Mozambique

BY THE fourth century AD, Bantu-speaking farmers and ironworkers had migrated from the north through the Zambezi valley. En route, they ousted or assimilated the original hunter-gatherers. Eventually, they found their way onto the inland plateau of present-day Mozambique, also settling along the coastal areas on either side of the river mouth. Several centuries later Arab seafarers appeared, also from the north, and established trading settlements along the coast, which meant that political control of the coast lay for centuries in the hands of resident Muslim sultans. This placed Mozambique at the southern end of an extensive trading system that connected Africa’s entire east coast with Arabia and India...Read more.

There are both formal and informal education sectors in Mozambique. Formal education is divided into these categories: Pre-school education; Primary education; Secondary education; Technical and professional education; Higher education or tertiary education; and Adult education or adult literacy education. The Ministry of Education and Culture governs the higher education subsystem.
 

Type of Higher Education Institutions	Number of Institutions
Publicly funded universities	3
Publicly funded HE Institutions & colleges	3
Publicly funded HE Institutions	12
TOTAL	18

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Source: Mozambique MoE questionnaire response

In 1990, the government signed the World Declaration on Education for All and in 1992 the Ministry of Education began devising a plan for the long-term development of Basic Education. It affirmed its intention to strive towards the Education for All (EFA) goals. After much consultation and discussion, the National Education Policy and Strategies for Implementation was passed in 1995, setting up education as a key component to promote economic growth. In 1998, the Education Sector Strategic Plan 1999-2003 (ESSP) was launched, followed by ESSP II in 2004. A National Strategic Plan for Higher Education was released in 2006 (MRCI Report).
 

Higher Education Legislation	Brief Description
1993 Law of Higher Education (Law no 1/93)	Created the National Council for Higher Education (CNES) which had an advisory role and was made up of the rectors of both public and private higher education institutions. Until 1999 this Council, which was chaired by the Minister of Education, managed higher education in Mozambique.
The New Law of Higher Education in Mozambique (Law no. 5/2003)	This law is the result of the MESCT’s efforts to improve higher education in Mozambique. The law identifies gaps in previous legislation and outlines a series of prioritises.

List of Statutory Bodies in the Higher Education Sector

Statutory Bodies	Brief description
Ministry of Education and Culture	Governance of the higher education sub-system.

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Source: Mozambique MoE questionnaire response

Public Expenditure on Education as a % of Gross National Income (GNI)	2.4%
% Education budget allocated to higher education	64-70%
Loan/Grant scheme in place	No (only small scale provincial fund)

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Source: SARUA (2008) – Pillay report

Key Indicators	Mozambique
R&D Intensity [The ratio of Gross expenditure on R&D (GERD) to Gross Domestic Product (GDP)]	0.58% (2005)
ISI Output (Number of papers published in the 7500+ journals of the ISI Web of Science)	1990-1995: 134 1996-2001: 213 2002-2007: 366

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Source: SARUA (2008) – CREST Report