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June 20, 2019

KABELO MASOABI

3 min read

NUL risks losing lecturers

NUL risks losing lecturers

Due to a steep cut down on subvention funding from the government, the National University of Lesotho (NUL) faces the risk of losing some of its key lecturers, the former Vice Chancellor Professor Nqo

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Due to a steep cut down on subvention funding from the government, the National University of Lesotho (NUL) faces the risk of losing some of its key lecturers, the former Vice Chancellor Professor Nqosa Mahao has warned.

According to Mahao, the funds to cover the institution’s operations have dramatically dropped from M132million in 2008 to M78million in this year’s budget allocation. He said the university faces a possible shutdown as it would not be able to pay salaries of lecturers in about five months coming, thus forcing the lecturers to prepare for the worse scenario – relocating to other institutions.
“Higher education institutions like NUL utilise intellectuals of scarce skills to lecture in accordance with the institution’s accredited programmes and these are people who are certain that they will get jobs in other universities should they choose to leave  NUL, with most Doctors already ogling the University of Swaziland whose subvention is around M360million for this year, taking into consideration its students’ enrolment that stands two thirds below NUL,” he showed.

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The insufficient subvention, he said, would among other hiccups subject the institution to failing to purchase chemicals used in laboratories, that are imported from Britain and the United States of America. “You can imagine the high cost of such products paid in both dollars and pounds against the loti which is currently very low. Not counting out the state of inflation and the struggling economy of Lesotho. This situation is going to negatively affect the facilitation of education in general and may lead to a total shutdown of the institution,” he added.

Mahao who joined NUL in 2014, further listed the Lesotho College of Education, Lerotholi Polytechnic and Centre for Accounting Studies among the institutions also facing the same financial crisis. “Obviously, higher education has not been a priority for governments that have ruled since 2008,” he also said.

However, speaking on a local radio last week, Principal Secretary for the Ministry of Education and Training (for Higher Education) Dr Thabiso Lebese said: “When we looked at our budget allocation in the previous year we saw our ‘ budget ceiling’ forcing us to cut down 30% of operation costs budget out of the allocated M385 million for the higher education institutions. This amount has been decreased from M440million in 2018.”

Lebese said all higher institutions of learning need a total annual operation budget of M285 million with another M230 million budget to feed pupils in primary schools and the monies exclude the cost of executing daily operations of the ministry in all the 10 districts of Lesotho. “Evidently these amounts already exceed our current annual operation cost budget, hence a supplementary budget reallocation is needed. We shall propose it before Parliament in October when the sitting of such discussions is opened,” he said.

Lebese noted it was not the first time that institutions face the prevailing challenge, adding that last year, NUL could not survive on the M99million it was allocated and the government had to give it an additional supplementary budget of M15million. “It was a quick fix but what is essential is for all relevant stakeholders to draft a policy for a very clear permanent funding model because the situation is getting worse each year,” he said.

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