

(d) To improve the financial viability of the TVE system:

-MOE should take the lead, in conjunction with other relevantministries (agriculture, health, etc.)-, in examining options forincreasing cost recovery through student fees, consistent withoverall Government policy on fees for post-secondary education.This would require the establishment of a well-administeredstudent loan scheme; and

-MOE should promote the use of employers' training grants to TVEinstitutions. A number of options should be considered, includinggrants to cover the training costs of students who would agree towork for the employer for a defined period of time aftercompleting training, as well as grants to cover the costs ofupgrading the skills of existing employees.

Table 1: Cros Primary Enrol lmnt R1tio s Sub-Sahmarn Afr;ic

Public recurrentEnrollment Public eupenditursa on

groeth rate Repestera Females education pri_mry educationCr<es sinu- gre thi a- *c PQblic expenditures as percentage of

priss,y rate of percantage serentael Pupil- recurrent as percentapa total public recur-enrol lant school-age of primry of primary tao her *xpenditure total public rent expenditurca

ratio population enrollment enroll mnt ratio per pupil espenditures on education(a) (b) cc) (4) (*) (f) (a) (h)

Los primary enrollent * 37 11 38 42 40 17.6 38countries (LPEC) * 37 1.1 18 37 41 49 17.2 34

So" lie 21 -10.2 36 23 48 6.3 soMali 23 -2.4 33 37 37 41 37.2 33Niger 26 -0.7 1s 36 3s 6s 21.7 38Burkina Faso 27 6.6 17 37 62 38 23.9 31Cuines 36 0.1 29 32 36 75 12.7 31Mauritanis 37 6.0 17 39 45 143 . 28Eth iopia 38 2.4 12 38 54 26 10.9 46Chad 38 2.0 .27 64Burundi 4s 16.2 14 40 49 63 s3Sudan *e -0.1 41 34

Medium primary enroll- * 66 16 42 39 54 15.2 43ment countries (PEs) a 6? -0.4 1S 41 36 5S 18.2 45

Senegal 53 5.4 1s 40 41 101 . 49Sierra Leone 54 2.4 . 41 34 40 17.6 40Uganda 57 -0.4 10 43 36 8 . 16Malawi s8 -1.8 1S 42 58 13 6.5 39Cuinea-gieanu 6. -1.7 30 33 23 29 11.8 67Reands 62 -1.3 12 48 54 47 24.0 74eanin 67 2.9 22 33 38CGabia The se 8.6 13 38 25 so . 49Liberia 70 -3 4 40 33 63 13.2 30Ivory Coast 77 1.? 25 41 S6 Leo 26.2 45Central African Rep. 77 2.7 36 35 69 44 . 85Mozambique 79 -6.9 29 43 56 16Ghana 79 -2.7 2 44 2a . 15.2 32

"i h primary enroll- * 96 14 47 39 53 16.3 41_nt countr ie (IffE) * 106 0.0 is 48 42 29 16.3 46

Tanzania 87 -1.6 1 49 42 30 15.3 47Nigeria 89 -2.4 . . 36 88 9.3 33Zaire 90 -0.3 1U 43 42Botewmna 96 1.5 6 SS 31 1060 16. 43Zambia 100 1.2 1 47 4S 39 15.2 48Kenya 100 -0.9 13 48 37 78 15.3 65ToGO 102 -6.7 36 39 45 23 20.6 25Madagascar 104 1.8 48 25 . 58Cameroon 108 .0 30 46 60 49 17.2 41Lesotho 11o 3.5 23 88 52 31 17.9 37Swasiland 111 1.6 13 33 100 . 47Mauritius 112 1.8 49 2S 181 10.3 46Caben 118 -0.6 32 49 44Zimbabwe 131 11.2 1 4a 40 122 17.8 61AAgola 134 -7.6 36 46 3? . 10.1Congo. People's Rep. 163 -0.1 31 49 s8 . 19.2 48

Sub-Saharan Afric * 7 14 44 39 52 11.9 41* 77 0.0 16 42 39 48 18.3 aS

*/ LPECo gross primry enrol lsent ratio below 502 in 1983. : ratio between 0S and 109. IUWs! ratio above 0S.

LESC\ANNEXl-l .SRA

Table 2: Countri.a Groused bw Secondary Enroll_ent Ratios S: Sub-Saharan Africa

Public Secondery asCrFO" Ratio of Progeaaian Fealese s expnd ture percent o ublIie

aecondary *econdary rate from percent of an education recurrent expend-enroll_et to primary primary to *econdcry a. a percent iture on

ratio enrollInte *econdary enrollment a o W education(a) (b) (c) (4) (e) (f)

L. scondary enrol lent * 5 .07 18 30 3.0 29countriue (C-) 5 .10 18 32 3.3 30

Ruanda 2 .02 4 34 3.1 '4Tanoani. 3 .02 a 35 S.6 30Surkina heo 4 .13 22 34 3.2 17Burundi 4 .09 a 37 3.4 35Malawi 4 .03 7 29 3.0 IsChad 6 .16 19 1SMosabbiqu- 6 .10 40 30Niger 6 .19 35 27 3.6 31Ml i 7 .26 42 26 3.7 37Uganda a .09 13 33 1.3 40

