Using the Social Closure Theory by Parkin (1979), the art icle art iculates social closure tendencies in Lesotho. It concentrates on the two main tenets of the theory which are exclusion and usurpation. The article looks at these forms in the realm of education, politics, religion, ethnicity and other social format ions such as labour movements in Lesotho. It attempts to show how these forms of social closure manifest themselves in these public spheres of life in Lesotho. It also argues that social closure does not only happen in institutions but even amongst individual group members themselves. In addition, social closure is not treated as a static process but a dynamic process which also has elements of power relat ions and ideology as well.
The concept of assessment is one of the most important practices in any education system across the globe. Tracing the concept probably to the time immemorial through the Chinese Imperial Examination System in the fifteenth century, the notion of assessment seems to have proved to be one of the indispensable markers of selection, placement and certification in modern education. In order to understand the concept, it is crucial to focus, among others, on the education system within which the notion itself is situated. As a crucial aspect of any education system, assessment is such that learners, at almost all levels of education, are subjected to a certain conventional practice with a view to categorising them according to certain pre-determined achievements. Perhaps, to examine the concept, we shall address ourselves to some of the specific questions as in who assesses whom? What form of assessment? How and why is such an assessment? On what premise is such educational assessment of learners in a particular education system? The paper intended to critically trace assessment in the context of Lesotho. Drawing on Michel Foucault's concept of subjectification, the paper intends to demonstrate the instrumentality of assessment as used in schools in the Kingdom. The paper concludes by suggesting alternative models of assessment so as to keep abreast with the twenty first century challenges facing modern education system.
To a certain extent, many curriculum reforms that have been introduced in Lesotho schools have been unsuccessful. Teachers’ preparedness to implement these reforms has been the major factor for the failures. Involving teacher education providers in the preparation of teacher preparedness could improve the success rate of these school reforms. Therefore, understanding how education educators prepare teachers for curriculum reforms could assist to understand why school teachers often appear to be ill-prepared for curriculum reforms. Accordingly, this paper investigated the views of six teacher educators about their role in the preparation of teachers for curriculum reforms in Lesotho schools. A questionnaire was used to collect data that were analysed thematically. The results obtained indicate that: teacher educators are involved in a limited way in Lesotho curriculum reforms; and they have limited knowledge about the current reforms. As a result, their training practices do not target to prepare teachers for the reforms introduced in schools. This explains why many studies have found teachers to be ill-prepared for any curriculum reforms in Lesotho. These findings raise awareness on the issue that teacher educators should be involved in the reforms in Lesotho. Therefore, the main recommendation of this study is to engage teacher education providers so as to make the reforms successful.
The paper is based on a study undertaken in 2015
This paper is based on a study that was conducted in March 2009 aimed at assessing the impact of alternative livelihoods programme on the social and economic lives of Ha Mothae residents. A case study approach was used and a purposeful sampling technique was used in selecting respondents, while data were analyzed qualitatively. The findings indicated that the programme has benefited most of the respondents despite the problems they encountered at its implementation stage. Also that it has had relative impact on the social and economic lives of the recipients. Therefore, it is recommended that the programme should be introduced and implemented in other parts of the country to reduce the problem of alcohol dependence, and that it should be government funded.
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