Africa-Press – Lesotho. The Ministry of Development Planning through the National Manpower Development Secretariat (NMDS) has suspended its policy that requires students to repay 50% of the Loan Bursary Fund (LBF) before they are awarded
another scholarship to further their studies. This was revealed by the Minister of Development Planning Hon. Selibe Mochoboroane in a press conference
yesterday. In his statement, Hon. Mochoboroane indicated that the objective of suspending the 50% repayment of loans is to enable access to bursaries for Basotho students in financial need
to upskill their education from unemployable degrees to skills developing postgraduate studies. Hon. Mochoboroane also showed that the need to suspend the 50% repayment is inspired by the requirement to
achieve the National Strategic Development Plan II Key Performance Area II of strengthening human capital to support the productive sectors with the aim of
job creation and inclusive economic growth. “The suspension of the loan bursary repayment requirement before one can be provided the next loan bursary can go a long way to ease unemployment however it will become
unsustainable and futile if provided to every bursary seeking student. The suspension can only be afforded under a rationalized approach. It is important
to provide assistance to Basotho students with absolute financial need intending to pursue programmes identified as priorities in the NSDP II,” Mochoboroane
said. He concluded by acknowledging #BachaShutDown Movement which had a great impact on this decision. On behalf of #BachaShutDown Movement, Lekhooa Letsatsi thanked the ministry for hearing them out as the
youth. He said this move would pose a minus one on the list of the things they had requested the government to undertake. Letsatsi further signposted that
since they have won the bursary battle, they hope implementation will follow. On November 6 2020 #Bachashutdown marched to Parliament to hand a petition which detailed issues
around youth unemployment, NMDS reforms and gender based violence bill among others. NMDS is a department under the Ministry of Development Planning, mandated – through the National Manpower
Development Council Act of 1978 – to provide loan bursaries to deserving Basotho students wishing to pursue higher education and training. The NMDS specifically administers partially reimbursable loan bursaries on behalf of the Government of Lesotho for students pursuing priority fields of study at Tertiary and Vocational schools locally, regionally and internationally.
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