Africa-Press – Lesotho. LesothoScience and Mathematics Teachers Association (LSMTA) awarded 74 Learners who sat for Lesotho General Certificate of Secondary Education (LGCSE) examination
and obtained A* in Science and Mathematics subjects for the year 2019 and 2020. This awards ceremony was held on Friday. LSMTA Public Relations Officer
Keketso Leteba said the awards giving initiative was introduced in 2019 with a core mandate to promote and motivate higher grades in Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects in Lesotho. He added that 2019 learners were supposed to have been awarded in 2020 but the awarding had to be
postponed due to Covid-19 impact which led to closure of schools and prohibition of gatherings hence they combined them with the 2020 learners. He emphasized that they
awarded 74 learners from their member schools in different districts, being 27 girls and 47 boys and this shows that they still have a lot of work to do “to
empower women in science”. “Also, there are 6 learners who won the international robotic competitions 2021 who will be awarded today,” he said. LSMTA President Bobby Justice Mapheko
said they are proud as science and mathematics teachers that their dream has become a reality. He added that the current curriculum is rich and exceptional but all
necessary ingredients are missing, “No more teachers’ capacity building, motivation is doomed for both learners and teachers and accessibility of resources is a hassle”. “My humble plea is for everyone to take it upon his or her
shoulders to bring a change in the performance of mathematics,” he said. He noted that if the Ministries could assist LSMTA to carry out its objectives and goals, the country’s economy can be far
within a short period of time and they have shown in various incidents that LSMTA is full of talent that is enough to make a change. One of the student awardees, from
Leribe English Medium School, Keketso Tolo said they are a group that wrote their exams during a very difficult time of Covid-19 pandemic and could not
perform well like other students. “Imagine being home all year long and not attending classes while at the end of the year we are expected to sit for our
final exams, that was quite stressful period for us. Having 74 students who will be receiving their awards today for performing well is truly an accomplishment,” he said.
The Minister of Communications, Science and Technology Hon. Tsoinyane Samuel Rapapa said they work closely with the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) to promote science engineering,
technology and innovation. “We are very thankful for the minds and hearts that thought about this motivating and inspiring event, where we jointly cheer the
students for the work well done. We strongly believe that science generates jobs, therefore, if you can double your efforts in Maths and science subjects,
it is expected that you will help the country to create more jobs because this is a very big challenge to the government. So we want to take part in congratulating learners that have done well in mathematics and science,” he
said. Rapapa highlighted that the world has moved into becoming a village due to the use of science, saying science and technology simplify life, therefore they need to invest a lot in inspiring and motivating
their learners to be innovators. He said research shows that inventors mostly come from least affording backgrounds and he, therefore, foresees LSMTA achieving exceptional contributions towards innovation and creativity. He then congratulated all the students who received awards.
