Mozambique: MINEDH guarantees financial support for schools to distribute masks

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Mozambique: MINEDH guarantees financial support for schools to distribute masks

5:16 CAT | 14 Jul 2020

File photo: Lusa

The Ministry of Education and Human Development (MINEDH) yesterday said it had secured financial support for schools to implement coronavirus prevention measures, and will also distribute masks free of charge to students and teachers

On the 27th of July, Grade 12 students will return to school for the first time since last March. MINEDH is already moving forward with preparations, above all regarding preventative measures. A package called COVID-19 (Direct Support for Schools – ADE COVID-19) has been created, with the ministry, although not revealing the overall amount involved, guaranteeing that the money is already being distributed to schools.

“In principle, the amount is already being distributed, similarly to what happened at the beginning of the year with ADE. But it is an ADE specially addressed to this COVID-19 issue,” MINEDH spokesperson Gina Guibunda told journalists. “It is from this amount that the masks will be purchased (one for each teacher and two for each student), as well as hygiene and cleaning materials in all schools.”

Asked how the money would be apportioned, Guibunda clarified that the ADE money would be decided according to the number of students, and that provinces were at that moment proceeding with confirmation. “It is true that we started from the base that was delivered at the beginning of the year. But there was an increase. It is 125 meticais per student, and this amount is multiplied by the number of students,” she explained.

Asked further about what the department had learned so far in relation to the condition of the schools that might reopen, the MINEDH spokeswoman said that number of schools lacking the necessary conditions had not been determined, although there were, on a preliminary basis, a number that were clearly able to reopen.

“In general, we have 667 secondary schools, of which 322 teach the second cycle, which is where the Grade 12 classes are. It is true that this preparation started a long time ago and, as conditions are approved, schools will be named as those that can start. But there is still no school that we can a priori declare to be prepared, since the independent commission has not yet done its verifications,” she stressed.

Regarding preparations for the resumption of Grade 12 classes, MINEDH said that some subjects would be suspended for still longer, namely Physical Education, Agriculture and Entrepreneurship, “because these entail more physical contact”, Guibunda explained.

The Education sector has not yet advanced any date for the resumption of classes in other grades, but the success of the resumption of Grade 12 classes may be decisive in this respect.

Gina Guibunda, who was speaking yesterday on the sidelines of a meeting with managers of secondary schools in the city and province of Maputo led by the Minister of Education and Human Development, Carmelita Namashulua, also revealed that the current academic year could be extended into 2021.

By Romeu Carlos

Source: O País