Learning for Life, Work and the Future Initial ... - Unesco-Unevoc

Learning for Life, Work and the Future Participants’ Papers Page 53
tially economically active people into the labour
market. Therefore, the re-integration into communities
and society of a numerically large number of formerly
economically active Basotho males relative to the
population of Lesotho as a whole is a crucial socioeconomic
issue with a resounding impact.
It is against this background that the retrenchment of
Basotho mineworkers could be termed “a national
disaster” (Monyau, 2000, p.10). Whilst retrenchment
may be most acute in Lesotho, other countries such as
Swaziland and Mozambique, for example, may face
similar difficulties.
3. The Response
There have been a number of positive responses from
the NGO sector, parastatals, international donors and
central government. The Mineworkers Development
Agency (MDA) in Lesotho provides enterprise
development programmes, including vocational skills
training, business training and counselling services.
The Ntaflato Training Centre, originally established
with assistance from South Africa’s Department of
Foreign Affairs and now under the auspices of
Lesotho’s Ministry of Labour, provides vocational
training and entrepreneurial skills.
The Lesotho Opportunities Industrialisation Centre
(LOIC) also provides vocational and entrepreneurial
skills training, while the Basotho Enterprise Development
Corporation (BEDCO) has assisted mineworkers
prior to retrenchment in preparing business plans and
providing loans to establish micro and small enterprises.
Both institutions fall under the Ministry of
Trade and Industry.
MoE has a number of relevant programmes that help to
address the issue of mineworker retrenchment. The
Lesotho Distance Teaching Centre (LDTC) provides a
Basic Education programme in literacy and practical
subjects such as poultry-keeping through Radio
Lesotho, local learning centres or “Learning Posts”,
and self-study materials. With over a hundred
Learning Posts throughout the country, teaching is
devolved and delivered in many of the remote
communities most in need. Future plans include the
provision of more subjects and recognised certification.
Some post-secondary technical training institutes, such
as Bishop Allard Vocational School in Maseru and
Leloaleng Trades School in Quthing, have expressed a
desire to offer training for retrenched mineworkers and
others in the informal sector. The German development
organisation GTZ and the World Bank have
committed funding for the development of this sector.
However, much of the demand for skills and entrepreneurship
training lies in rural and remote localities.
In these areas, education and training facilities are
under-resourced or even non-existent.
An example of an initiative by MoE to target remote
areas is a collaborative venture between Lesotho’s
Technical, Vocational and Higher Education Department
(TVD) and Skillshare International (formerly
Skillshare Africa). TVD is part of MoE and Skillshare
International is a UK-based NGO working in Africa
and Asia. In 1998, they implemented the phased
introduction of a joint five-year project funded by the
UK National Lottery (Skillshare Africa 1998). The
focus of the project is poverty alleviation.
One important strand of the project is the provision of
TVET to the unemployed in remote areas. A key
group of primary beneficiaries is retrenched mineworkers.
The participatory and inclusive methodology
in the planning of TVET within the project has been
deliberately adopted to encourage ownership and
development of central government initiatives by local
communities. In this way, addressing the issue of retrenched
mineworker unemployment also affords the
opportunity for the rejuvenation of beleaguered
communities.
The process of developing training programmes in one
pilot area has involved a community-based approach.
Community leaders and the community as a whole
have participated in discussion, consultation, planning
and decision-making. The participative nature of the
process contributes to its enrichment and to the
empowerment of the community.
In an increasingly devolved system of government
administration, local Heads of Government Departments,
District Administrators and the District Development
Committee have been consulted. The Village
Development Committee and a village meeting, or
pitso, contributed to the identification of training needs
and estimation of resources. Through ownership, the
community is able to exercise important influence on
its own future; because of decentralisation, and with
other stakeholders taking more responsibility, TVD has
more of a facilitative, monitoring and advisory role.
4. The Challenge
The participative approach to addressing the issue of
retrenched mineworker unemployment affords the
opportunity for empowerment of communities. However,
as long as the issue is addressed primarily after
retrenched mineworkers have arrived home, it is
essentially a reactive approach. Given the scale and
impact of mineworker retrenchment for Lesotho, a
more pro-active approach is perhaps required.
Also, most of the current provision for retrenched
mineworkers is unco-ordinated and geared to the informal
sector as a whole. There is no overall national
strategy to address solely the needs of retrenched
mineworkers in particular, and to ameliorate the social
and economic impact that the high level of retrenchment
is having at community and national level. Nor is