Maputo, 13 Jun (AIM) – Mozambique depends partially on local volunteers and donations from NGOs in order to carry out the teaching-learning process in public primary education, which is characterized by poor or precarious facilities and a lack of furniture.
The finding comes from a report by a Mozambican NGO, the Rural Observatory (OMR), which studied 23 public schools in four provinces.
“The shortage of school desks is particularly acute in the provinces with the largest forest resources and/or where there are major mineral resource exploration projects, namely in Zambézia, Tete, Nampula and Cabo Delgado”, said the report.
The study also points to generalized negligence on the part of education professionals, and absenteeism as factors that undermine public education.
“The generalized laxity is fuelled by the lack of resources for school inspection, which is concentrated in the provincial capitals and confines its action to a very small number of schools, especially those closest to the district headquarters”, it added. “The high pupil-teacher ratios, which are reflected in Mozambique’s high fertility rates, also undermine education.”
According to the report, in the Provincial Education Directorates, the staff lamented the lack of vehicles and fuel.
“Several managers of public schools mentioned the frequent request for extra payments by inspectors from the Ministry of Education (MINEDH) to compensate for the low salaries paid in the public administration. There is also a great disparity in the qualifications of teachers in rural and urban areas, with the highest percentage of teachers holding a degree in the cities. The high number of pupils per class makes it impossible to monitor each pupil individually, clearly damaging the teaching-learning process”, reads the document.
The study also noted that the majority of 6th graders in public schools have serious difficulties, not only in writing, reading and speaking Portuguese (the country’s official language), “but also in calculating an area, and have shown average results in calculating multiplication.”
“When students from private and public schools were tested, the results of public school students in general were only positive in addition and subtraction calculations. The picture is reversed in private schools, especially in reading, verbalization and arithmetic skills, which are combined with better conditions for teaching facilities and teaching staff”, the study says.
The report also says that the better results of private school 6th graders possibly reflect the informal and formal skills learnt in the home context, with more economic power to enroll children in schools capable of offering more competent services.
“Against a backdrop of increasing social differentiation and the precariousness of public education, a private education market is flourishing in the main urban centers, aimed at the classes with the highest purchasing power, mostly consisting of senior state officials, managers and specialists in the public and private sector, employees of NGOs, and company directors”, it reads.
(AIM)
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