LHDA continues to finance education for learners in Mokhotlong

As a long-time sponsor of the Kobeli Business Services Annual Academic and Leadership Awards at St James High School in Mokhotlong, we have once again this year committed to pay fees for students at St. James to value of M10,000.

We have reaffirmed our commitment to support this noble cause at the 18th Awards ceremony held at St James High School on 06th May where the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and a former teacher at the school, Honourable Limpho Tau was a guest of honour.

The principal of the school, Mrs Matalasi when speaking at the event confirmed that many of the learners who would have dropped out of school due to lack of school fees, stayed and completed their studies through the support of Kobeli Business Services and its partners. This is because many initiatives that support education have traditionally targeted orphaned children while leaving out other learners whose economic and social status also leaves them vulnerable.

The Minister encouraged Basotho to heed Ntate Kobeli, the sponsors and St James alumni’s example in supporting the government’s efforts to build strong support systems in schools and ensure that all children have access to education.

The founder of the initiative, a renowned businessman in Lesotho Mr Teboho Kobeli in his remarks at the event appreciated the contribution of the sponsors for supporting the initiative which is intended to empower children for and elevate their chance at a better life. He stated that the advent of COVID-19 and its effects on the economy made it difficult for these kind of initiatives to be sustained. He expressed his gratitude to the sponsors for continuing to pay school fees for vulnerable children and awarding excellent performance amidst the economic challenges.

Over and above annual monetary contributions for paying fees and awards for school going children, the LHDA sponsors awards, scholarships for undergraduates and internship programmes for young professionals, all of which are aimed at ensuring a sustainable pipeline of skills and transfer of skills not just for the benefit of the LHWP but for Lesotho as a whole.

Beyond education, the LHDA invests in interventions to empower young people to prepare for and respond to continuous and urgent threats to their health, under comprehensive public health, livelihoods, and Integrated Catchment Management programmes. These interventions include the food diversification project which targets schools, households, and clubs to improve nutrition, food security and promote alternative livelihoods. The programme distributes fruit trees and vegetable seeds to these groups and provide capacity building in among others, smart agriculture and market orientated production. The project addresses chronic malnutrition and food insecurity in the project area; these are some Mokhotlong’s most pressing areas of challenge and priority.

Seventeen students who have demonstrated excellence in their academic performance in the 2022 Lesotho General Certificate for Secondary Education (LGCSE)?examinations were presented with awards and showered with gifts. Learners in the lower grades were motivated by the outgoing learners, the Principal Chief of Mokhotlong, the District Administrator, the LHDA and other sponsors, as well as school alumni many of whom are now renowned professionals holding key positions in government and the private sector.