Night schools give Lesotho's young herders a chance at an education

In Lesotho, many thousands of boys and men take up herding, a vital profession in the mountainous southern African kingdom. The demands of the work often force them to give up their formal education.

Filling an educational gap

To address this gap, a small network of schools operating on a shoestring budget has been set up to give these young herders access to basic instruction. The schools teach the ABCs — the fundamentals of reading and writing — to boys and men who would otherwise have no route back into schooling once they take up herding.

The model these schools use is adapted to the realities of the profession, which typically requires herders to spend long stretches away from their communities and away from conventional classrooms while tending livestock.

The initiative highlights the tension between an economic necessity — herding remains a vital livelihood in Lesotho — and the right to education, and the grassroots efforts being made locally to reconcile the two.

The account of the schools and their students has been documented through a photographic report on the network and the people it serves.