Maputo — The Mozambican Education Ministry and the Japanese government signed an agreement in Maputo on Tuesday, under which Japan will grant about 10 million US dollars for the construction of four new secondary schools in the southern provinces of Maputo and Gaza.

Signing the agreement were Education Minister Aires Ali, Japanese Ambassador Susumo Segawa, and the representative of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Masami Shukonobe.

Segawa said that the Japanese aid seeks to help raise the quality of education in Mozambique, and contribute to social development and economic growth, as fundamental elements for poverty reduction.

This, he added, was part of Japan's undertaking to double its aid to Africa, a pledge made in 2006, at the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV).

Ali praised the Japanese contribution to the Mozambican education sector, noting that it was thanks to Japanese funding that four new teacher training institutes have been built in Niassa, Manica, Gaza and Maputo provinces.