Mozambique: 7,000 tents needed in Sofala as thousands face return to school without classrooms – O País

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Mozambique: 7,000 tents needed in Sofala as thousands face return to school without classrooms – O País

3:16 CAT | 22 Mar 2021

Photo: Sofalando

Sixty-nine new primary and secondary schools will start operating this school year in five districts hit by Cyclone Idai in Sofala province. The province, however, is still registering a shortage of classrooms, and needs more than 7,000 tents to ensure that students do not miss classes, O País reports.

The city of Beira and the districts of Nhamatanda, Buzi, Cheringoma and Muanza were devastated by Cyclone Idai two years ago, with thousands of classrooms and schools reduced partially or totally to rubble.

According to Sofala governor Lourenço Bulha, the spectre of destruction still prevails, with many school buildings still waiting to be rebuilt.

In addition, and in the context of Covid-19, there are still currently hygiene and sanitation shortfalls in many schools.

In March 2019, Cyclone Idai destroyed 2,713 classrooms in Sofala, affecting 237,186 students.

A year later, in January 2020, nature again tested Sofala’s resilience, with Cyclone Eloise destroying 1,027 conventional and precarious classrooms, to the detriment of 105,659 students.

Speaking at the opening of the academic year in the district of Muanza, Governor Bulha admitted that only 470 of the 3,740 rooms classrooms destroyed by the cyclones had been replaced.

The 69 schools that will start operating, however, will benefit 24,435 students.

Sofalansch — *Classroom at Primary School of Derunde Linha, in Muanza district, Sofaa. [Photo: Conselho Executivo Provincial de Sofala]*

“At the moment, the province lacks 3,197 classrooms, among conventional, mixed and precarious. To remedy the situation, 7,075 tents are needed to serve as classrooms,” Bulha said.

The governor of Sofala added that 318,410 students remained affected by the destruction wrought by Cyclones Idai and Eloise.

For her part, UNICEF representative in Mozambique Deize Mahota called for education to be guaranteed, especially for children displaced by armed violence and natural disasters. Mahota stressed that resuming classes under Covid-19 would not be easy, and that preventive measures should be scrupulously observed.

“Back to school will not be easy due to Covid-19. Educational establishments must be safe places, especially for girls, who are most vulnerable,” Mahota said.

Students in Mozambique return to school this Monday in all teaching subsystems.

By Yumaina Mussane