Financing for equity in primary and secondary education
1. Education resources to subnational governments
2. Education resources to schools
3. Education resources to students and families
4. Social policies and family support programmes
Introduction
In Lesotho, the education budget mechanism is complex and fragmented. The Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) manages several cost centres, with the ten district offices responsible for primary and secondary education each operating separate ones. These cost centres finance district office staff and operational expenses, teacher salaries, and the procurement of stationery and textbooks managed centrally.
Certain statutory bodies under the MoET, including the Council on Higher Education, the National Curriculum Development Centre, and the Examinations Council of Lesotho, function as independent cost centres. The MoET also transfers funds to higher education institutions, the Lesotho National Commission for UNESCO, and the Lesotho Distance Teaching Centre. Allocations to all other cost centres are determined through the annual budget process rather than by formula.
In 2021/22, recurrent expenditure represented 92% of the total education budget. The capital budget relied mainly on donor funding, with limited government contributions, primarily for school construction. The majority of education spending (85%) was directed to teachers’ salaries and allowances, followed by transfers (12%) such as tertiary bursaries and school feeding, while operating costs accounted for 2% and travel and transport for 1%.
1. Education resources to subnational governments
Intergovernmental transfers from national to subnational governments serve as the primary mechanism for fiscal decentralisation under the 2014 National Decentralisation Policy. However, there is no established system for equitable allocation of these transfers.
2. Education resources to schools
Funding for Inclusive and Special Education
Schools receive funding based on a per-capita allocation, primarily used to cover teacher salaries, with resources directed towards inclusive education. The government also provides targeted funding for special and inclusive schools, a practice in place since before 2010. Currently, Lesotho has six special schools, including one resource centre, and fifteen inclusive schools.
3. Education resources to students and families
No initiative was found under the Ministry of Education providing direct funding or education resources to students and families for basic education in Lesotho. Bursaries for orphans and vulnerable children are administered as social protection programmes by the Ministry of Gender, Youth, Sports, Arts, Culture and Social Development (Section 4), while tertiary bursaries are managed by the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning through the National Manpower Development Secretariat, supporting higher education.
4. Social policies and family support programmes
Secondary School Bursary Scheme for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC-B)
The OVC-Bursary Scheme, managed and funded by the Ministry of Gender, Youth, Sports, Arts, Culture and Social Development, provides financial support to secondary school and technical vocational education and training students under 18 years of age. Eligible students include those who have lost one or both parents, have a sick, disabled, or incarcerated parent, or are disadvantaged due to socioeconomic background or disability. In 2023, eligibility was extended to students up to 24 years of age.
Bursaries are allocated directly to secondary schools in the name of each student and cover tuition fees, examination fees, registration costs, stationery, books, special subject fees such as science, and boarding fees. The scheme was initially launched in 2000 under the former Ministry of Health and Social Welfare through the OVC Bursary Scheme Policy 2000. Since 2022, oversight of the programme has been the responsibility of the Ministry of Gender, Youth, Sports, Arts, Culture and Social Development’s Department of Social Development, with the objective of improving access and retention of OVC in secondary education.
Child Grants
Since 2012, child grants have been provided unconditionally to poor and ultra-poor households with children under 18 years, aiming to improve child well-being, reduce malnutrition, enhance health, and increase school enrolment and completion. The 2021–2031 Lesotho National Social Protection Strategy II (published 2022) introduces a secondary school top-up grant of M1,000 to cover enrolment costs, including meals, in response to inflation. Beneficiary children who enrol in secondary school are also intended to receive the OVC bursary.
5. School meal programmes
School Meals Programme
Lesotho’s school meals programme, managed by the Ministry of Education and Training, provides free daily meals to all children in public pre-primary and primary schools as a universal programme. The scheme is primarily government-funded (82%), covering 90% of primary school children, with the remainder (18%) supported by international donors. The government gradually assumed responsibility for the programme in the 1990s and fully committed to funding it in 2015.
Following the 2024 National School Feeding Policy and commitments under the 2023 School Meals Coalition, the government pledged to increase the school meals budget by at least 50% in the 2024/25 fiscal year to address rising costs, raising the per-child daily allocation from M3.54 to M5.54 in 2023. Policies have been introduced to procure 80% of school food from local farmers, moving towards a home-grown school feeding model, and legislation is planned to ensure efficient budget utilisation.
In 2022, 13 nutritionists were employed to support the programme at pre-primary and primary levels, with eight working under the National Management Agent School Feeding Programme and five under the WFP Pre-Primary School Feeding Project.
This profile has been reviewed by Morongoe Nkisi, Doctoral Candidate at the University of Pretoria.
