Perspective Chapter: Lessons from Implementing a Higher Education Program in Lesotho

Abstract

Recent developments in the Lesotho higher education landscape necessitated a change in this subsector. In particular, the Ministry of Education and Training established the Lesotho Council on Higher Education (CHE) as a regulatory body. Among its achievements, the council legislated that academics teaching in institutions of higher learning undergo professional development. This development coincided with the completion of Lefoka’s PhD thesis. One of the findings of the PhD research is that most higher education teachers do not have professional qualifications for teaching in the subsector. The thesis recommended that higher education teachers should be capacitated for a teaching role. This recommendation motivated the National University of Lesotho to comply with one of the council’s policies by introducing a Post Graduate Diploma in Higher Education (PGD-HE) program. In this chapter, the author uses reflective practice literature to guide the presentation on the implementation of the PGD-HE program. The chapter articulates lessons emerging from the change of initial plan due to disruption by the COVID-19 pandemic. The major change involved the reduction of academic duration and a move from blended teaching to online teaching mode. Based on the lessons learned, this chapter recommends the use of the lessons to improve the offering of the program.