Hundreds of Basotho are showing a keen interest in obtaining skills for the garment industry. Six months into the establishment of Skills Development Centres in Maseru and Maputsoe, nearly 200 Basotho have been trained, and about 400 are registered, and eagerly waiting their turn to get into classrooms.

The centres, established under the World Bank funded Private Sector Competitiveness and Economic Diversification project, PSCP, provide skills training in among others, Basic sewing, Supervising, Garment construction and Machine mechanics.

Basotho trainers with years of experience in the industry have been engaged to train in Sesotho. ‘Mabatho Rabolou trains Basic sewing machinist in Maseru. She was born in Mokhotlong, and grew up in Mafeteng, where she was introduced to fashion and fabrics at Makena High School.

After completing high school she obtained a qualification in Electrical installation with the Technical Institute of Leribe, and later a Diploma in Computer studies. But as fate would have it, she ended up working as a supervisor with Springfield Footwear in Maputsoe, for 10 years.

‘Mabatho says her job goes beyond just showing her learners how to use the machines. “Most of them have never worked, and they say they never thought they would be able to learn anything. So I have to give them confidence, tell them what to expect at work and teach them how to behave in a working environment.” says ‘Mabatho.

Maputsoe was the first to begin operations in July 2008. Although the training is free of charge, and the interest immense, only 50% of the learners would complete the course due to unaffordable costs of travelling that the participants, who don’t have an income, couldn’t meet.

When Maseru opened its doors in January 2009, it was faced with the same challenge. The project then introduced an allowance of 30 Maloti per day for transportation and lunch, to enable the learners to attend training every day.

Out of the group of 30 basic sewing students that Maseru took in from February to March, it had 2 drop-outs. The completion rate has now gone up to 93%. Even the drop-outs are a result of learners who are attracted by the prospect of free education and a daily stipend, but later realise they have no interest in the area. The centres say they are now beefing up their entry screening to ensure that the training goes to those who desperately need the jobs.

At the end of May, the two centres will have over 170 basic sewing completers in the manufacturing sector in Lesotho. Out of the 28 learners who are completing their training from the Maseru centre, 25 were taken up by manufacturers a week before the closing date of the course.

26 year old Tumisang Mokotjo is delighted to have his first real job since he completed high school in 2000. His results were below the requirements for admission at tertiary institutions, and he has been doing odd jobs since then.

He had been in church at Ha Abia one Sunday when an announcement was made about the free training in sewing machines. He registered and trained, and finally on Tuesday May 19th, he was asked for his passport, and signed a contract for work. He is one of 12 learners who have passed competence tests with CGM, the largest textile manufacturer in Lesotho.

‘Malisebo Sello doesn’t remember how long she has been looking for a job. She is 31 and has two children aged 16 and 8. Her husband worked in the mines in South Africa but he was retrenched. She was queuing, hoping to find a job one day, when she heard about the training. She says she still doesn’t believe that she got a job without queuing.

Manufacturers are eyeing the Skills centres like hawks. CGM says the 12 workers that they got in May, are nowhere near the numbers they require. The company still has over 60 vacant stations in one of their plants, waiting for workers with the basic skills that the centres provide. John Babu, Compliance manager at CGM, says he is confident the Skills centres will provide the calibre of work-ready staff they are looking for. He says they will snap up more Supervisors, Line managers and Industrial Engineers as soon as the centres train them.

When CGM employed Supervisors in January, they tested the Maseru centre to give them the skills they needed to get into work seamlessly. Mantoa Sebatane was one of those supervisors.

Although she had only worked as a stock controller at a Petrol station, Mantoa was trained in instructing operators, work study, and line management. Today she walks the factory floor with confidence. “I think Basotho are very talented and more of us should work in the textile industry because now I know that it makes a lot of money for the economy of Lesotho.” says Mantoa. But this knowledge doesn’t end in the factory. Her husband operates an upholstery business from home at Ha Seoli, on the outskirts of Maseru.

Skills Development is a subcomponent under the Economic Diversification component of the PSC project. The objectives of the component are, inter alia, to enhance competitiveness by improving productivity, preventing further withdrawal of investors, and encouraging new investors in the garment sector.

It now looks like those investors may emerge from Lesotho. Of the nearly 90 learners who completed in Maseru, about 20 have chosen to start their own businesses. Some say they are now hoping to get support from another component of the Project, the Lesotho Enterprise Assistance Programme – LEAP, for mentorship.

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