Better Quality Education for Mozambique – The TEPATE Project Motivates Students
According to the Sustainable Development Goals, all children should have access to school by 2030. In Mozambique, this goal is progressing well, with 94% of the age group having already started school.
However, there is a downside to this goal: countries focus on getting children through the school doors, but in the end, few pay enough attention to what happens inside the classrooms and what children are learning.
This is also the case in Mozambique, where Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences, the University of Lapland, the Universidade Pedagógica de Maputo, and the Instituto Superior de Educação e Tecnologia (ISET) have been running the TEPATE project, focused on education quality, for four years.
"Everyone essentially has access to school, and gender equality between boys and girls is in a reasonably good state," says Irmeli Maunonen-Eskelinen from Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences. "But learning outcomes are really poor."
She says that the level of teacher training is not adequate, the school administration does not care enough and resources, especially in rural areas, are scarce. Over 60% of Mozambicans live in rural areas.
Valuing Pupils and Students
Pedagogy teacher Hafsah Muhammad, from the ISET Institute, says that poor learning outcomes are largely due to traditional teaching methods where students are not valued.
"The teacher has all the power and knowledge in the classroom, and students are considered nothing. Traditionally, the teacher may even treat students badly and hit them."
Since the teaching method, according to Muhammad, is even cruel, students have no motivation to come to school and learn.
"In the end, they start families and don’t care about school."
The TEPATE project promoted a more modern and humane teaching approach, where students are valued and heard.
"The teacher must also listen to the student and see that they may have a lot of knowledge from other lessons and from home," says Muhammad.
In student-centred teaching, students are divided into small groups and given different challenges. In classrooms, one can hear small debates and exchanges of ideas, and teachers can even learn from students.
"Students develop a desire to learn," says Muhammad.
In practice, the project created teacher training modules and communication materials and trained nearly a thousand people from among higher education teaching staff and secondary school teachers.
"Students were also involved in course development, which is not very traditional in Mozambique," says Irmeli Maunonen-Eskelinen.
A Change in Thinking is More Important than Money
Hafsah Muhammad says that projects focused on education quality are rare in Mozambique. Typically, the various development projects focus on economic issues, and people often think about the money: what it will be used for, how it will be distributed and who will get it.
"Teachers in nearby schools said that the biggest shortcomings are poor working conditions, lack of teaching materials and lack of money," she says.
She praises TEPATE for encouraging teachers to reflect on how small changes in teaching methods can be made on a day-to-day basis without funding. For example, students can be divided into small groups for discussions, or taken for walks in the nearby nature, without a big budget.
"If you think about money first, the projects will end and the quality of education in Mozambique will not have improved," she says. "I have visited many schools and seen that, above all, we need a change of behaviour in classrooms."
Broader Collaboration is Needed
Irmeli Maunonen-Eskelinen sees a major success in the fact that two very different teacher training institutions have collaborated so well.
The Universidade Pedagógica (UP) is a large institution operating nationwide, while the ISET is a small institution in a rural area, supported by the development organisation ADPP Mozambique, a member of the Humana People to People international network.
"They have learned a lot about each other's pedagogical approaches," says Maunonen-Eskelinen.
"When looking at the challenges of teacher training in Mozambique, I think broader efforts and collaboration between multiple organisations are needed."
During the project, a spirit emerged where there was a willingness to disseminate new methods widely, and if all organisations involved in teacher training could be united for the development of the sector, good results could be achieved.
Learnings from Abroad are Important
Mozambican universities have many staff members who have gained knowledge abroad. Portugal is a familiar country for many, and studies have also been conducted in Germany and some other European countries.
Maunonen-Eskelinen believes this provides a good boost for the development of education.
"It brings ideas, influences and a point of comparison for their own development."
For this reason, she finds it sad that Finland's development cooperation country programme in Mozambique has been terminated. One of its focuses was the development of education.
Hafsah Muhammad says that visits to Finland have changed her.
"The Finnish education system is far from our reality."
She observed how teachers in Finland interact with students.
"It’s really beautiful, and implementing that in Mozambique is not impossible if there’s the will."
Next Project Focuses on Inclusion
Among the HEI-ICI projects that ended in 2024, the TEPATE team is the only one starting a continuation under the new HEP instrument. In total, there are seven HEP projects.
In the new project, called TIPOTE, the focus is on promoting inclusion in education in Mozambique, particularly for people with disabilities.
"Here, people with disabilities are barely included in education," says Muhammad.
The goal of the project is to change the attitudes and thoughts of teachers and teacher trainers as regards disability and diversity, and then to develop various methods to better guarantee everyone’s right to education.
Text: Esa Salminen