Helpo supported 765 secondary school students in Mozambique in 2017

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Helpo supported 765 secondary school students in Mozambique in 2017

11:42 CAT | 02 Feb 2018

Photo: Helpo Facebook

The ‘Futuro Maior’ (‘Greater Future’) programme promoted by the Portuguese association Helpo supported a total of 765 secondary school students in Mozambique in 2017, with 20 of them receiving their final certificates in Nampula this week.

Ondina Giga, coordinator of the programme the NGO started in 2012, told Lusa that the ‘Greater Future’ was created because many of the children who complete the first cycle of education in Mozambique end up not being able to continue their studies.

Scholarships awarded through the association, largely supported under the distance sponsorship programme, allow young people to pay tuition and purchase school supplies, uniforms and footwear (which is mandatory), and provide personalised assistance to each student .

The EUR 35.00 per annum support given by the sponsors covers expenses and gives young people the opportunity to study up to the 12th grade, opening many doors in terms of employability.

Ondina Giga stated that many pupils abandon their education at the end of primary school, which is free and available in communities – because secondary, besides the compulsory costs, is taught in fewer schools, often far from where the children live.

“The programme allows us at least to give them what they need to start the school year,” which in Mozambique runs from February to November, she noted.

Helpo also has a partnership with a Mozambican company that provides bicycles for the students’ journeys and, occasionally, a home for those who live in more isolated areas.

Giga remarked that many girls give up school because they get married or fall pregnant, a situation in which the association has also sought to intervene.

The opening ceremony of the academic year took place on Wednesday at the Lúrio University (a partner of the NGO) Marrere Campus in Nampula district. The certificates were awarded to 20 beneficiaries of the ‘Futuro Maior’ by the provincial director of education and human development, Júlio Mendes, the Portuguese ambassador in Mozambique, Maria Amélia Paiva, Portuguese Mozambique cooperation attachee Patrícia Pincarilho and the Helpo Mozambique coordinator Carlos Almeida .

Helpo has been active in Portugal, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe and Guinea Bissau since 2007, promoting development through education and nutrition.

Source: Lusa