Medium secondary enrollment * 13 .16 46 37 4.9 31countries (16C) * iS .21 45 33 4.0 30

Ethiopia 11 .23 93 36 3.1 29Guinea-oieaau It .13 SO 19 3.0 1SAngola 12 .11 S0 33 4.7Mauritanie 12 .26 39 24 . 32Sane &I 12 .21 29 33 . 28Sr l i. 14 .29 S0 34 1.4 25Guinea 1S .34 69 28 4.0 37Mdagaer is .15 44 2.3 35Sierra Leone 1S .22 73 28 3.5 31Control African Rep. 16 .20 36 26 . 1SZambia 17 .10 21 3S 5.5 34Gambia. The 19 .2 44 31 5.9 26Kenya 19 .12 35 40 4.8 i5Leaotho 19 .10 45 60 3. 9 35Sudan 19 .32 53 41Cote dlvo;re 20 .23 30 29 9.1 40

High seocnd enroll_mnt * sO .29 S7 33 4.4 49countr; a) a 24 .23 54 39 5.3 35

Liberis 21 .2J 63 20 5.3 16Cameroon 21 .18 26 38 3.6 35Botswana 21 .13 31 54 7.2 29Seni n 22 .29 40 28Cabon 2J .20 27 40Nigerie 23 .24 . 4.3 56Toga 24 .22 31 2S 5.9 26Ghana 38 .62 37 2.0 41Zimbabwe 39 .20 74 40 7.6 24Smsai land 43 .22 o8 49 4.7 35Mauritius 51 .57 54 47 4.3 36Zaire 52 .48 ?1 P1Congo. People's R. 67 .50 73 41 6.0 25

Sub-Seharrn Africa a 20 .22 43 34 4.3 42a 16 .20 40 33 3.9 31

a/ 158Cm: grows eacondary enrollment ratio below tl in 1963. MBW: ratio betmen 101 and 20S. NSCa: ratio Cbow* 201.

LM0Th0\tAI-2.SRA

ANNEX II

Table 1: LESOTNO: PUBLIC INVESTIENT PER CAPITA IN EDUCATION. 10,1-aS

(current M "000)Year Population Planned Per Capita Actual Por Capita

('000) Expandituro Planned Expenditure Actual

81/82 1377.0 7326.0 5.3 2753.3 2.032/93 1414.0 10971.0 7.6 3632.8 2.633/34 1453.0 6683.3 3.9 4377.0 3.434/65 1492.0 11243.0 7.5 4390.0 2.986/86 1629.0 15860.0 10.4 11116.7 7.3

Average 1463.0 10210.7 7.0 6356.6 3.6

(constant 1936 U 000)Year Population Planned Per Capita Actual Per Capita

('000) Expenditure Planned Expenditure Actual

81/62 1377.0 15043.1 10.9 6663.9 4.132/83 1414.0 18915.5 13.4 6263.4 4.483/84 1453.0 8932.6 6.1 7692.4 6.384/85 1492.0 15902.4 10.7 6220.7 4.286/86 1529.0 18713.1 12.2 13124.8 6.6

Average 2453.0 15601.4 10.7 7793.0 5.3

Source: ¢OL Capital Accounts

LESOTHO\ANNEX2-1.SRA

ANNEX II

Tabble 2: LESOTHO EDUCATION: STAFFING PATTERNS, 1987

Clvil Service Posts

Program Filled Vacant Total P*rcent RequestedVacant New Posts

Admin 79 4 ea 4.6 1Inspect 161 22 189 12.0 26LTI 102 1l 113 9.7 64LDTC 41 11 62 21.2 0TSU/TSC 27 S 32 16.6 9NTTC 194 23 217 10.6 70

Subtotal 604 76 6s6 11.2 1SO

Teaching Posta

Qualified Unqual- Total Percent Enrollment Pupil:Tacher Classrooms Pupil;Class-ified Unqual. Ratio room Ratio

Primary 46ll 1162 6773 20.1 319128 55.3 3906 81.7

Secondary 1431 341 1772 19.2 37343 21.1 1049 35.6

Vocational 110 22 132 16.7 1435 10.9

NUL 141 1119 7.9

IEMS 71 2176 30.6

Note:(1) Secondary school teach*rs include 1436 (818) paid by COL, 138

(t8) on contract, 126 (78) privatoly engaged, and 72 (48)serving as volunteers.

Sources MOE


ANEX III

Table 1: Primary Education: Enrollments. Teacher. and Classroom1975-1967

---- Numer of -----Number of Pupils----- ------ N r of Teacher--------Clo o- Un- * P.T. P.C.

