Illicit charges must be denounced, says Education Minister

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Illicit charges must be denounced, says Education Minister

8:05 CAT | 18 Aug 2017

Folha de Maputo (File photo) / Minister of Education Conceita Sortane

Mozambican Education Minister Conceita Sortane on Wednesday called on the public to denounce all illicit charges within the country’s education system.

She was answering questions from members of the Children’s Parliament, which held its fourth sitting in Maputo on Tuesday and Wednesday. One of the children claimed he had been unable to enter a university because he had been unable to collect enough money to pay the bribe demanded.

Sortane declared that the education system must not come to depend on the payment of bribes. “Illegal charges must be vigorously denounced”, she said. “We can’t work like this”.

Deputy Justice Minister Joaquim Verissimo added that all those who practice acts of corruption in all spheres of economic and social life should be denounced, by taking advantage of the legislation that protects whistle blowers.

He said that if, instead of ensuring compliance with the law, a police officer demands bribes, “then he is not a policeman, but a corrupt individual who has infiltrated the ranks of the police force”.

Among other concerns raised by members of the Children’s Parliament were child labour, child marriages, and the shortage of school desks, even in provinces where here is an abundance of timber.

Also Read: Stop illicit charges for school places & jail adults ‘married’ to children, they told MPs

Sortane said that the timber seized from illegal loggers during “Operation Trunk” earlier this year will be used to produce desks to cover the deficit in school furniture in all provinces. According to figures provided to AIM, schools in the central province of Zambezia need over 150,000 desks, Niassa in the far north needs more than 112,000 desks, and even Maputo city is short of 7,500 desks.

“All provinces will receive a quota of the timber seized during Operation Trunk”, announced Sortane. The tenders for turning the timber into desks had already been launched, “and soon the desks will be produced”.

Also Read: More than 50% of girl students say they have been sexually harassed in school by a teacher – Study

As for child marriages, Verissimo said this is a practice that damages the development of Mozambique. But he claimed there is no law that criminalises child marriages, since this is “a cultural practice” that requires profound study so that society recognizes that young children can have no understanding of what marriage means.

In Mozambican law, the minimum age for marriage is 18 (or 16, with parental consent), but in itself this has not prevented the marriage of much younger girls to older men. “Child marriages violate the right of children to grow harmoniously”, said Verissimo, and campaigns are under way to discourage the practice.

Also Read: NGO wants “urgent measures” against child labour in Mozambique

Source: AIM