{"id":22304,"date":"2022-12-02T09:00:57","date_gmt":"2022-12-02T09:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/the-high-cost-of-school-drop-outs"},"modified":"2022-12-02T09:49:47","modified_gmt":"2022-12-02T09:49:47","slug":"the-high-cost-of-school-drop-outs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/the-high-cost-of-school-drop-outs","title":{"rendered":"The high cost of school drop-outs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>MATS\u030cEPANG Sello has gone for 14 months without a salary and life is spiraling into a struggle since she lost her job at one of Lesotho\u2019s biggest textile factories last year.<\/p>\n

The firm, C&Y Garments, shut shop due to a Covid-19 induced economic downturn, sending home hundreds of workers because it could no longer afford to pay them.<\/p>\n

To survive, Sello does piece jobs. \u201cBut that is hardly enough to take care of my three children,\u201d said Sello. Sello\u2019s daughter dropped out of Lesia High School in Grade Eight because she couldn\u2019t afford to pay fees for two children.<\/p>\n

Her other child is in Grade 12. \u201cI couldn\u2019t afford to pay for both of them. It broke my heart to withdraw my child from school because of my financial struggles. I failed her and this broke her too as she badly wanted to go to school,\u201d Sello said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gets tough every day and she wants to go back to school next year and by the look of things, I am not sure if she will return because I am still unemployed but I am already worried about their Christmas clothes.
\nAs the country battles to recover from the devastation of Covid-19, many children who dropped out of school are still in dire straits, with little hope that they will return to class anytime soon.<\/p>\n

Reasons for dropping out school vary, ranging from the effects of Covid-19 to fascination with initiation schools. \u2019Matebello Mphoto, 67, is another heartbroken person.<\/p>\n

Her 17-year-old grandson abandoned his Grade Eight studied at Masianokeng High School in July to join initiation school. \u201cWe fetched him twice and for the third time, he said he would go very far to ensure that we don\u2019t reach him,\u201d \u2019Matebello said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat he did to us was very painful as he was sponsored by Social Welfare. He ruined his chances.<\/p>\n

Hele! haeba ha ke a shoa ke high-blood (I almost died of high blood pressure),\u201d she said. She said her grandson succumbed to peer pressure as his friends were already out of school.<\/p>\n

Other children simply lost interest in school, leaving their parents and guardians baffled. Motlalepula Mokhele is one such disappointed guardian. His three nephews dropped out of school saying they \u201cdon\u2019t want school anymore\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mokhele said Covid-19 forced the 11, 13 and 16-year-olds to spend time on the streets following school closures in 2020. \u201cThey said they are used to making money and that they would not waste their time with school.<\/p>\n

We tried to get them back in schools multiple times but failed as we were informed that they bunked classes,\u201d Mokhele said. Masianokeng High School Principal, \u2019Mapesha Lehohla, said the school lost close to 100 students in 2019 due to a teachers\u2019 strike.<\/p>\n

Some dropped out because of lack of school fees while others were pregnant. This year, 44 of the school\u2019s 355 students did not return to school after winter recess because they could not raise the required school fees.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince 2019 some children lost interest in education and parents are too busy or stressed to check their children\u2019s school progress,\u201d Lehohla said.<\/p>\n

She said many parents said they do not have money to pay school fees and \u201cwe end up negotiating ways of payment\u201d. She said fees paid by the Social Development Ministry do not cover the children\u2019s daily educational needs.<\/p>\n

The Principal of St James High School in Mokhotlong, \u2019Masetho Matalasi, said the Covid-19 outbreak had a devastating impact on children\u2019s education. \u201cMany children dropped out of school, some went to Durban to seek jobs.
\n. they have lost interest in education,\u201d said Matalasi, adding that initiation schools are also a cause of many dropouts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was getting better before initiation. Yearly, we lose children to initiation school and luckily some still come back after initiation,\u201d Matalasi said. She said lack of school fees is another contributing factor causing students to drop out \u201cbut we try as much as we can to keep them at school\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still have students who owe first quarter fees because their parents are unemployed and some even wrote their exams without paying even a cent,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe keep them as long as they are able to pay the exam fees. We really don\u2019t expel them,\u201d she said, adding that \u201cit is evident that some parents and caregivers are struggling to make ends meet\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said children along with their parents have to be constantly reminded about the importance of education. However, she said delays by parents to pay fees adversely affects the operations of the school, particularly the school feeding programme.<\/p>\n

Lesia High School Principal, Mathafeng Moteuli, who is also the Lesotho Principals Association\u2019s president, said dropouts are a common phenomenon in schools due to lack of finances because many parents have lost their jobs.<\/p>\n

He said many parents left their children behind while they went out of the country to seek jobs. \u201cThis year we lost even those who were supposed to write their final examinations,\u201d Moteuli said.<\/p>\n

\u201cInitiation schools made things worse for us as some of the pupils wrote just one subject and left for initiation. I really don\u2019t understand how they make such decisions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Moteuli said some children have lost interest in education, revealing that they had three cases of children whose parents paid exam fees but the children refused to write.<\/p>\n

