The following blog post was written on the evening of 8th July. Due to technological restrictions it was posted at a later date.
In recent years, primary school has been made free in Lesotho. For this reason, there are large numbers of students in primary school.
Primary school: 400,000 students
Secondary school: 80,000 students
Today we visited the Lesotho College of Education, where teacher training in Lesotho occurs. This College is separate from the University, which is different from the U.S.
Lesotho faces a huge teacher shortage, due to the increase in the number of students when primary schools (until grade 7) became free and due to the number of teachers who have died due to the AIDS pandemic. Therefore, the Lesotho College of Education has two different types of programs for people interested in becoming certified teachers.
First: a traditional program for students interested in attending school full time. The program lasts for 3 years; the second year is spent in the classroom doing students teaching activities. Individuals can choose the primary school program or the secondary school program. Primary school teachers are required to be able to teach all subjects, up to the 7th grade level. Secondary school teachers are required to choose any two subjects to focus on.
Second: this program is only for primary school teachers, since there is a much greater need for them. If a teacher is already teaching full-time, without a certificate, they can participate in the 4 year part-time program that allows them to continue teaching and pursue a certificate at the same time by participating in classes two weeks each semester.
Since Lesotho places such a high emphasis on education (education is almost never free in under-developed countries), it is not surprising that scholarships are also available for individuals who want to become teachers.
In addition, the government of Japan has just built the College of Education an amazing new science building, complete with labs, as part of a humanitarian presence to promote education in Lesotho.
In recent years, primary school has been made free in Lesotho. For this reason, there are large numbers of students in primary school.
Primary school: 400,000 students
Secondary school: 80,000 students
Today we visited the Lesotho College of Education, where teacher training in Lesotho occurs. This College is separate from the University, which is different from the U.S.
Lesotho faces a huge teacher shortage, due to the increase in the number of students when primary schools (until grade 7) became free and due to the number of teachers who have died due to the AIDS pandemic. Therefore, the Lesotho College of Education has two different types of programs for people interested in becoming certified teachers.
First: a traditional program for students interested in attending school full time. The program lasts for 3 years; the second year is spent in the classroom doing students teaching activities. Individuals can choose the primary school program or the secondary school program. Primary school teachers are required to be able to teach all subjects, up to the 7th grade level. Secondary school teachers are required to choose any two subjects to focus on.
Second: this program is only for primary school teachers, since there is a much greater need for them. If a teacher is already teaching full-time, without a certificate, they can participate in the 4 year part-time program that allows them to continue teaching and pursue a certificate at the same time by participating in classes two weeks each semester.
Since Lesotho places such a high emphasis on education (education is almost never free in under-developed countries), it is not surprising that scholarships are also available for individuals who want to become teachers.
In addition, the government of Japan has just built the College of Education an amazing new science building, complete with labs, as part of a humanitarian presence to promote education in Lesotho.
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