Mozambique: Over 80 insurgent-affected schools in Cabo Delgado to reopen in February

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Mozambique: Over 80 insurgent-affected schools in Cabo Delgado to reopen in February

6:57 CAT | 24 Jan 2024

FILE - The province of Cabo Delgado has just over 1,000 schools, including those closed due to the armed conflict. [File photo: Lusa]

More than 80 schools destroyed or affected by the terrorist attacks of the last six years in the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado will reopen in the 2024 school year, which starts in February, the provincial Directorate of Education told Lusa.

These are 82 schools located in the districts of Palma, Mocímboa da Praia, Muidumbe, Macomia, Quissanga, Nangade and Meluco, which are preparing to reopen their doors next week, acting Provincial Director of Education in Cabo Delgado Rachide Sualehe says.

“Schools will reopen in districts that have been hard hit by terrorism,” he said.

Although Mocimboa da Praia at the end of December and again at the beginning of this month recorded insurgent attacks on the population and military, with several deaths and high levels of destruction, the representative of the provincial structures asserted that the environment is safe.

Sualehe highlighted the reopening of 40 schools in the province, practically half of those returning to activity in the new school year.

“In Mocímboa da Praia, despite the small outbreaks that occurred recently, the conditions are still created for the district to be functioning in educational terms. We have many schools there that will reopen this year. This means that, if by the time the school year opens there are no more conflicting situations caused by terrorism, we will have around 40 schools operating in Mocímboa da Praia. This means that the situation is under control in a certain way,” said Sualehe.

In the 2023 academic year, Cabo Delgado had almost 200 schools closed due to terrorist attacks and insecurity, but local authorities decided to reopen more educational establishments given the current stability in the area.

“These are sites approved by our Defence and Security Forces, because the openings are not made randomly,” Sualehe commented.

Cabo Delgado province has just over a thousand schools, including those that are closed due to the armed conflict.

The education sector has not yet reached enrolment targets for First Grade, where so far 115,000 of the approximately 140,000 students planned have been enrolled.

Since the beginning of the armed conflict, the city of Pemba, capital of the province, has welcomed just over 10,000 displaced students. However, with the reestablishment of security conditions, almost half, according to local authorities, have already returned to their districts of origin, although in some locations education is still to be restored.

Cabo Delgado province has been facing an armed uprising for more than six years with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State, which has led to a military response since July 2021, with support from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), freeing districts near gas projects.

The conflict has already displaced one million people, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and around 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project.

The Mozambican President, Filipe Nyusi, asked on 22 November for “decisions” on the response capacity of the Armed Forces in Cabo Delgado, particularly with reservists, taking into account the planned withdrawal of SADC forces supporting on the ground against terrorist groups for July.

Source: Lusa