‘I go to school to survive’: Facing physical, moral and economic uncertainties in rural Lesotho

ABSTRACT

In Lesotho, when children or adults talk about the importance of schooling, they frequently use the term ho iphelisa. This is usually translated as ‘to survive’, reflecting the uncertainties that people in this small country have confronted over recent decades: rapidly diminishing employment opportunities, extremely high HIV prevalence and environmental crises. Based on nine months of ethnographic fieldwork in two rural primary schools and their neighbouring communities, we examine how the idea of survival motivates engagement with education. We find that ‘survival’ permeates the school curriculum and the discourse of children, parents and teachers, and encompasses three distinct but related dimensions: economic, moral and physical. We also highlight how these aspects of survival are both individual and collective, and operate across different temporalities. Through this, we contribute to understanding the complexities of educational aspiration and motivation in contexts of uncertainty.

KEYWORDS:

• Education
• aspiration
• survival
• rural
• Africa
• uncertainty

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the young people, parents and teachers who participated in this research as well as Dr Pulane Lefoka from the National University of Lesotho for her support. We would like to thank Nthabeleng Sekese, Thabang Hloele and Motena Samonyane who provided useful assistance in the field. Thabang Hloele transcribed endless audio/sound recordings carefully. We would also like to thank the organisers and participants at the conference ‘Education and visions of future(s)’ at Bayreuth University, Germany for their helpful comments and suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Pseudonyms are used for villages and individuals.

2 Most extracts are translated from Sesotho.

3 Although there are few opportunities for mine work today, after generations of history, this continues to be viewed as a lucrative and desirable job.

4 Despite the relative availability of factory work, this was seldom mentioned by the young people as an aspiration.

5 Boys who herd for an unrelated person are generally paid one cow after a year’s employment, though this is not always forthcoming. Those who herd for their own families are often unpaid.

Additional information

Funding

ESRC-DFID Raising Learning Outcomes in Education Systems ES/N01037X/1.