Exploring the influence of socio-economic status on equitable access to secondary education in Lesotho

Abstract

Getting through the gates of a school is nothing but just a physical entrance to education that is not enough as a learner living in poverty might be not confident to the way they look in their uniform relative to their affluent counterparts. Such a poverty-stricken learner might be too hungry and neither feel acceptable nor ready to participate in a learning process at a relatively equal basis with their well-off counterparts. These poverty features translated to lack of learning amenities that account for such learners to be referred to as learners from poor socioeconomic background or learners of low socioeconomic status (SES). Thus, poor socioeconomic background positions such learners at disadvantageous starting point of learning, and this denies them equitable access to education which must be governed by not only physical presence at school, but also by a sense of feeling belongingness and acceptance substantiated by availability of adequate resources to participate in the learning process to achieve good academic grades. Globally, poverty has adversely affected access to education and Lesotho is not an exception with her secondary education level being the worst affected relative to primary and tertiary as the costs at secondary level are borne by parents. In a country of about 2,1 million people, only 10.7% of youths in the lowest wealth quintile are enrolled in secondary schools compared to 61% of those in the highest quintile. It was against this backdrop that the current study with a qualitative case study design engaged 32 participants in semi-structured interviews, focus group discussion and a review of documents to explore access to secondary education for learners of low socioeconomic status (SES). The study has established that Lesotho education system limits access to education to disability inclusion. While the study fully acknowledges that disability acts as a barrier to access to education, poverty also adversely affect inclusive education which is buffer to equity in education. While Lesotho government pays school fees for vulnerable learners, access to secondary education is hindered by socioeconomic challenges such as lack of food, cosmetics, stationery, and money for transport. This subjects the learners to feeling of helplessness and low self-concept. Furthermore, parents of such learners fail to participate in their children’s education due to their low level of education. Additionally, lack of basic skills on ensuring equitable access to education among teachers has vii resulted in a failure to properly identify and support learners of low SES. Furthermore, educational policies and practices fail to establish proper strategic actions to promote equitable access education must be embraced through to inclusive approach for vulnerable categories of learners beyond disability. Guided by social justice theory and capability approach which are the lenses that view access to education as a human right issue than an opportunity for a selected few, the study argues that learners of low SES must be afforded more learning resources that would incapacitate them to equitably participate in learning process and attain good academic achievement. The study concludes that access to secondary education for learners of low SES is remarkably low and lacks equity since the current measures that are deemed inclusive education in Lesotho simply translate to physical access which is integration of learners with disability in regular schools without proper support. Furthermore, while some learners of low SES are subjected to the education system that does not account for socioeconomic barriers they encounter, and when there are no social support frameworks, such learners may not learn as much as those without barriers. It is therefore recommended that inclusive education policies and plans should establish strategies that expand target coverage beyond disability to socioeconomic aspect. Policy enactment should stimulate collaboration between families, schools and other stakeholders to ensure holistic development of learners from low socioeconomic backgrounds.