Lesotho’s minister of gender, youth, sports, arts, culture, and social development Mr. Pitso Lesaoana said that 10, 128 additional high school students will receive education grants.

This was stated by Mr. Lesaoana when speaking to the media on Monday during a news conference held at the Department of Social Development in Maseru.

The Minister stated that there were 10, 128 successful applications from nine districts, excluding Maseru as it was still evaluating the applications.

He added that just 3 210 applications were turned down because of their age and need for supporting documents.

This initiative helped approximately 26 000 high school students, and it’s anticipated that 35 000 to 40 000 kids will receive assistance this year.

In previous years, the department had not aided more than 30 000 students, but this year they plan to surpass that amount, he said, adding that the number of students who will receive assistance from the department has increased.

The Minister added that the World Bank provides financial support to the Ministry to help youngsters who require educational assistance graduate from high school.

He noted that this is a five-year grant that is open to Basotho aged 17 and under and that pupils apply for it when they begin high school.

In a similar vein, the Minister stated that this program fulfills the department’s responsibility by guaranteeing that every Mosotho kid has access to education for the purpose of bettering their quality of life.

Mr. Lesaoana concluded by stating that the expected budget for this program is M94 million.