Yer Schools room Cloa. ale Femal- Total kual. nual. Total Unqual. Ratio Ratio

1976 1060 2675 47U 90915 131017 221982 2948 1280 4226 30.3 42.4 77.2

1976 1076 294 4352 91152 130649 222017 2975 1260 4235 29.6 62.4 75.3

1977 1074 296 44T76 9224 13796 226019 2974 1330 4204 30.9 52.6 75.4

1707 1060 2643 4529 02792 136731 228623 2921 1500 4421 33.9 51.7 60.4

1979 1979 2743 4065 t6444 138169 236094 3976 1886 4672 36.4 49.3 62.9

1960 1074 3161 5191 1011" 143472 244636 3242 1865 4097 10.4 46.0 77.7

1a1 1065 516U 621 109106 149N6 269046 1662 5630 31.1 46.4 73.6

1962 1103 8699 5322 119676 16687 277945 3721 1574 520 29.7 52.5 75.1

196J 3116 3613 5719 125900 168090 296090 4020 1050 6670 29.1 51.1 75.9

1964 113 880" 6584 13110 186376 297464 4800 1343 5646 23.9 52.7 00.9

1966 1141 8014 6035 1302 174701 S14008 4486 117 65663 20.6 55.4 104.2

1966 1166 044 6260 142016 177110 .i9128 4611 1162 5773 20.1 66.3 104.6

1967 1167 8100 64"6 161210 163476 334666 4963 o90 561 18.7 56.0 106.0

SOIURCE: MOE Statietics$ 1967

LESOTH0AM6 -1 .SR

ANNEX III

Table 2: Primary Education: Cohort Analysis Based Upon 1906 Flow Rates Appli ed to 1986 Intak - Both Sexes

Rates: Std I Std 2 Std B Std 4 Std 6 Std 6 Std 7PronetI o0n: CM U177 O U FM 07U 7 i 77Repetition: 0.82S 0.264 0.287 0.189 0.168 0.142 0.183Drop-out: 0.129 0.069 0.077 0.088 0.096 0.110 0.087 ------By year------

Year: Enrolled Drops19i6 1000 o000 1291987 825 646 871 74196 106 821 870 797 611989 84 148 806 264 786 671990 11 57 169 267 185 679 6S1991 4 21 79 166 219 188 Graduates 628 681992 1 6 86 157 179 102 74 56O 641098 8 13 89 88 141 153 112 437 421994 1 6 16 43 85 183 97 288 271996 2 6 19 44 88 64 169 171996 2 7 20 49 86 76 81997 2 8 24 18 84 41996 2 10 7 12 21990 8 2 82000 1 1 1

Survival and Dropout by Grade: Graduates DropsBegin- 1000 909 746 670 600 629 460 411 689Drop- 191 64 76 70 71 69 49

Total pup/yrsPup/yrs- 1481 1100 976 824 719 616 568 6278

Average duration of study for groduates: 8.94 Pupil/years: 6276Average duration of study for drop-oute: 4.42 Output/graduates: 411Average study time for thecobort: 6.60 Yers Invested: 16.27

Efficiency: 2.18


Tablo 3: Secondary Education: Enrollments. Teacher. and Classroom.1975-1067

---- __mber cf--- ---- Number of Pupils----- ------ Numr of Tcherr--------Class- Urn- I P.T. P.C.

Year Schoole rooms Cla_se Male Fowls Total Qual. au-l. Total Unpual. Ratio Ratio

1975 00 430 896 7069 0652 15611 412 193 OO6 31.9 25.6 36.3

1976 61 464 419 733 9398 16726 447 174 621 26.0 26.9 36.6

197 S1 461 436 7419 10014 17433 479 229 708 32.3 24.6 36.2

1978 63 490 440 7666 10177 17732 614 160 764 19.6 23.2 35.6

1979 96 679 55 666O 12736 21406 762 176 940 18.9 22.8 37.0

1930 96 667 U0 9433 13922 28315 61 241 1122 21.6 20.3 U5.0

19F1 103 767 711 1039 15606 25997 9a7 275 1248 22.0 20.6 34.3

1962 106 on 766 11162 16637 27799 1072 296 166 21.6 20.3 34.4

196 123 *99 90 12327 19096 31422 1203 349 1552 22.5 20.2 35.0

1964 129 960 1011 13422 20142 3664 1271 346 1616 21.8 20.6 34.7

196 148 .991 969 14372 21051 35423 1378 299 1676 17.6 21.1 35.7

19" 156 la6 1005 1496 22869 $8748 1431 341 1772 19.2 21.1 36.6

1967 161 1047 999 1684 23007 39355 1576 310 166 16.4 20.9 37.6

SOUCE: KOE Statistic., 197

LESOTlNM6NEX3-8.=A

ANNEX IVPage 1 of 10

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF LESOTHO'S NONTEACHING UNITS -POSSTBLE COST SAVINGS

NUL Institutes

The combined cost of NUL's four institutes in 1986-87 was M780,756, about 9.1Z of the University's ongoing noncapital expenditures.These units operate largely independently of NUL's teaching programs, andthere is only modest direction from within the institution over theseunits' activities. Their staffs contribute relatively little to theinstitution's teaching mission. More serious yet, the activities of theinstitutes are not organized so as to provide nearly as many opportunitiesas would be possible for staff in the academic departments to do research.As a result, there is a failure to exploit complementarities betweenteaching and research that is a university's unique advantage.

Since it appears to be agreed that one of the institutes, theInstitute for Labor Studies, will be transferred to a governmental agency,little attention has been devoted to it in this annex.

The Institute for Extra-Mural Studies (IEMS) is NUL's extensionarm, and its expenditure of University funds was M 435,462 in 1986-87.This unit is highly controversial, in part because its director has been sosuccessful in obtaining grant funds and engaging in innovative outreachactivities. It has grown in recent years, largely because of a large USAIDgrant which will end in 1988. Many fear that the University will bepressured to replace some of the USAID funding.

