Mozambique: Government to fail reduction of high teacher-student ratio

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Mozambique: Government to fail reduction of high teacher-student ratio

5:03 CAT | 06 Nov 2018

File photo: Lusa

The Mozambican government is to fail the commitment of reducing the teacher-student ratio in 2019, due to the low resources it allocates to education, civil society organisations said.

“The overall average teacher-student ratio [in primary education] is still 60 students for one teacher, but the goal is to reduce this to 57 students per teacher by 2019, which will not happen,” said Filipe Sambo, a researcher of the Education for All Movement (MEPT), today at a sector meeting.

Sambo pointed out that education receives 22.7% of the state budget, but only 6% is channelled to investment expenses. Of the funds earmarked for the sector, 49% goes to operating expenses and salaries.

“There is a large part of the budget that is spent at a central level and when it comes to the provincial and district level, many difficulties can be seen to persist, such as students still studying in the open,” he added.

Sambo cited poor planning, along with flaws in accountability and control of budget execution, as among the main shortcomings in the implementation of education policies in Mozambique.

Source: Lusa