MASERU – Three Maseru teachers on Friday received awards for their innovative projects during a Lesotho Innovative Teachers Forum held at a local college on Friday.
Moeketsi Hlazi, Lilian Ofori Asara and Berlina Mokhakala scooped awards for their projects during a forum hosted by international computer technology giant Microsoft Corporation at Lesotho College of Education in Maseru.
Hlazi teaches at Masite Primary School and Asara is a teacher at Phethahatso Primary School while Mokhakala teaches at Mamoeketsi Primary School in Maseru district.
Addressing the forum, principal secretary in the education ministry Motsoakapa Makara said the government was grateful for the role Microsoft was playing in supporting the country’s education sector.
Makara said his ministry believed that meaningful changes in the education sector cannot be done by the government alone.
“These changes need closer collaboration between the government and other sectors of the society, NGOs, religious groups, the business sector, the media, donor agencies, local communities, parents and learners,” Makara said.
The award-winning projects by the teachers involved the use cellphones and digital cameras as teaching aids.
Microsoft Corporation academic programmes manager Angela Schearer said the aim of the forum was to help teachers and students learn and exchange technological expertise.
“We also want to promote teachers’ confidence in integrating technology into the learning process,” Schearer said.
Hlazi said he was very excited about winning the award.
He said in his project learners were using cellphone voice recorders and digital cameras as tools to collect information about why people use drugs.
“I wanted to raise awareness on the effects of drugs abuse because many young people are not aware of the consequences of using them,” he said.
Award winners at the national forum will represent the country at a regional forum to be held in Mombasa, Kenya, in August.
Regional winners will represent the continent at the Worldwide Innovative Education Forums, scheduled to take place in Cape Town, South Africa, in October.