|
|
Mozambique: Massive Expansion of School Network
 |
 |
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
13 December 2007
Posted to the web 13 December 2007
Maputo
The expansion of the Mozambican school network this year led to an increase in the number of pupils of 10.4 per cent, compared with the 2006 figures, declared President Armando Guebuza on Thursday.
Giving his annual State of the Nation address to the country's parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, Guebuza noted that there had been an "explosion" in secondary education with a 33.6 per cent increase in the number of pupils.
"This growth has challenged our capacity to provide classrooms and trained teachers", he admitted. "So the accelerated and decentralized construction of school, with strong involvement of the communities, is the adequate response to the demand for universal education",
"Flexible and rapid teacher training models" had been adopted, said Guebuza, allowing the government "to redouble training capacity".
The reform of technical and professional education was now under way, notably through the Community Skills Development Centres which "have been training young people and women in skills allowing them to developing income generating activities and promoting self-employment", said the President.
The government was relying on professional and technical education, he added, "to produce graduates with abilities and skills that give them greater relevance in the sustainable development of their communities and of the country in general".
As for the health services, Guebuza noted that the latest statistics show that 16 per cent of Mozambicans aged between 15 and 49 are infected with the HIV virus that causes the lethal disease AIDS. This was a slight reduction on the 2004 prevalence figure of 16.2 per cent.
This, Guebuza said, "results from our collective commitment to the fight against this disease, and may mean that we are heading towards stabilisation". But there was no room for complacency since "16 per cent is still a very high prevalence rate, and in some provinces the levels of infection are on the rise".
He pointed out that the great majority of HIV infections occur sexually, and called for "a deep reflection on the irresponsible practice of multiple sexual partners which is one of the reasons for the spread of the disease".
Many Mozambicans simply assumed that their partners were faithful to them and did not carry the virus. "It's because of this naivety, and the belief that the physical appearances of partners is a sign of good health, that the virus can penetrate", Guebuza declared.
|
Turning to agriculture, Guebuza once again stressed the need for a "Green Revolution" that would "increase the levels of agricultural production and productivity through the use of improved seeds, fertilizers, adequate production technologies, including animal traction, agricultural mechanization, and the construction of reservoirs for irrigation".
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2007 Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
