Mozambique

General Survey: Preprimary and primary education is taught in three stages: a preprimary creche, for ages 1 to 5, and Jardim Infantil, for ages 5 and 6; a lower primary level (EP1), for ages 7 to 11, from grades 1 to 5, with approximately 2,180,334 students in 1997; and a higher primary level (EP2), for ages 12 and 13, consisting of grades 6 and 7, with approximately 199,126 students in 1997. While this policy can often not be enforced due to financial and other constraints, both EP1 and EP2 are compulsory. The EP1 pupils are mainly rural; most EP2 students are semi-rural, studying mainly in district seats.

Curriculum—Examinations: Eight subjects are taught in EP1 and EP2 (grades 1 through 7). Portuguese is taught for 12 hours per week in grade 1; 11 hours per week in grade 2; 10 hours per week in grades 3 and 4; 9 hours per week in grade 5; 6 hours per week in grade 6; and 5 hours per week in grade 7. Mathematics is taught for 6 hours per week in grades 1 through 5 and for 5 hours per week in grades 6 and 7. Natural sciences is taught for 2 hours per week in grades 3 and 4 and for 3 hours per week in grade 5. Biology is taught for 3 hours per week in grade 6 and for 4 hours per week in grade 7. Geography is taught for 2 hours per week in grade 5 and for 3 hours per week in grades 6 and 7. History is taught for 2 hours per week in grades 4 and 5 and for 3 hours per week in grades 6 and 7. Aesthetics and working education is taught for 2 hours per week in grade 1; 3 hours per week in grades 2 through 5; and 4 hours per week in grades 6 and 7. Physical education is taught for 2 hours per week in grades 1 through 6 and for 3 hours per week in grade 7.

At the end of EP2, students have three options: to proceed to secondary education; to proceed to an elementary technical/vocational education; or to enter basic technical/professional education from which they can move on to middle elementary technical and vocational education. At this stage students also have the option of choosing vocational schools in education.

Repeaters & Dropouts: According to the Ministry of Education, the average pupil-teacher ratio in primary education is 50:1; the dropout and repetition rates are in the region of 20 percent. The quality of education is further aggravated by overcrowded classrooms, insufficient quantities of schoolbooks and teaching materials, and the inadequate professional training of teachers. Their poor living conditions and lack of access to sources that would help them deal with the issues facing the country before they are asked to take responsibility for their students' educations are also problems. Other reasons for the high dropout rate are problems with the official language, migration of families, and poverty of families.

Although public primary education is free and compulsory, less than 50 percent of school-age children attend classes. Because of financial and other constraints, the government has been unable to enforce this policy. Even though the minimum working age is 18-years-old and children younger than 15 are not permitted to work, children not in school frequently are employed in the agricultural and casual labor sectors, increasingly in construction jobs and in the informal labor sector. Often children younger than 15 work alongside their parents or independently in seasonal harvests or commercial plantations where they are normally compensated with school supplies and books rather than money.