Mozambique: Classes begin n Matola's Matlemele Primary School - report
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The former minister of Education and Human Development (MINEDH) Jorge Ferrão, now rector of the Pedagogical University (UP), says that at no time did he forbid the wearing of mini-skirts in Mozambican public schools, a subject that not long ago generated pandemonium and debate in society.
In related events, a Spanish national, Eva Anadon Moreno, was deported on 30 March last year for participating in a public meeting aimed at ending violence against girls in schools. Moreno and her company were challenging an alleged MINEDH decision prohibiting girls wearing skirts above the knee.
In fact, the confusion did not stop there. Public Prosecutor Benedita Langa was also arrested at Mavalane Airport when she tried to stop Moreno’s deportation on the grounds that her expulsion was illegal, an opinion later corroborated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office General of the Republic (PGR), which ordered an investigation whose outcome is still not publicly known.
On Monday 13, Ferrão took advantage of a 2017academic year opening meeting with UP professors and students to say that he “never forbade girls ” to wear short skirts. “I needed to say this.”
“The Council of Ministers asked me [about the subject] and I felt bad, without saying anything because I had nothing to do with it,” he said, adding that because of this misunderstanding he for some time bore the nickname “The Mini-skirts Man”.
According to the former minister, when he heard rumours of a few too many short skirts being worn at school, he tried to find out what was happening in meetings with parents and guardians, directors of educational establishments and teachers.
It then followed that some parents and guardians asked for authorization to prevent the wearing of mini-skirts in schools, explained Ferrão, adding that he never spoke for or against mini-skirts, although after a few days the girls were wearing skirts down to the heel.
Despite the confusion that arose, Ferrão said that the success achieved by the initiative’s mentors made it clear that “education in the country can only change [for the better] if parents take an interest in our schools”.
Finally, Ferrão said that the episode proved beyond doubt that it was necessary to dress decently in school, and that “school is a place that requires discipline”.
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