The district of Moatize, in the central province of Tete, faces a pressing challenge in education, with a need to acquire 822 desks to ease the difficulties of 3,300 children who currently attend lessons in precarious conditions, sitting on the floor and in spaces unsuited to teaching.
Luis Piloro Pensado, District Director of Education, Youth and Technology (SDEJT), expressed his concern about the situation, stressing that the shortage of desks is adversely affecting pupils' absorption of knowledge and creating difficulties for teachers.
For the current school year, the purchase of 575 double desks had been planned, to be distributed among 23 classrooms in several Complete Primary Schools (EPCs) in the district, namely in Madamba, Magala I, Mutarara, Moatize, Waenera, Paroquia and Capanga. "Our biggest challenge in the education sector is to acquire desks so that we can get the children off the floor; we have more than three thousand children on the floor," Pensado said in statements to the Mozambique News Agency (AIM).
The lack of transport for the technicians responsible for monitoring and evaluating educational activities in the district is another challenge pointed out by the source. Pensado says that having a vehicle available would significantly ease the work in the 162 schools in Moatize, especially given the district's challenging geography. "This is an Achilles heel; sometimes we have to use personal transport to carry out supervision, so our challenge is to acquire motorbikes and at least one vehicle to keep activities moving," he explained.
In the midst of preparations for the final exams for the 6th, 10th and 12th grades, which involve around 10,255 pupils in Moatize, the district, which this year recorded a school enrolment of 111,999 pupils across all education subsystems (exceeding the forecast of 110,940), still faces other challenges. Despite a delay in the distribution of free textbooks for the 1st and 6th grades, it was possible to ensure the distribution of 191,997 copies to all educational establishments.
As regards the construction of school infrastructure, work is under way to build 32 new classrooms. Of the district's 162 schools, 159 are public and three are private. Moatize also has 47 Pedagogical Influence Zones (ZIPs), an Intermediate Institute of Geology and Mining, a student residence and three boarding centres.
The district has 1,900 teachers, part of a total of 2,268 civil servants and State agents, all of them committed to providing quality education, even in the face of the challenges described.
