THE KINGDOM OF LESOTHO COMBINED SECOND TO EIGHTH PERIODIC REPORT UNDER THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES’ RIGHTS AND INITIAL REPORT UNDER THE PROTOCOL TO THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN AFRICA 421. Section 3 of the Education Act provides for free and compulsory primary education while secondary and tertiary education are not free. However, the government through the Ministry of Social Development subsidises tuition and other fees for orphaned and vulnerable children in secondary and high school. Administrative measures 422. The ministry of development planning through the office of National Manpower Development Secretariat (NMDS) provides loan bursaries for tertiary education in and outside Lesotho. The payment of tuition and granting of loan bursaries are not awarded on the basis of sex but on merit. 423. Lesotho has one of the highest basic literacy rates at 88 percent. Of this number, 56 percent is a number of females in urban areas and 58 percent is the number of women in rural areas who can read and write Sesotho and English with ease, compared to 44 percent of males in urban areas and 43 percent in rural areas. The Lesotho Bureau of Statistics indicates that illiteracy seems to be much more pronounced in males at 70 percent in urban areas and 76 percent in rural areas compared to females at 30 percent in urban and 24 percent in rural areas. 424. The table B6 shows the current status, goals and progress on education in Lesotho. In 2011 the World Economic Forum’s Gender Equality Ratings ranked Lesotho number 9 in the world, implying a positive approach in trying to bridge the gender gap. Relative to most Sub-Saharan African countries, Lesotho has relatively high literacy and net primary school enrolment, but with a reversed gender gap signifying discrepancy to the advantage of girls. However, it is one of the few countries in Sub-Saharan Africa that has at least attained equal balance in primary education; indicating almost equal numbers of males and females in school. Men are seen to be trailing behind women in a variety of academic performance measures, particularly in secondary and higher education. While the country 146