IEMS is in many ways much to be admired. However, itsrelationship with the University is likely to be uncomfortable unless itbecomes self-financing or receives a separate subvention. Its clientele isdistinct from the University's traditional constitutency, and its ongoingactivities are dissimilar to those of the institution's academicdepartments. NUL's funding from the government is undoubtedly basedlargely on its regular degree programs, and IEMS' creative but expensivethrusts into new areas are a threat to the University's continuing abilityto finance its more traditional roles. Furthermore, the ongoing activitiesof IEMS are not organized so as to complement those of NUL's academicdepartments.

It is certainly correct that many universities have successfullong-term relationships with their extension arms. However, this occurswhen these units (1) are self-financing, (2) receive separate budgets, or(3) are reasonably stable in size. Usually a combination of theseconditions is in place. IEMS should be financed by client fees and aseparate subvention from the government.

The Institute of Education (IE) and the Institute for SouthernAfrican Studiesd (ISAS) carry out functions that are more closely relatedto the traditional activities of a university. The former unit spent M122,217 of University funds in 1986-87 and ISAS cost M 139,222 during thesame period. IE carries out research projects largely initiated by its


staff and has been successful in attracting substantially research funding.ISAS helps academic staff obtain reseach funding, carries out someresearch, and operates a documentation center.

Nonetheless, these two institutes are not presently living up totheir promise. Three problems come to attention with respect to theInstitute of Education. There is little direction over the choices made byIE staff of topics on which to do research or over the frequency of writtenprogress reports for evaluation. At present, these p--rsonnel are workingon two large ard long-range projects which seem to be interesting andsignificant in a very general sense. However, these projects arenecessarily being carried out at the expense of other possible projects,including shorter-term tasks of more immediate and practical usefulness.For example, IE staff carried out a recent very high quality evaluation ofchanges in internship programs at NTTC. Some members of IE's staff aremost capbale, and many other such studies could be performed.

Another problem is that it is difficult to evaluate theactivities of the Institute of Education. Relatively little is beingwritten by some on its staff, and there is no formal process of peerevaluation.

The third problem is that IE is not closely integrated with theFaculty of Education. Its staff do little teaching in the Faculty'sdepartments, and teaching staff in these departments do little researchwork in the Institute.

A higher proportion of the Institute of Education's work shouldbe on shorter-term projects dealing with practical problems facingLesotho's education system. This unit needs to have an oversight board tohelp initiate and approve its choices of research projects. The board'sinfluence would be enhanced if the Institute's directorship were to rotateevery two or three years. Membership on the board should include academicstaff from the Faculties of Education and Social Sciences and personnelfrom the Ministry of Education and from schools. Aside from settingpriorities and ensuring quality, the oversight board should turn downexternal grant funds for research on topics that are of substantially lesspractical importance than alternatives.

IE's staff should at the least be regularly involved inteaching, and as much as possible rotate in and out of the EducationFaculty's teaching departments. Consideration should be given also torotating staff with those in the Social Science Faculty.

A significant part of IE's budget should be earned from servicefees from the Ministry of Education. This arrangement would help ensurethat practical topics are given attention, and the oversight board couldserve as a mediator to help ensure that the Ministry of Education's fundedtopics and the research interests of IE's staff coincide. Responsivenessof the institute's staff could also be encouraged by allowing a percentageof funds earned to go into a pool for research on topics chosen by thestaff.


The Institute for Soutnern African Studies (ISAS) has had mixedeffectiveness in arranging research grants for staff in the academicdepartments. Attracting research funding for teaching staff should be theunit's main function, and to provide adequate incentive most of the ISASbudget should be based on charges against such grants. Seriousconsideration should be given to the possibility of reassigning theresearch staff in ISAS to teaching departments; the research activities ofthis unit should be spread among teaching staff, and opportunities forachieving complementarities between teaching and research should beexploited as much as possible.

NUL Administration

In 1986-87, NUL's administration spent H 1,324.650,approximately 152 of the institution's ongoing non-capital expenditures.By comparison, the expenditures of NUL's five faculties ranged from M327,727 to H 1,140,904, and their combined spending was M 3,035,703. Evenaccounting for the fact that small institutions tend to spend largeproportions of their budgets on administration, NUL's administrativeexpenditures are clearly excessive, considering the institution's needs toraise the quality of its instructional programs and research activities.Possible remedies include not replacing retiring staff, offering earlyretirement to staff not yet at retirement age, and sizeable cuts inexpenditures for items such as conferences, travel, and photocopying.While many personnel will feel that each of these items is important, theysunmed to H 179,190 in the Vice Chancellor's and Registrar's Offices for1986-87, It is arguable that redeploying half of these funds on staffdevelopment in the academic departments would result in a larger netcontribution to the institution's mission. All in all, NUL should cutadministrative expenses by at least 202 or H 254,930, from the 1986-87 rateof expenditure. This should be accomplished 502 in one year and 1002 atthe end of two years.

Salary increases for all administrative personnel should bedetermined by assessed merit, based on regular evaluations by theiradministrative superiors, and in the case of managerial administrators, bya small group of teaching staff.

Reforms leading to greater administrative responsiveness toacademic departments are a requisite for improving the incentives facingacademic personnel. The most important reform is to promote and recruitinto high adminstrative posts only the most senior and respected academicpersonnel and, subsequently, to evaluate their performace rigorously.

