Enhancing education quality in Mozambique involves everyone

Education is essential for people to succeed and for any country to grow. Mozambique has been working hard to improve education as part of its development plans. In 2018, the government changed its education laws to ensure that all kids can attend school for free from the beginning to grade nine and made preschool an official part of education. This shows the country is serious about giving more children the chance to get a good education.

But even with these changes, there are still many challenges with the quality of education. Many students, especially in the north and central parts of the country, aren't doing well in school. Less than half of the students finish primary school, and girls are more likely to drop out than boys. By the time they finish third grade, only 5% of kids can read and understand a simple text.

The World Bank and its partners are helping Mozambique tackle these issues. We're doing this through projects, research, and policy dialogue. The World Bank is helping Mozambique's education system at every stage of students’ lives, from when kids are very young to when they're adults learning new skills or going to university. To ensure this works well, Mozambique needs good teachers who are well-trained and excited about teaching, schools that are good and safe places to learn, and enough books and other materials for kids to learn from.

Why textbooks matter and how to secure them

Reading is crucial for learning and gaining knowledge, setting the foundation for a child's education journey. That's why having textbooks and other reading materials is so important for teaching and learning, especially in the early years of education. Using textbooks effectively can greatly improve how well students learn and their overall educational outcomes. With a growing number of students, it's vital that textbooks are affordable so more kids can benefit from them.

To tackle these challenges, the World Bank has teamed up with Mozambique's Ministry of Education and other partners in the Education Sector Fund (FASE). Together, we're finding the best ways to get more textbooks into schools. Initially, efforts focused on lowering textbook costs and changing policies to encourage competition, separating content development from printing to boost efficiency. This led to a 41% drop in textbook costs between 2008 and 2015, making it possible to provide more books to support teaching and learning.

The next phase aims to further improve how textbooks and learning materials are provided, especially for grades 1 to 3 under the MozLearning Project, as part of a core program to build literacy skills in the Portuguese language, Aprender+. Recently, the Ministry of Education and Human Development (MINEDH) adopted a policy of multi-year framework agreements for printing textbooks. This means they now make agreements for three to five years, avoiding the need for new tenders every year. This approach is expected to ensure textbooks arrive on time at schools, letting MINEDH focus on other ways to improve education quality.

Similar approaches have worked well in other countries, like Kenya. Effective planning for every step of the textbook process—from creating content to distributing books to managing them at schools—is crucial for success as Mozambique works to implement these changes.

Looking beyond textbooks  

At the World Bank, we uphold core values like transparency, competitiveness, and integrity in all the countries we work with. By building partnerships with governments and stakeholders, our goal is to create sustainable education projects. While supporting textbooks is important, we're also involved in many other educational priorities, such as increasing enrollment, improving learning, making schools stronger against the impact of climate change, and promoting fairness between genders.

 Quality education involves everyone

 Looking ahead, the World Bank aims to improve education for all children. This means everyone in society needs to work together. We want to talk about how important good education is, encourage people to ask for better teaching, and encourage leaders to make the necessary changes. Our main goals include training teachers well, using new technology in classrooms, and always checking to see if agreed-upon plans are working.

Partnerships are key to reaching these goals, and we're here for the long term to help governments with their education plans. The World Bank has been in Mozambique for four decades, and in many areas, we see progress, while in many others, we see the need for continued support to ensure that outcomes are achieved and sustainable. Ensuring all kids access quality education will require all parts of society in Mozambique to be involved, including the private sector, civil society, and parents.  While we offer support and advice, governments make things happen. We're committed to Mozambique's education for the long term, working hard to help give all kids the chance to access quality education to fulfill their potential and become active participants in the country's sustainable development.