Differences Part Two: School

We experienced several differences related to schools in Mozambique. Children can walk up to several miles a day (without shoes) in order to get to school. sometimes very young, 5-6 year old children do this , without supervision. Class sizes in Mozambique now average right around 70 per class. The US Department of Education estimates that in the US, nationally, the average class size is twenty-five. Many times, driving along the Beira corridor, from Beira to Mutare, we will see classes meeting outside, for lack of classroom space. We have also seen classrooms that are simply bare rooms, no furniture, sometimes students carry small stools back and forth to school with them.

Another difference. Currently in order to be a become a teacher in Mozambique, (as it was explained to me) one can go to six-eight years of regular school, with one or two years of teaching education. Essentially nine years of schooling will get a teaching credential right now in Mozambique. With fewer teachers, schools also have fewer support staff, secretaries, counselors, nurses, etc are pretty much non-existent in the rural schools. finally, universities, It's difficult to count, but in trying to find information on Universities in Mozambique I think I found references to about ten entities that could call themselves Universities, for a population of 22 million people.