There is a need for a half-time academic staff member, perhapsin statistics or economics, to coordinate the provision of data andanalytical studies. Examples of needed information include projections ofcosts under alternative assumptions about expansion of university programs;analyses of the labor markets for the type of academic staff most needed inthe futurel income aseumptions under different scenarios about governmentalrevenues and sponsor funding; likely trends in labour markets for NUL's


graduates; trends in examination pass rates; and calculations of credithour workloads and class sizes under alternative posited courserequirements and mixes of enrollments in the faculties. This person couldalso oversee tracer studies of NUL's graduates, which are much needed andcould be carried out by eAch academic department with relative economy.

Information on important issues is now being collected here ardthere in the administration. For example, staff of the student recordsunit have looked into the serious problem surrounding students who qualifyfor admission to NUL in all areas but English. The recommended informationcoordinator would bring such issues and relevant data to the attention ofthe institution's key decision-makers.

A final remark about administration. It is apparent that manyadministrators find themselves in a very difficult position when it is inthe institution's interest for them to adopt controversial policies or totake actions that would make subordinates work harder or reduce their netincome, etc. This problem results both from the personal and long-termnature of relationships in a relatively small and stable environment, and ageneral expectation on the part of many employees that their jobs entailsecurity and immunity from interventions by superiors. While there is noeasy solution to this problem, it more than any other inhibits reform.Higher level personnel can be sensitive to it and provide needed supportfor subordinate managers when they have to make difficult choices. Attimes it may be desirable, at least temporarily, to place seasonedoutsiders in managerial positions when unusually controversial actions needto be taken. Another way of dealing with the problem is to find ways ofcompensating employees when the institution takes actions that are costlyto them. For example, as suggested below in regard to maintenance andother support services, employee layoffs can be accompanied by earlypensions, lump sum payments, and low-cost leases of equipment to be used insetting up private businesses.

Maintenance and Other Suoport Services

This category is where inefficiencies are the most obvious, andwhere the largest cash savings can be made. For 1986-87 NUL's maintenanceoperation spent M 1,427.471, or 16.62 of ongoing non-capital expenditures.Not only is this sum far out of line with what it should be, but theeffectiveness of this operation is, in general, low. Other supportservices include the Hostels, Laundry, Printing, and Bookstore whosecombined expenditures were M 538,948 in 1986-87, or 6.2Z of non-capitalexpenditures. This section also deals with local transportation expenseswhich are enormous (they involve depreciation of a large fleet ofautomobiles) but difficult to estimate because their cash outlays are notbudgeted separately.

It has been suggested that one reason for not introducingreforms in maintenance and other support service units is the fact that anumber of local personnel w re displaced from the land on which NUL wasbuilt. If this is the main impediment to reform, it would be worthwhile to


identify the particular employees who fit in this category and discusspossibilities of compensation.

Many staff in Maintenance are relatively low-paid, and some maynot have alternative employment opportunities. The latter point isdebatable, however, in many cases. If parts of the maintenance operationwere closed, as recommended, the same functions would be carried out, e.g.,by private contractors, who would need personnel. Certainly in specificcases, such as the garage, employees would have no trouble whatsoeverfinding work. Hence, policies involving layoffs should not be based ongeneral conclusions about employability but on the job prospects for theparticular categories of workers involved.

Fortunately, NUL has well-funded pennion plan. The firm thatadministers this plan has tabulated for each unit within the institutionthe names of employees with their current salaries, projected retirementdates, and starting pensions. With this information, it is possible tocalculate the annual savinFs resulting from not hiring employees as theyretire. These data also permit estimates of the annual net savings fromplacing employees on early retirement. University policies permit thisaction when jobs are abolished, and the institution should experiment witha voluntary early retirement scheme. Currently, the mandatory retirementage is 65 for academic personnel and administrators in managementpositions, and age 60 for others. The institution's annual savings fromearly retirements are indicated below as the person's salary plus fringebenefits, minus the scheduled pension amount (which would be paid by NULuntil the mandatory retirement age and subsequently paid by the insurancecompany)t

Year Savings from Projected add'l Totalnot replacing savings from sav_ngsretirees early retirement

1988 31,350 15,000 46,3501989 42,310 30,000 72,3101990 52,803 45,000 97,8031991 71,753 60,000 232,7531992 117,519 75,000 192,519

Lump sum payments to early retirees are also possible and feasiblefrom the recomended sale of assets, and equipment now being used by manyemployees could be leased to them if they set up private businesses to dothe sam kinds of work.

Maintenance Office, Buildings, Electricians, and Roads. Based ona count from the June, 1S87 payroll, there are 111 employees in thiscategory. By all counts these employees are not very productive. Indeed,private contractors have been used for many of the recent maj3r grounds andother improvements. Maintenance employees should not be replaced ao theyretire whether due to reaching normal retirement age or through arecommended early retirement plan. This plan should be instituted


immediately with cash bonuses and early pensions funded by the Universityuntil paid by the insurance company at age 60. The annual savings from nothiring replacements for those who reach normal retirement age start atM31,350 in 1988 and rise to M117,519 in 1992. It should be possible tosave an additional cumulative M15,000 per year from the early retirementplan.

