Maseru, Sept. 16 — The Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Dr. Rets’elisitsoe Matlanyane, says the Loan Bursary Fund continues to provide financial assistance to both new students and those continuing with their studies.
This, she said in her statement delivered in the National Assembly on Wednesday, adding that living allowances had already been submitted to higher learning institutions and distributed to students.
She indicated that the Loan Bursary Fund was estimated at over M1 billion for the 2026/2027 financial year and would support 22,034 students, an increase from the 21,889 students supported during the 2025/2026 financial year.
She said more than M175 million had so far been paid to about 21,000 students during the current financial year, adding that at least 2,868 first-year students had received their allowances, while approximately 10,219 continuing students had already received theirs.
Dr. Matlanyane said applications for the Loan Bursary Fund were being processed through the Bokamoso e-Portal this financial year as part of efforts to transform the delivery of loan and bursary services.
She said the system also facilitates the allocation of bursaries based on institutional quotas, admission lists submitted by higher learning institutions, and applicants’ compliance with the required criteria, among other considerations.
She added that applicants who had completed the application process but had not yet received funding had been placed on a waiting list and would be considered if students who had been awarded funding declined it.
She also acknowledged that the introduction of the Bokamoso e-Portal had been accompanied by several challenges, including amongst others delays in the government system that affected students’ applications and that delays by higher learning institutions in submitting admission lists also affected the timely allocation of bursaries.
She clarified that the government had engaged with student representatives from higher learning institutions to address these challenges.
She therefore appealed to all stakeholders to work closely with the Ministry to ensure the smooth operation of the Loan Bursary Fund.
Meanwhile, the Agency has learned that, among other higher learning institutions, the National University of Lesotho has a quota of 1,944 students, of whom 1,036 are expected to receive funding. Lerotholi Polytechnic has a quota of 1,140 students, with 665 set to receive funding, while Limkokwing University has a quota of 1,250 students, of whom 705 are expected to receive funding.
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