Mozambique: Education ministry will not write off school year – AIM report

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Mozambique: Education ministry will not write off school year – AIM report

9:29 CAT | 24 Jun 2020

File photo: O País

The Mozambican Ministry of Education has refused to write off the 2020 school year, despite the three months that children have spent away from classes.

All schools – ranging from creches up to universities – were closed as from 23 March, a measure that was confirmed in the state of emergency that took effect on 1 April. The intention was to halt the spread of the coronavirus that causes the Covid-19 respiratory disease.

The Education Ministry has been relying on distance learning to fill the gap left by the absence of studying in schools. Classes were broadcast on radio and television, and parents were told to pick up notes from schools to help the children continue studying at home.

But distance learning can only work in areas where the children have access to radio or to television – and remote areas with no electricity are ruled out straightaway.

Education Ministry spokesperson Gina Mabunda, addressing a Maputo press conference on Monday pointed to the sheer impossibility of accommodating all the country’s children in the schools, if the 2020 school year is regarded as lost.

For every year about 1.5 million pupils enter first grade. Where could next year’s intake be put, if their places are still occupied by children who entered first grade in 2020?

“If 1.5 million children enter first grade next year, these children are going to have to find space, and finding that space means that somebody has to leave”, she said.

Mabunda thought it very premature to write off the current school year. Instead, she insisted that the school calendar and the activities programmed for this year would have to be re-adjusted.

“We say again that this school year is not lost, even if this means that we do not finish the 2020 school year in November, as was planned in our previous documents”, she said.

She recognised that no date has yet been fixed for reopening the schools, but stressed that the Ministry is working with the provincial education directorates to ensure the creation of appropriate conditions so that, when schools do re-open, children can return safely.

Mabunda admitted that re-opening the schools depends on relaxing the restrictive measures adopted under the state of emergency. That decision lies in the hands of President Filipe Nyusi.

“What the Ministry of Education is doing is preparing conditions in the schools and at all levels so that we are not taken by surprise”, said Mabunda.

Before schools can re-open, their managements must ensure that adequate hygiene conditions are in place. Soap and water are among the basics required, since regular washing of hands is a key requirement in the fight against Covid-19.

It seems likely that children and teachers will be asked to wear masks at school. The crowded nature of Mozambican classrooms will make social distancing difficult, and so splitting classes into two or three is being considered.