As the number of employees on these staffs drops, it willincreasingly be possible to employ private contractors for maintenancetasks, who presm-bly would hire some of the retiring employees underimproved incentives.

The full list of savings achievable in administration, maintenanceand other support service areas is summarized below and discussed in theparagraphs which follow:

SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDED SAVINGS IN NONTEACHING EXPENSES AT NUL(Based on rates of expenditures in 1986-87)

Unit Timing Amount (M)

Administration 1 year 127,4672 years 254,934

Maintenance office, 1 year 46,350buildings, electricians 2 years 72,310and roads 3 years 97,803

4 years 131,7535 years 192,519

Domestic Store 1 year 83,034

Garage Immediate 89,005

Vehicles Immediate 304,450

Hostels Next academic year 174,193

Laundry Next academic year 65,663

Printing 1 year 31,982

Bookstore Next academic year 31,116TOTAL 825,793

--------------------------------------------------------------- __--------

Cumulative Totals Immediate to1 year 953,2602 years 1,106,6873 years 1,132,1804 years 1,166.1305 years 1,227,130


Domestic Store. This unit needs a new facility to permit secureloading and storage, and a small computer with appropriate software. Thecombined cost of these improvements should be about M 80,000. The newfacility and computer would make it possible for a staff of five persons tomanage the unit. The annual savings from early retirement of the remainingemployees would be M 83,034. It should be possible to effect these changesin one year.

Garage. Many University units express their dissatisfaction withthe garage by purchasing vehicle repairs from other sources. Thisinefficient and ineffective operation should be closed; the funds nowspent elsewhere on vehicle repairs should more than cover repairs of anyvehicles not sold under the next recommendation. The annual cost savingswould be M 122,699 less an annual early pension benefit of M 33,694, or M89,00S. The garage equipment can be leased to employees who want to set upa private garage. These savings can be achieved immediately.

Vehicles. Usage of NUL's vehicles is a major problem andexpense. It is impossible to control personal uses of these vehicles, orto ensure that they are driven with the same care with which one ioulddrive one's own car. The only effective way to control local transportexpenses is to sell virtually all of the institutions's automobiles andreimburse employees for business use of their personal automobiles. Thereimbursement should be at an adequate rate to cover actual costs, and oneor two vehicles could be retained for documented cases where an employeedoes not have an automobile and is not able to arrange to borrow onebelonging to someone else or catch a ride with someone going to the sameplace at approximately the same time. Perhaps these vehicles could overlapwith the Land Rovers that the institution must maintain for field trips andprojects. Besides them, the only vehicles to be owned by NUL are thoseused by the Vice Chancellor, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Registrar.

The savings indicated here are illustrative. As assumption ismade that the reimbursement for documented and regularly audite4 mileage onpersonal vehicles would be half the mileage now put on the vehicles to besold. This would result in an annual savings of M 102,450. One couldargue that audited reimbursed mileage would actually be less than half themiles now driven and that the savings vould be larger. However, thisfigure gives an idea, if a conservative one, of the related savings. Inaddition, there would be annual savings in insurance of M 30,000 and indepreciation amounting to about M 172,000. (This is based on straight linedepreciation of 43 autos with an assumed five-year life and purchase costof M 20,000.) A figure for depreciation is shown instead of actual vehiclepurchase costs, because the latter costs fluctuate from year to year whiledepreciation reflects the more stable annual economic cost of using a fleetof automobiles.

The proceeds from the sale of 43 automobiles (if worth M 5,000each, this would be M 215,000) could be used to fund the capital cost ofimprovements in the maintenance stores operstions, plus provide a fund forearly retirement bonuses in all units in which positions are abolished.


NUL should not replace donated project vehicles as they wear out.

Under the above conditions, it should be possible to achieve thefollowing vehicle savings immediately:

Usage 102,450Insurance 30,000Depreciation 172,000

Total 304,450

Hostels. The University should contract out cleaning and minormaintenance of the hostels. In addition, significant savings could beachieved by requiring students to bring their own linen and pillows and paydeposits on their mattresses. It is difficult to estimate the actualsavings that would be realized, which of course can be readily determinedby advertising the job and taking bids. These savings would probably be atleast 502 of existing expenditures, and this percentage is indicated inestimated cost savings of H 261,577. However, initial early pension costsof H 87,384 (which would gradually decline over tine) are subtracted toshow a net annual saving of M 174,193, which should be achievable duringthe next academic year. Those who find work with the new contractor willhave their early pensions as well as their wages.

Laundry. There does not appear to be a justification for (1) theUniversity providing this service that can readily be supplied at lowercost by private businesses; or (2) subsidizing laundry for collegestudents. If the laundry were closed and all of its employees given earlypensions, annual savings of H 94,775, offset by an initial early pensioncost of H 29,148 (which will diminish over time) would result in a netsavings of M 65,663. The equipment in the laundry could be leased toemployees who wish to set up a private laundry. Coin machines could alsobe installed for students to use in residence halls.

Printing. According to the June 1987 payroll, there werefourteen employees in this unit. With some labor-saving equipment costingaround M 5,000, the staff costs in this unit could be cut by at least two-thirds. The equipment needed includes a stapler, binder and sorter. Theannual savings are M 53,302 less an early pension cost of M 21.320 wouldresult in a net savings of H 31,982. This savings should be achievablewithin a year.

