NUL admitted more students than could be funded

The current scholarship problem in the country was the result of more students being admitted into the bridging programme of the National University of Lesotho (NUL) that the National Manpower Development Secretariat, the scholarships arm of the Ministry of Finance, had budgeted for, the Minister of Finance and Development Planning Dr. Timothy Thahane has said.

Speaking at a forum organised by the Lesotho Council of Non-Governmental Organisations to clarify the recently introduced scholarship priorities on November 27, the Minister said a total of 951 students were enrolled in the bridging programme this July, doubling the number of students that NMDS had budgeted for. IN previous years there had not been any problems with the bridging programme, he said.

With the increased numbers, it was decided that an initial 200 students would be admitted and that priority  would be given to those who met the criteria set by the NMDS. It was impossible for all students in the programme to be sponsored.

Most of those who qualified were admitted. The NUL has an enrolment of 1 025 first year students this year,  regarded as quite  high figure compared to previous enrolments, the Minister said.

Dr. Thahane said even this financial year, the NMDS is still expected to overspend and that the M195 million  budgeted for is expected to increase to over M200 million, forcing the Ministry to seek outside assistance. 

"NUL has increased tuition, as has several other institutions of higher learning in the country, impacting on the budget" he said.

There will also be no new scholarships for students studying in the South African universities until the current problem has been resolved, Dr Thahane announced, admitting that this has been a difficult year that led to his
making drastic decisions about enrolment in institutions of  higher learning. 

This issue is a challenge to all Basotho and instead of people sitting back and criticizing, they should come up with concrete solutions so as to realize one of the major vision 2020 goals, developing the country's human resource base through training.

The President of the Lesotho University Teachers and Researchers Union (LUTARU) Dr. Francis Makoa agreed that the current situation is serious, especially with the increased number of enrolled students and higher fees.

Dr Makoa said even though government implements policies, service delivery can best be done by NGOs. He therefore called on NGOs to assist government in coming up with solutions to the scholarship problem. There were various solutions one could up with, but it is up to the community to put forward their solutions for consideration, so that the problem does not repeat itself in coming years.

The forum, "enhancing human resource development through training", was the last of several  organized by the Lesotho Council of Non Governmental Organizations  during the annual NGO Week, now in its fourth year. 

28 November 2003