Child Poverty in Mozambique. A Situation and Trend ... - Unicef

Table 4.4: Gross enrolment ratio, absolute gender gap and net enrolment ratio in
EP1 in 2005 (public and private schools)
Gross Enrolment Ratio
Net Enrolment Ratio
Province Male Female Total Absolute Male Female Total Absolute
Gender Gap
Gender Gap
Niassa 145 125 135 20 94 88 91 6
Cabo Delgado 145 119 132 26 84 75 79 9
Nampula 128 105 117 23 73 67 70 6
Zambezia 141 116 128 25 88 78 83 10
Tete 140 124 132 16 92 88 90 4
Manica 151 128 139 23 87 81 84 6
Sofala 135 111 123 24 82 73 77 9
Inhambane 139 137 137 2 84 89 87 -5
Gaza 144 143 144 1 87 92 89 -5
Maputo 159 160 159 -1 103 108 105 -5
Maputo City 140 143 141 -3 94 100 97 -6
Mozambique 140 123 131 17 86 81 83 5
Source: MEC 2005 School Survey – all figures have been rounded up or down to the nearest whole number
In terms of GER, gender parity in enrolment ratios has almost been achieved in
the southern provinces, with the absolute gender gap at 1 (no gap) or close to 1 in
Inhambane, Gaza, Maputo Province and Maputo City (in Maputo City and Maputo
Province, there are more girls enrolled in EP1 than boys). In the rest of the country,
the gender gap of girls relative to boys enrolled in EP1 varies from 16 per cent in
Tete province to as high as 26 per cent in Cabo Delgado province. In terms of NER,
the pattern is similar, with more girls enrolled than boys in Inhambane, Gaza, Maputo
Province and Maputo City. The variation between provinces is much smaller, however,
ranging from -6 in Maputo City to 10 in Zambezia province and the national average is
5, compared with 17 for GER.
B. Trends in repetition, dropout and completion rates
Despite a slight decrease in repetition and drop-out rates at EP1 level during the
period 1999 to 2005, repetition and drop-out rates remain high, at 11 per cent and
8 per cent respectively. In EP2, repetition rates and drop out rates also indicate a
downward trend. Repetition rates decreased from 25 per cent in 1999 to 6 per cent
in 2005 and drop-out rates decreased from 9 per cent to 8 per cent for EP2 during the
same period.
Completion rates in both EP1 and EP2 show a marked improvement over the period
1999 to 2004. In EP1 completion rates increased from 27 per cent to 48 per cent. In
EP2, completion rates increased from 11 per cent to 29 per cent by 2004. However,
completion rates remain low, with under half of Mozambican children completing the
lower level of primary education and fewer than one third of children completing EP2.
Completion rates in EP1 are substantially lower for girls than for boys. In 2004, the
completion rate for EP1 was 39 per cent for girls compared to 57 per cent for boys.
The gender gap is slightly less at the upper level of primary education, where the EP2
completion rate for girls was 23 per cent compared to 35 per cent for boys.
Rates of transition between grades are a key indicator of system efficiency. Arndt
and Muzima (2005) estimate rates of transition as a measure of how quickly students
progress through the education system. They find a marked trend of reduced
142 CHILDHOOD POVERTY IN MOZAMBIQUE: A SITUATION AND TRENDS ANALYSIS