Preparations for the establishment of the second University in the country are proceeding well and the final decision will be announced in due course.

This was disclosed by to the Community Development Manager for Smart Partnership Hub, Mrs. 'Mathato Makwate. She said the establishment of another university in Lesotho, follows the Langkawi International Smart Partnership Dialogue held in Malaysia in August this year.

The idea as she mentioned, resulted from the network that local participants created with representatives from the University of Creative Technology in Limkonkwing.

To enhance the idea, a four-man delegation from Malaysia recently visited the country and met officials from different government ministries to discuss the matter.

During the negotiations, she said, the delegation expressed hope to have the university up and running by July 2008, and that it will start with six faculties that includes the Faculty of Creative Multimedia, Television and Broadcasting, Faculty of Design and Innovation, Faculty of Entrepreneurship and Business Leadership, Faculty of Advertising , Branding and Marketing, Faculty of Creativity in Tourism, Hospitality and Event management and that of Information and Communication Technology, Accountancy and Management.

And the courses to be offered will be at the Diploma, Degree and Post-graduate levels.

It is projected that while preparations are being made for construction of the university building, the existing structures like that of the Extra Mural Studies (IEMS) and Lesotho Opportunities Industrialisation Centre (LOIC) could be used as an alternative, she noted.

"If the establishment of this campus becomes a success, it will hopefully produce a skilled human resource to turn Lesotho into a knowledge based country", Mrs. Makwate commented, adding that the onus is on the parties involved to make necessary arrangement to ensure that it does become a success.

Meanwhile, to speed up the process, the President of Limkonkwing is expected to visit the country before the end of this year to enhance negotiations.

Source: LENA 06/11/2007