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

The IAF showed that in 2002/3 expenditure on ‘education’ represented on average
0.7 per cent of monthly household expenditure (INE 2003b: 32).
The Ministry of Education and Culture suspended compulsory school fees in 2004.
The full impact of this measure, which came into force in January 2005, on the levels
of enrolment and retention, and its impact on the poor in particular, has yet to be
evaluated. A recent study reviewing the available evidence noted that net enrolment
ratios in EP1 and EP2 have increased significantly between 2005 and 2006, although
it was not possible to attribute this solely to the abolition of school fees, as other
measures over the same period, such as the completion of 306 new EP1 schools and
206 EP2 schools and an EP1 enrolment drive broadcast on national radio, would also
have influenced enrolment. The study also noted the symbolic value of abolishing
school fees, signalling the Government’s willingness to reduce the costs of education
for parents (Avenstrup, 2006).
The fact that Mozambique has witnessed massive increases in enrolment since the
country’s return to peace in 1992, suggests that the cessation of conflict played a role
in increasing enrolment. As a result of this ongoing increase in enrolment since the
end of the war, the impact on enrolment of reducing fees may not be as pronounced
as has been the case in other countries. 54 The impact at school level of the loss
of income from school fees has also not yet been evaluated. There may be some
degree of passing on the costs to households (for example, requiring more parental or
student contribution to school maintenance and upkeep). However, the introduction of
the Direct Support to Schools (known by its Portuguese acronym, ADE) programme
in 2003 may have compensated in part for the loss of schools’ local income and acted
as a buffer, enabling schools to purchase materials which would otherwise have
been bought by parents and education guardians. The ADE programme means that
annual grants of up to US$200 are provided, in tranches, directly to primary schools
to procure school materials, such as textbooks, that benefit both teachers and
pupils. The management and use of the funds is the responsibility of school councils
comprised of teachers, parents, the school director and the district director. However,
ADE funds are not currently sufficient for basic school needs and eligible expenditure
is prescribed at central level. Schools are requesting increases in annual amounts
received through ADE and more autonomy to identify their own needs.
(ii) Lack of relevance
The PSIA found that 32 per cent of those interviewed considered the current school
curriculum to be lacking relevance (WB 2004: 29), a finding supported by the findings
of the Zambezia study. This may also explain the main reason given in the IAF by
16 to 17 year olds for not attending school i.e. ‘lack of interest’ (INE 2003b: 74). In
an attempt to address this complaint, the Government introduced a new curriculum
in grades 1, 3 and 6 in 2004, aimed at tailoring education to the local context. 80
per cent of the curriculum is core content developed at the national level, whilst
the remaining 20 per cent can be defined at the district or provincial level. Another
important aspect of the new curriculum is the flexibility that it gives teachers to use
the local language, since a further complaint of the former curriculum was its reliance
on Portuguese, which is not spoken by the majority of the Mozambican population.
While evidence suggests that the new curriculum has been positively received
54 However, evidence from other countries shows that the abolition of school fees can have a dramatic impact on school enrolment. In Tanzania,
for example, the abolition of school fees in 2001 led to an increase in net primary enrolment from 57 per cent to 85 per cent by 2002 (World Bank
2004: 8). This ‘access shock’ can lead, however, to significant decreases in the quality of education unless rapid coping strategies and increased
investment are in place. A shift to a mass education system for all, from an elite system for the few, requires a rethinking of the education system
and t
154 CHILDHOOD POVERTY IN MOZAMBIQUE: A SITUATION AND TRENDS ANALYSIS