There have been problems in the signing of leases that made itdifficult and expensive to return printing equipment which turned out to beunsatisfactory. At present, there are some costly maintenance agreementsrequiring additional funds which have not been carefully planned inadvance. All agreements involving future costs in this unit should becarefully monitored before the institution is comnitted to them.


Bookstore. The main problem here is actually the administrationof students' book allowances. Starting with the coming academic year,these allowances should not be paid in cash, but made through a bookeepingentry in the bookstore's accounts (as they once were). Any unspentbalances in these accounts at the end of each year should then reduce thestudent's loan balances with the Government. This arrangement wouldprovide students with an incentive to spend their allowances on books. Theresulting increased volume of book sales would help balance the bookstore'sbudget, producing an annual savings of M 31.116.

Serious consideration should also be given to the option ofhaving a private contractor manage the bookstore if university employeescannot balance its budget while providing qutality service. At the veryleast, bids from contractors should be reguiarly taken and the bookstorestaff should be given to understand that they must compete with thisalternative option. If the bookstore were closed, the H 31,116 annualsavings would be reduced by an annual early pension benefit of M 2,810.

The bookstore facility needs minor repairs and regular cleaningto prevent damage to books. This would be a small expense.

Potential Savings Involving Employee Benefits

A merit-based and market-oriented staff compensation policv hasalready been recommended. A worthwhile principle to follow while adoptingsuch a policy is that equally meritorious employees of the same value tothe institution. for whom the external labor market is identical, shouldreceive equivalent compensation. NUL (and many other institutions) nowviolate this principle by providing in-kind benefits and cash allowancesrather arbitrarily, according to non-merit related characteristics such asschool-age children and longevity. It may be possible to reallocate thesevery costly benefits in such a way as to improve the institution'scapability to attract and retain the most desired academic staff.

The University should investigate how to maintain the tax-freestatus of in-kind benefits such as housing when they are allocated as aspecified part of total compensation which the institution wants to pay anindividual according to merit, its needs, and the labor market. However,even if in the unlikely event the tax-free status of in-kind benefits werelost, and hence the cash incomes of those receiving them had to be raised,the benefit of rationalizing the iistitution's compensation system towardsthe desirable criteria would be worthwhile.

The following changes are proposed:

Educational Allowances. This benefit arbitrarily allocatesfunds to staff with school-age children, rather than according to thecriteria which should determine compensation. These allowances should beeliminated, both to save the M 42,433 expenditure and to head off aproposal to broaden educational allowances to all employees which couldcost upwards of M 450,000 in 1988-89. This proposal has been made inconnectien with another proposal for full cost fees in the primary school.


The indicated savings should be achievable within two years afterexpatriates' contracts can be underwritten.

Primary School. In 1986-87, NUL's subsidy to this unit was M117,886. The restlting below-cost charge; for staff children provide anarbitrary benefit to particular employees, regardless of their merit, etc.Fees should be raised to eliminate this subsidy. However, the governmentshould provide equivalent per-student amounts to the primary school asprovided on average to other primary schools. This change could be phasedin over two years.

Staff Housing. Until NUL develops a housing benefit policyconsistent with a fully merit and market-oriented compensation system, theinstitution should move to equalize the benefits of those who do and do notreceive staff housing. It is recommended that rents be raised from thecurrent 3Z of estimated market rental value to 102. Presently, the averagemonthly rent now charged 'or NUL's housing units is a token M 14.89, andthe proposed increase to H49.66, while still a token rental, would produceH 83,439 in revenues. This change can be immediate.

In addition, the usage of housing should be closely audited.Anyone subletting a house without permission should lose the housingbenefit, and rents from permitted sublets should, of course, be paid to theUniversity.

The only justification for commuting allowances is that theytend to equalize benefits for those not receiving housing with the housingbenefit for others. The same can be said for the home purchase loan schemeunderwritten by the University.

Maintenance and Staff Housing. Presently, tenants do not payfor repairs to their houses, and replacements of furniture and appliancesare provided gratis by the University. As a result, service is slow andpoor, furniture and appliances are infrequently replaced, and when they arereplaced they usually lack the desired characteristics. It is recommendedthat tenants of University houses be responsible for minor repairs and forreplacing furniture and appliances a. desired. The approximate annualsavings would be H 75.000 (this cannot be estimated accurately because itis not a separate item in the institution's accounts.) Because of theamount and quality of service now received by tenants, it is doubtful thatthey would be much worse off. This change should be made effectiveimuediately.

Passages. Expatriate staff contracts require economy airfaresinstead of excursion and APZX tickets. As they expire, the new contractsshould not specify the types of tickets to be supplied, and i: everyinstance possible, APEX and excursion tickets should be provided. Aconservative estimate of annual savings is 201, or M 51,489. These savingsshould be achievable within two years.

