Schools reopening in districts once attacked by terrorists

Maputo, 11 Jan (AIM) – The northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado will reopen, in the current school year, 82 schools in eight districts previously affected by Islamist terrorism.

These schools will be added to 896 planned by the Education Ministry.

The spokesperson for the Ministry, Manuel Simbine, told AIM on Wednesday that the 82 re-opened schools will benefit an additional 23,000 residents in the districts of Palma, Mocímboa da Praia, Macomia, Quissanga, Muidumbe, Nangade, Mueda and Meluco.

“Cabo Delgado currently has 1,600 schools. It should be noted that of the 82 schools that are going to reopen, 81 are elementary schools and one is a secondary school. With this we can guarantee that the province of Cabo Delgado is preparing like other provinces for the opening of the 2024 school year”, Simbine said.

“We know that it’s an uneasy situation that has caused damage to the education sector, and we can highlight here the movements of people who have had to leave their schools. We’re talking about students, parents and guardians and the teachers themselves”, he added.

According to Simbine, in 2023, just over 41,000 pupils had to move from their home areas to safer ones in order to have the opportunity to continue their studies.

He also mentioned that the terrorists destroyed 107 schools and 387 classrooms.

“As more partners get involved in the rehabilitation process in Cabo Delgado province, we will also increase the number of schools to be repaired”, he said, explaining that, in general, there are schools at various levels, including those built from scratch, those built by the state, some by partners and others by communities.

“At the moment, we are systematizing all of them, but we have indications that more than 70 new schools will come into operation and rather more than 500 new classrooms”, he said.

Simbine also explained that the Education Ministry projections for the year 2024 are centered on having available across the country over 13,000 schools in primary education, just over 2,500 schools in the first cycle of secondary education and approximately 500 schools in the second (pre-university) cycle of secondary education.

(AIM)

FG/Ad/pf (361)