Action Ireland Trust (AIT), in partnership with Rise International and the government of Lesotho, has commenced a school-building project at Seboka Primary School in Lithabaneng.
Schoolchildren at Seboka Primary School often resort to using the nearby bush to relieve themselves due to the dilapidated ablution facilities at their school.
Seboka Primary School is one of the five schools in the Lithabaneng area that will benefit from the project in which AIT is partnering with Lesotho’s Ministry of Education and Training.
The five-year Five Hub Schools project aims to ensure that schools are safe and have adequate sanitation for all children to aid their learning process.
The project, which also aims to enhance access to information communication technology (ICT), is designed to build infrastructure like toilets with running water, school kitchens, mobile handwashing stations, water harvesting facilities and vegetable gardens.
It is understood that more than 100 teachers from the beneficiary schools in Seboka, Makoanyane, Leqele and Lithabaneng have already been trained on the child friendly school initiative and alternatives to corporal punishment.
The beginning of the project was marked by a sod-turning event officiated by the Minister of Education, Ntlhoi Motsamai, who said that the project will advance government’s efforts towards meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goal Four (SDG4).
SDG4 is about ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all.
‘The investment by AIT in Lesotho’s education is significant and crucial towards the achievement of SDG4, and for this we are grateful’, she said.
For his part, AIT Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Fran Whelan, said that the non-governmental organisation was proud of its contribution to Lesotho’s education sector.
‘The new child friendly schools project is community-based and will inspire the communities through their schools and also nurture hope and enterprise for the future’, Whelan said.
‘Mapakalitha Mafaesa, the principal of Seboka Primary, said the project will restore the school children’s dignity. She said she was worried about her learners’ reliance on the nearby forest for toilets’.
AIT is an Irish charity organisation that provides skills exchange programmes in various sectors, including education.
Source: Lesotho Times
Photo source: Action Ireland Trust