Annex V

Table 2: Enrcllment at the Lesotho National Teacher Training Colleseby Course (1975-1986)

All Percent ChangeYear PH PTC STC APTC STTC Courses on Previous Year

(2)1975 191 113 14 27 - 345 -10.2

1976 68 166 37 107 - 378 9.6

1977 - 368 80 223 - 671 77.5

1978 - 509 98 228 - 835 24.4

1979 - 560 50 212 - 822 -1.6

1980 - 620 81 193 - 894 8.8

1981 - 683 93 218 10 1004 12.3

1982 - 755 123 240 18 1136 13.1

1983 - 688 120 232 30 1070 -5.8

1984 - 613 99 226 249 958 -10.5

1985 - 564 93 249 924 -3.5

1986 - 599 101 38? .7 1109 20.0

PTC i Primary Teacher CertificateAPTC: Advanced Primary Teacher CertificateSTC : Secondary Teacher CertificateSTTC: Secondary Technical Teacher Certificate

SOURCE: MDE Stati.tics, 1987

LESOTHO\ANNEX5-2.SIA

ANNEX V

Table 1: Enrollment in TechnicaljVocational School. by Course1975-1966

COURSE 1975 1 97 1977 19?7 9 19 0 1961 1962 198 1944 19 6 1986

Agriculture - - - - t7 45 - 14 6 3 - -

Architecture - - - - 17 18 12 6

Basle Electronice - 17 9 54 17 9 9 6 10 I 10 20

Bricklaying 82 90 5C 6S 71 117 97 62 110 17 90 210

Carpentry & Joinery 62 51 C 87 so 65 IS 115 I1 6 1183 S5

Civil Enineerlng - - - - - - - - x1 19 41 40

Co i_rcil Studies - - 24 24 82 140 167 116 117 119 190

El e. Engineering - - - - - - - - 17 11 17 26

Elec. Inetalletion 19 18 22 28 28 84 44 22 54 29 38 68

Fitting A Turning - - - 59 46 48 48 39 32 21 80 24

Now Econoole co 55 478 458 467 569 544 684 458 387 474 609 55l

Leth-r Works 10 12 11 10 6 7 a 18 21 11 18 9

Masonry - - - - - - - - - - 17 17

Moch. Engineering - - _ _ _ _ _ 14 17 26 23

Motor Mechnice 27 46 76 e9 127 148 145 172 144 11 148 121

Panel Beating - - - - - - - - 14 10 12 13

Plumbing - 19 28 28 2S 82 82 28 26 25 27 26

Seeing A Dress aking - 22 - - - - - - 14 14 15 15

Spinning & Weaving - 23 85 46 - - - - - - - -

Tailoring - - - - - - - - 18 18 15 1J

Techniclon Training 82 62 69 - - 52 52 - 65 - -

Upholstery - - - - - - - - - - 4 8

TOTAL 527 885 051 CO6 1140 1288 1884 OI 1191 1160 1268 1485

SOURCE: MOE Statistics, 1967

LESOTHO\ANNEXS-1 .SRA

I

Chart,_1

till11 II iihi iIi ~~~~~~~~~~|SSug11l

LESOTHOEDUCATION SECTOR REPORT

T llOFG" Educa*o Syiom, 19iAP a a 9 10 1t 12 13 14 Is 10 7 is Is le 20 20 22 a

it a a 1 1 1 1 i I I I I I i i i i i a i

1 2 S 4 6 a 7 0 9 t0 It 12 1S 13 14 is iS is 17 Is

POSY PFRAMARPRIMARY (VOCATIONAL) TECHINA POST SECONDARY

II '- JR.EOOtA p11 FlE01 5J4 OIlMEA N

IIRhbmdbM LmbsmUIMI ~ ~ ~ JF GGONM O SCONAR

lo I

Is toPM

ACli 0.-. TCe "Wom-n

TowlaCugh T t.C. Is

SOlO Lm Suedo i P M nOlO Fern. Tih Ol. _{

OUW: EMsby Ft E PON b LEw _i

APTC P_tk*L PA Cm1_ M_ F_43Sls

LAC L* ot _ S_C T

tacm * t c_v _< ;z^

9 1 Ai{1 P tcm%49

LESOTHOEDUCATION SECTOR REPORT

Eduson PYMm_, IM1

ET 'ri 21 i3 I: istE TIS 20 13 as 13I

T ~~~~750 IAtes p-deR 14 11 2 4. 54 1JS

A I13 . 14 37 5 14_

8E 12 17 14 1 1U is

o - -1 0 2 2 5_

5 10 Is I | ,1" S 10 _

A -_ 1 141 01 10 4. |7v- i 3 17 4sm n r H t

I7 t2 t7 I S419 sIlo is 13 o1 lo t s 4

t _A 4 9 20i 142,010 10C4%4 139 _12AM 177,tto 2 .

R 3 0 20 27L 2SD

Y 22 3 a 9 | 3k- t - -

40.000 30.000 2Mm000 10WO00 0 10,00P 2000 30.000 40.000I'kw of Shadbf

NdM : (a) Fo sure r abolWpopudnm - I bmne oo ce s 1976.(b) Eavclmewhi for dl gr.de hickds ova shWade..(C) Grades S #waauh 13 khidudserleU hI Iger mrd .adoI caurs, beodw Oadnig cauesmi vocela rndasai c,tui course.(d) Shadedskhdv died at a 1leiy Wevel - not udd ow

_ ... .. . _ ......... .. __

Documents

Kingdom of Lesotho Improving Quality and Efficiency in Education…documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/256001468265773988/... · 2016-07-11 · Improving Quality and Efficiency in