Mozambique: NGO provides new schools for 8.400 pupils in cyclone-hit Manica

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Mozambique: NGO provides new schools for 8.400 pupils in cyclone-hit Manica

8:11 CAT | 18 Jun 2021

A total of 8,357 pupils will now have classes in conventional classrooms in two districts of Manica, central Mozambique, with the delivery of 11 rehabilitated schools, an official source told Lusa on Thursday.

The children had classes in the open or in shacks in the districts of Gondola and Macate after cyclone Idai, in 2019, and now receive cyclone-proof schools with electrical autonomy, thanks to solar panels.

The 11 schools, eight rehabilitated and three built from scratch, are part of the latest intervention by international NGO Save The Children in response to the impact of Idai.

The aim is to ensure that all children have “the right to receive quality and inclusive education”, according to the organisation’s director in Manica province, Ana Dulce Guizado.

The teaching infrastructure is among the most affected by Idai, so much so that the effects are still being felt today, so the NGO has also provided 935 desks for classrooms.

The local authorities hope that the renovated schools will serve to combat school dropouts, said the spokesman for the provincial education directorate in Manica, João Tricamo.

The new classrooms will avoid stoppages that used to happen “whenever it rained or there was bad weather”, he said.

The Provincial Executive Council plans this year to build 40 more classrooms for primary education and 10 for secondary education with the support of several partners, as well as the distribution of 6,675 desks, said the Governor of Manica, Francisca Tomas.

“The construction of 43 temporary spaces to minimise the deficit of classrooms (resulting from the redistribution of classes due to Covid-19) is underway, and the construction of 71 mixed classrooms, taking advantage of local material, will begin soon,” she added.

Cyclone Idai hit central Mozambique in March 2019, caused 604 deaths and 1.8 million people were affected.

It was one of the deadliest cyclones on record in the southern hemisphere, with high winds and flooding whose social and economic damage is still being felt today.

Source: Lusa