30 November 2007
Maputo — Mozambican President Armando Guebuza on Thursday called for strengthened links between the country's universities and the productive sector.
Speaking at a ceremony where 957 students graduated from Mozambique's largest institution of higher education, the Eduardo
Mondlane University, Guebuza stressed "in our governance we advocate that links between universities and the productive sector are imperative in day-to-day life. They should be continually strengthened and diversified".
In playing such a role, he added, the universities would be valued as centres that produce relevant knowledge and are better integrated into the struggle against poverty.
Guebuza urged universities to increase the opportunities for their students to contact the reality where they will be working after completing their courses. "This type of contact will be more frequent if we bank on a higher education that is aimed at solving the problems of real life", he said.
He urged the new graduates to use their knowledge to study solutions to the problems identified, and to apply them in dialogue with the productive sector.
For Guebuza, a further key step in strengthening the universities' role in fighting poverty would be to ensure that universities are physically present in the rural districts. This could be achieved through regular short courses in districts, or the signing of technical assistance agreements between universities and district administrations.
Following this path, the President argued, universities would stimulate increased production and productivity. They would help identify and make the best use of local resources, and would assist in the location and sustainability of future economic undertakings.
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