The SACMEQ IV Project in Lesotho: a study of the conditions of schooling and the quality of education

The Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) IV National Policy Report on Lesotho is based on the period 2014 to 2016. It is the fourth in a series for SACMEQ member countries that have participated in the SACMEQ research initiative from 1995. The SACMEQ Policy Reports are similar. They focus on an assessment of the general conditions of schooling and the quality of education at the primary school level. The target population for the SACMEQ projects was all pupils at grade six level and their teachers (at the first week of the eight month of the school year) who were attending and teaching in registered mainstream primary schools. Consequently, the reports have provided the baseline information against which changes can be evaluated. Establishing mechanisms of monitoring and evaluating educational systems are an integral part of the overall objectives of SACMEQ: (a) to expand opportunities for educational planners to gain the technical skills required to monitor and evaluate the quality of basic education, and (b) to generate information that can be used by decision-makers to plan and improve the quality of education.