Training
Since the political situation has stabilized
from the mid-1990s, basic education has improved and the
country is on track to achieve the goal of all children
starting school. At the beginning of the 2010s, nine out
of ten children started compulsory school. But some did
not complete the education and in the countryside the
proportion of children attending school was lower than
in the cities.
Three years before Mozambique's liberation from
colonial power Portugal 1975, fewer than a third of the
colony's children attended school. In 1979, when the
Marxist Frelimo regime ruled for four years, the
proportion had increased to over half. However, the
civil war between the Frelimo regime and the Renamo
guerrillas (c. 1980-1994) hit the school system hard.
Half of the country's schools were destroyed or forced
to strike again due to guerrilla attacks. Many teachers
were murdered and in 1995, only one in three children
returned to school.
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Allcitypopulation: Offers a list of biggest cities in the state of
Mozambique, including the capital city which hosts major colleges and
universities.
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COUNTRYAAH:
Country facts of Mozambique, including geography profile, population statistics, and business data.
The children start school when they are six years old
and have compulsory schooling for seven years. Then
comes a voluntary three-year post-graduate phase,
followed by another two or three years of study. The
teaching takes place both in the children's mother
tongue and in Portuguese. Almost a fifth of those who
left primary school continue at the postgraduate stage.
Poverty and teacher shortages are still serious
problems, despite the fact that the government is
investing large sums to improve the situation; education
was, as before, the largest government expenditure item
for 2015. Tuition is free of charge, but the families of
children have to pay for school supplies and uniforms.
There are three state and one private university in
Mozambique. The shortage of educated labor is great.
This is partly because the education system does not
meet the requirements set by some professions, and
partly because highly educated Mozambicans often apply
abroad. In 2014, six new technical colleges and two new
technical colleges were started.
At independence, almost a tenth of Mozambicans could
read and write. The government has invested heavily in
reducing illiteracy, but only over half of the adult
population is still estimated to be able to read and
write.
FACTS - EDUCATION
Proportion of children starting primary
school
87.5 percent (2017)
Number of pupils per teacher in primary
school
52 (2017)
Reading and writing skills
56.0 percent (2015)
Public expenditure on education as a
percentage of GDP
19.0 percent (2013)
Public expenditure on education as a
percentage of the state budget
19.0 percent (2013)
2016
December
Parliamentary inquiry dots the government
December 7
A parliamentary commission that has investigated the scandal with
Mozambique's unrecognized billion debt states that the government has violated
the constitution by acting as a guarantor for loans that have not been approved
by Parliament. In total, these are up to two billion US dollars that have not
been reported. During the year, the value of the domestic currency metically
dropped more than 80 percent against the US dollar, following a fall of 36
percent in 2015. Government debt is estimated to amount to 130 percent of GDP
for 2016.
October
More political murders
October 29th
Two local Frelimo politicians are kidnapped and killed in the city of Mutua
in the north. According to one person who manages to escape were the kidnappers
from Renamo. The next day, a regional head of Renamo in the port city of Beira
is murdered by two unidentified men.
Discontinued dialogue again
October 18
The peace talks between Renamo and the government resume. The talks were
suspended after the murder of one of Renamo's dealers on October 7. Jeremias
Pondeca was shot dead while jogging in the capital. The murder was widely
perceived as an attempt to stop the dialogue. It was condemned by the outside
world and the country's president.
August
Proposed power sharing
August 17th
A first step on the road to peace is reported after the government in the
Maputo negotiations agreed to draft a law on decentralization of power. A
special committee will draft the law with a view to its adoption before the next
election, 2019. A spokesman for Renamo's negotiating delegation says that
renamed provincial governors from Renamo should be appointed "as soon as
possible." Renamo's leader Dhlakama claims power in six of the country's eleven
provinces, where he believes Renamo won the 2014 election.
Six killed in assault
August 15th
Police say six people killed in a vehicle were shot dead by Renamo. Two
survivors, both from Bangladesh, claim that the army was behind the attack.
Try peace talks
August 8th
The government and Renamo initiate peace talks in the capital Maputo. It is
hoped that international mediators - including the EU, the Catholic Church and
the Government of South Africa - will be able to achieve a peace agreement.
Renamo demands, among other things, that a previous promise from the 1992 peace
agreement for guerrilla soldiers to be included in the army and the police must
be fully implemented. At the same time as the peace talks are being started,
reports are being made of how rebels from Renamo attack a village in the north
and burn down government buildings and a health center.
June
The IMF calls for action
June 25
The IMF appeals to the outside world to try to curb the downturn in the
Mozambican economy. The country's growth is expected to decline to 4.5 percent
during the year, compared with 6.6 percent in 2015. The local currency metical
has dropped 28 percent in value since the beginning of the year and the
inflation rate reached 16 percent in May. According to the IMF, the discovery of
a previously unreported debt of $ 1.4 billion means that the central government
debt at the end of 2015 corresponded to 86 percent of GDP.
April
The World Bank is also responding
April 27
Following the disclosure of Mozambique's unrecognized billion debt, the World
Bank is also withdrawing planned support. The measure stops the payment of US $
40 million to the state budget.
Loan scandal stops aid
April 19
International Monetary Fund (IMF) suspends aid payments after it was revealed
that Mozambique has a "hidden" debt of nearly US $ 1.2 billion through
unrecognized loans. The government recognizes that the state has guaranteed the
loans taken by three state-supported companies in European banks in 2013 and
2014. In total, the three companies borrowed more than SEK 2 billion, but a loan
of $ 850 million for the purchase of fishing boats was reported. The loans kept
secret were used to procure equipment to protect shipping, shipyards and
offshore gas sources from pirates. Other lenders follow the IMF's example and
the scandal triggers the worst financial crisis the country has experienced
since independence.
March
Police action against Renamo
March 28
Police strike Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama's home in Maputo and say there
were 47 weapons used in various violent crimes in the capital. Dhlakama calls
the campaign an "invasion" and says he will respond to it politically.
New wave of refugees
March 15th
Renewed violence between Renamo and government troops has triggered a stream
of refugees into Malawi. Since mid-December, some 10,000 Mozambicans have moved
across the border to the neighboring country, the UN says.
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