Management and Administration of Education

In Mozambique, the Ministry of Education headquarters assumes overall responsibility for the administration of all education institutions in the country.  The Minister of Education, the Vice-Minister and the Permanent Secretary, sit at the apex of the Ministry.

The Ministry comprises 10 national directorates namely,

  • The National Directorate for Finance and Administration,
  • The National Directorate for Basic Education,
  • The National Directorate for Technical and Vocational Education,
  • The National Directorate for Secondary Education,
  • The National Directorate for Adult Education,
  • The National Directorate for Human Resources Development,
  • The National Directorate for Teacher Training,
  • The National Directorate for Pedagogic Support Resources,
  • The Inspectorate, and
  • The National Directorate for Planning.

There is a Provincial Directorate of Education for each of the 11 provinces, and this directorate falls under the command of a Provincial Director. Below the Provincial Directorate there is the District Directorate headed by a District Director. There are 146 districts in Mozambique. Below the District Directorate there is the school which is headed by a School Director. 

Curriculum development for general education (primary, secondary and pre-university) and teacher training (basic and intermediate)  is carried out by the National Institute for Educational Development (INDE).

In 2000, the Ministry of Education initiated the process of decentralising curriculum development and monitoring. This system allows 20 percent of the national curriculum for basic education to be the “local curriculum”, implying that this portion of the curriculum was to be developed locally. This is one of the major innovations of the “Basic Education Curriculum Transformation in Mozambique” It is expected that the “local curriculum” will provide for the specific learning needs of the learners.

Duration of compulsory education: 7 years

Starting age of compulsory education: 6 years

Ending age of compulsory education: 12 years

Enrolment in 2006*

 
Female
Male
Total
Primary
 Gross enrolment rate
96.9
112.6
104.8
Net enrolment rate
73.1
79.0
76.0
Secondary
 Gross enrolment rate
12.9
18.1
15.5
Net enrolment rate
4.0
4.4
4.2

Pupil - Teacher Ratios in 2006*

  • Primary: 67.4 pupils per teacher
  • Secondary: 35.7 pupils per teacher

*latest data as of March 2009 from UNESCO Institute for Statistics

See the SACMEQ reports for more information.