MASERU — The National Manpower Development Secretariat (NMDS), through the Loan Bursary Fund says the awarding and contracting of new and continuing students for the upcoming academic year is progressing well, with the contracting process now underway despite earlier technical challenges experienced on the Bokamoso ePortal.
Director of the Loan Bursary Fund, Mr. Thabo Ntoi, said the statement is intended to update the public and students on the progress of the awarding and contracting process for students enrolling at local tertiary institutions.
Mr. Ntoi said the selection of new students is based on national skills development priorities, programme capacity at institutions, approved quotas in line with available bursary funding, academic performance, compliance with minimum admission requirements, admission into sponsored institutions and the servicing of previous bursary loans.
He explained that students submitted applications through the Bokamoso ePortal, while institutions verified applications by submitting admission lists of qualifying students in order of merit.
Moreover, Mr. Ntoi said this enables the Fund to allocate bursaries fairly according to approved quotas and national skills development priorities.
He acknowledged that some students experienced interruptions when applying online due to low government bandwidth, which affected the performance of the Bokamoso ePortal. Although bandwidth capacity has since been significantly increased, he said intermittent network challenges continue to cause delays during peak periods.
Mr. Ntoi said the Fund has made every effort to ensure that applications are processed, including working overtime and during weekends, resulting in successful progress to the contracting stage.
He further said the Fund has been engaging tertiary institutions and their Student Representative Councils to minimise disruption. As a result, the National University of Lesotho and Botho University are expected to open during the week of August 3, while Lerotholi Polytechnic and Limkokwing University will open during the week of August 10. The Lesotho College of Education (LCE)is expected to open towards the end of August to allow sufficient time to complete the contracting process.
Mr. Ntoi also announced that the Fund has introduced a M1,000 fee for the replacement of lost bursary loan contracts to discourage negligence and repeated loss of the official documents. He said the Fund has observed that some students frequently lose their contracts, while others use them as collateral in informal lending arrangements, making it necessary to introduce the replacement fee.
He urged students to remain patient, regularly check their Bokamoso ePortal accounts and personal email addresses, and rely only on official communication from the Fund.
Ends/MAMAJ