He said to retain students in schools, authorities are planning to talk to parents through counselling because \u201cparents are going through a lot as it is\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to identify their problems and ways in which we can overcome them.
\nHe said they are also planning to have an exchange programme with the Lesotho Correctional Service (LCS) to raise awareness about children who end up in juvenile training centres.<\/p>\n

St James High School (Maseru) Principal, Thato Koeete, said although the money issue is not publicly discussed, \u201cit is a major cause to why we lose children\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am wondering whether our students will return back next year now that some factories are shutting down. Parents are struggling and children are suffering,\u201d Koeete said.<\/p>\n

She said parents should be capacitated to start small businesses, adding that the school loses about 20 students every year. \u201cMost fail to return to school in the second quarter,\u201d said Koeete.<\/p>\n

Basic Education Principal Secretary, Dr Lira Khama, said the ministry has several strategies in place to reduce high costs of education at secondary school level.<\/p>\n

He said the government meets parents\u2019 half-way to provide books through the book centre scheme. He also said vulnerable pupils receive sponsorship. \u201cOurs is inclusive education.<\/p>\n

Paying at secondary level affects a lot of children negatively and it is evident that our operation on its own is wrong,\u201d Dr Khama said. He said there are over 1 400 primary schools countrywide and only 300 secondary schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt shows that there are many children who never proceed to secondary school after completing their primary,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question is where do they go because primary education is not enough to empower them with enough information to survive? Besides that, they are still too young and have to be enrolled in school until they finish at least secondary level,\u201d said Dr Khama.<\/p>\n

He said the ministry released a circular after realising that some children were expelled from school due to hyphenate of fees. The circular is to make principals and parents aware that \u201cit is not in the best interest of a child to drop out of school because of school fees\u201d.<\/p>\n

He urged parents to prioritise their responsibilities, while schools should collaborate with parents to find other ways to help affected children. \u201cA child shouldn\u2019t be expelled because of unpaid fees. School fees isn\u2019t a child\u2019s responsibility but a parent\u2019s,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Social Development\u2019s Director of Planning, \u2019Mankhatho Linko, said the department will jointly embark on a basic education strengthening project with the Education Ministry by offering top-up grants worth M1 500.<\/p>\n

The grants will be paid twice a year \u2013 M1 000 at the beginning of the year and M500 in the middle of the year for 9 000 students. The grants are for orphaned and vulnerable beneficiaries in Grade Eight and Nine and will start next year.<\/p>\n

She said the World Bank is funding the three components at a cost of US$7.5 million (approximately M129 million). These are helping children to return back to school, training teachers in schools where children underperform in Maths and science, and the formation of youth clubs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe majority of such children are from the mountainous regions, which indicates that they are children from poor families, who are already being helped by the ministry with Child Grants Programme.
\nSocial Development Principal Secretary, \u2019Mants\u030cenki Mphalane, said although poverty seems to be the main factor behind school drop-outs, there are other issues causing the lack of enthusiasm for school.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main issue seems to be the need for work for parents, low income for parents to send children to school, child labour, and other customs and practices such as initiation schools,\u201d Mphalane said. Meanwhile, the 10th Parliament dissolved before the proposed Initiation Bill could be enacted into law.<\/p>\n

During public consultations in June 2022, the MP for Teele constituency, Mothepu Mahapa, said the proposed Bill on initiation prescribes 18 years as the minimum age for initiation for both males and females.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is to ensure that children do not drop out of formal schools and go for initiation like what has happened in the past,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cChildren should stay in schools and access quality education as stated in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4,\u201d Mahapa, former deputy education minister, said.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. MATS\u030cEPANG Sello has gone for 14 months without a salary and life is spiraling into a struggle since she lost her job at one of Lesotho\u2019s biggest textile factories last year. The firm, C&Y Garments, shut shop due to a Covid-19 induced economic downturn, sending home hundreds of workers because it could […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":22302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,7],"tags":[233,246,415,245],"class_list":["post-22304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","category-head-lines","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-economic","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"\nThe high cost of school drop-outs - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"MATS\u030cEPANG Sello has gone for 14 months without a salary and life is spiraling into a struggle since she lost her job at ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/the-high-cost-of-school-drop-outs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The high cost of school drop-outs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MATS\u030cEPANG Sello has gone for 14 months without a salary and life is spiraling into a struggle since she lost her job at ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/the-high-cost-of-school-drop-outs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-02T09:00:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-02T09:49:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2022\/12\/postQueueImg_1669959211.54.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/the-high-cost-of-school-drop-outs#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/the-high-cost-of-school-drop-outs\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"The high cost of school drop-outs\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-02T09:00:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-02T09:49:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/the-high-cost-of-school-drop-outs\"},\"wordCount\":1625,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/the-high-cost-of-school-drop-outs#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2022\/12\/postQueueImg_1669959211.54.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"economic\",\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\",\"head lines\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/the-high-cost-of-school-drop-outs#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/the-high-cost-of-school-drop-outs\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/the-high-cost-of-school-drop-outs\",\"name\":\"The high cost of school drop-outs - 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