Türkiye awarded 40 Mozambican students with university scholarships
Government again mobilises FDS to supervise final exams amid teachers’ overtime dispute – Carta de Moçambique
1:52 CAT | 13 Nov 2025
FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Carta de Moçambique]
After entrusting officers from the Mozambican Police (PRM) and the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) with the supervision of final exams for 10th and 12th grades in 2024, the Government is once again considering involving the security sector to ensure the smooth running of the 2025 exams, amid threats of a teachers’ strike over delays in overtime payments. The exams are set to begin next week.
In an interview with Lusa, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Education and Culture, Silvestre Dava, said the Government will reinforce security measures nationwide during the final exams. The reinforcement will involve deploying members of the Defence and Security Forces (FDS) to critical locations to ensure the normal conduct of the tests.
“We trust that most teachers will not join the strike and that the exams will proceed as normal,” said Dava, emphasising that the Government “is monitoring the situation with attention and responsibility”. Teachers, who say they have lost confidence in the competent institutions, are demanding that overtime payments be made by Saturday, 15 November, as a condition to call off the strike.
READ: Mozambique: Teachers call on Chapo to intervene to solve overtime dispute
As of Wednesday, school closures related to the final exams had been confirmed at Nossa Senhora do Livramento, Daejo-Cheile, and Muhalaze Trindade I schools, all in the Greater Maputo area, which are demanding payment of outstanding overtime from 2023.
In a letter addressed to the Matola District Administrator, the teaching staff recalled that despite promises made by the Government throughout the year, the debts remain unpaid. The document reveals that the approval of payrolls was completed months ago, but the estimated 20 million meticais “were never processed by the Treasury.”
Teachers also claim that falsified accounting documents were presented to justify the delays, further eroding their trust in local authorities. The group stressed that this situation is recurrent, noting that similar cases occurred in 2022, involving “the same officials” and mainly affecting teachers at community schools staffed by public-sector educators.
For that reason, teachers at these schools decided to suspend all classes on Monday, 10 November, also refusing to hand over school registers or take part in exam invigilation and marking. They insist they will only resume classes once full payment of the outstanding overtime has been made, stating that the decision comes after “exhausting all institutional channels” to resolve the issue.
It should be recalled that in 2024, hundreds of teachers went on strike in the city and province of Maputo to protest against delays in overtime payments. In some schools, students joined the teachers, boycotting the process. As in previous years, the security forces were mobilised to replace teachers in exam rooms.
READ: Mozambique: ANAPRO files complaint with Ombudsman against Education Minister
Mozambique: Teachers boycott final exams – AIM report
Source: Carta de Moçambique
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