Our History
The school’s long, rich and proud history dates back to 1890. In 1884 Basutoland (Lesotho) came under direct British Rule and was governed by the High Commissioner in Cape Town.
In 1890 English-speaking missionaries residing in the Maseru ‘camp’ needed a school for their children. The Anglican diocese helped to establish the school with a subsidy from the Basutoland government. The school was housed in a little cottage near the camp. One of the founding teachers was Sister Maria Burton and she worked at the school for more than 15 years. With time the school moved to a small iron and wood building close to the present Maseru United Church site.
Then known as Maseru European School, there were 21 students up to Standard 5. Around 1908 the government built a small sandstone school on what is now Old School Road. Over the next 40 years, Maseru European School increased its enrolment and staff as it established its reputation as a centre of academic excellence.
Before 1920 the government had substantially increased its subsidy on the condition that senior government officials were members of the school’s management committee.
By 1927, and with the assistant resident commissioner as committee chairman, the school was in good financial shape to offer the outgoing committee secretary an honorarium. It seems the school’s rather ambiguous nature as being part private and part government dates from this period.
In 1932 the school was renamed Maseru Preparatory School and remained so until the mid-fifties when it was changed to Maseru English Medium Preparatory School (MEMPS).
In 1962 the school accepted its first Basotho students. Many other nationalities were subsequently accepted as the school became truly international. That transformation explains why the school is now only Maseru Preparatory School (Maseru Prep).
Our goals & objectives
To make Maseru Prep School one of the best in Lesotho where the students receive a holistic education at an affordable price. This involves academic excellence, extension of traditions and sporting skills.
We want to create International citizens who have respect for other cultures and people and who have compassion and the will to become leaders in society. This will be achieved by students becoming responsible and learning life skills which will help them to become well rounded mature adults.
Our core values
- Respect
- Responsibility
- Compassion
- Kindness and Caring
- Integrity and honesty
- Open Mindedness and Creativity
- We value working hard and trying our best;
- We celebrate our successes and learn from our mistakes;
- We value our diversity and individuality;
- We treasure our friendships and other relationships;
- We respect our elders, independence and team work;
- We encourage participation and everyone’s voice is listened to;
- We take pride in our work, our school and our community.
Who we are
Maseru Prep is a co-ed Cambridge Curriculum school for children from nursery school (2 years old) to Year 6. There are currently 530 students, 1 headmaster, 29 teachers, 5 HOD’s, 4 subject coordinators and nearly a dozen non-teaching staff.
Situated in Maseru West, the school is treated as an independent school but remains part of the Lesotho Ministry of Education. The school is also a member of the Independent Schools Association of South Africa (ISASA).
We also have two aftercare classes where qualified teachers help students with homework.
Our Year 6 students write the Checkpoint Test every April which is marked by Cambridge. We have been chosen as one of the few centres where Cambridge conducts Pre-tests to check their standard.
The language of instruction is English but Sesotho and French are also taught. Art is one of our specialist subjects.
Our Facilities
Our facilities include sports fields, swimming pool, gym, hall, library, computer centre, Science lab, library, an educational forest. There is also a vegetable garden for each class to grow and sell their produce. We also have swimming, tennis and taekwondo lessons. In addition to sports, clubs and cultural activities, our afternoons are also filled with other activities that stimulate young minds. The entrepreneur programme, made possible in collaboration with Young Entrepreneurs, is a typical example. So is Monkeynastix for Early Years and Y1 and 2.
