IBIS in Mozambique

Foto: Elsebeth Aller

IBIS has been working in Mozambique for many years. In recent years, the programme has focused on education, governance and HIV/AIDS. Accordingly, IBIS’ efforts in the country are in keeping with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals for 2015 as regards achieving access to primary education for all, fighting HIV/AIDS, as well as promoting gender equality and empowering women.

IBIS in Mozambique works within two thematic programmes; Education for Change in Rural Communities and a Governance programme.

Education for Change in Rural Communities
Ibis’ educational efforts in the country revolve around the thematic programme Education for Change in Rural Communities (ECRC). This intervention is located in the poorest parts of the countryside, seeking to upgrade teachers’ training, to ensure better educational methods in the classroom, and to improve teaching materials. The objective is to introduce new concepts that underpin and inspire the nascent reforms of Mozambican education.

Governance programme

The situation in Mozambique

Education:
The education system in Mozambique is slowly being rebuilt after the civil war that followed independence from Portugal in 1975, which destroyed at least 50% of primary schools, but the country continues to suffer from a high illiteracy rate.

After little more than a decade of peace, Mozambique still lacks sufficient schools and teachers to guarantee education for the nation’s youth. An estimated 60% of adults still cannot read and write, with the illiteracy rate higher among women. Those with little or no formal education face limited job prospects despite a growing economy. Citizens are disadvantaged when it comes to learning new skills to improve their lives.

Education is compulsory for seven years, but in practice, most students do not study for the full compulsory period. It is a major problem in Mozambique that many girls drop out of school after a few years. The project Education for Development in Rural Communities endeavours to tackle this, also addressing the thorny subject of male teachers who lay their hands on girls.

Governance: