CASE STUDY || LESOTHO

Helping Lesotho’s National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) to develop a pipeline of young entrepreneurs ​through entrepreneurial education

LESOTHO'S NCDC

Lesotho’s National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) is part of the Ministry of Education (MOET).
It has been implementing its integrated curriculum approach since 2009, with innovative content in syllabi, focused on problem-solving around local challenges and culture, to empower learners to create sustainable livelihoods.

WORKING TOGETHER

As part of the Economic Diversification Programme (EDSP) funded by the African Development Bank, NCDC commissioned an Entrepreneurship Education Syllabus for Grade 9 learners. 
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Acutely aware of needing this syllabus to equip learners with competencies that served as life-skills, enabled workplace-readiness and for venture and job creation, they appointed Elaine France as an individual contractor through a competitive procurement process.

THE APPROACH 

In consultation with the Director of NCDC, Mr Nthoesele Mohlomi, NCDC Entrepreneurship Education Project Lead and his Project Team of experienced curriculum developers, we looked at best practice Entrepreneurial Education, reviewed other Grade 8 and 9 syllabi, reflected on the integrated curriculum and Future of Work strategies and policies in Lesotho, as well as the mega-trends shaping Africa and Sub-Saharan youth employment and livelihoods.

This engagement involved exploring how this syllabus would contribute to the entrepreneurial eco-system and creating a pipeline of young entrepreneurial leaders shaping Lesotho’s future.

POWERFUL RESULTS 
  • Positioning entrepreneurship in a best-practice Entrepreneurial Education context and evidenced-based best practice approach for Lesotho, through a process that created ownership and buy-in from key stakeholders.
  • Equipping NCDC and Master Trainers with the tools to effectively train teachers, learners and engage support from parents and families through the pilot phase and implementation of the syllabus, through a Master Trainer Manual and Training of Trainers learning programme.
  • Providing a firm foundation for NCDC to enable teachers to become confident in facilitating learning in the syllabus, in rural and urban locations in Lesotho, with a step-by-step Teacher Guide setting out content to follow and adapt.
“On behalf of the whole group, thank you for your informative workshops and your content.
We are new people, we have reborn in the process and we are going out there with a new vision, with a new attitude, with renewed energy that we got from you. We would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”
“I am amazed by the way that you are doing entrepreneurship because it brings the authentic way which I think our education was missing. The activities help us to bring the problems which are real, this has been the thing that we are looking for.
​The way you organised the activities, to explore real problems and real solutions, that to me was out of this world.” 
“I’ve never seen anything laid out so clearly, ever.
​This makes me very confident that when we go as Master Trainers to our High-School Teachers, we have the right tools and the right resources.
​All the processes, all the tools, I think it’s excellent work”
“I have learned so much, the processes we have been going through, they have been really eye-opening.
I was able to reflect on the way I have been doing things…and I have learned that developing an idea into reality is a long journey that one has to take very carefully.
That is a thumbs-up. You did a wonderful job for Lesotho.”
Discover how we can work together
​to implement entrepreneurial education for your learners