Mozambique: Nyusi Demands Scientific Responses for Local Problems

30 June 2022
Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)

Maputo — Mozambican President, Filipe Nyusi, on Tuesday challenged higher education institutions to produce scientific knowledge to solve the local problems that the country has been facing, instead of simply awarding academic titles.

Nyusi was speaking in Maputo, during the opening ceremony of an International Conference on 60 years of higher education in Mozambique and Angola.

"We want all our institutions of higher education to be credible and to operate in close connection with communities, the public sector and the private sector", stated the president, recommending that "the institutions follow the legislation that guides the processes of teaching, research, extension, and university governance."

Above all, stressed the president, these processes must build people with a high sense of patriotism. "People who leave the academy should be respected and recognized", he said. "Those who leave the academy are prepared, because they have knowledge."

Nyusi rejected the excessive value sometimes placed on degree certificates, particularly when these are awarded indiscriminately. "When we give doctorates [to incompetent people] we are trivializing ourselves (...) A Doctor is not just anyone.", he warned.

He added that a decision not to trivialise academic titles does not mean limiting the number of new graduates in higher education institutions. So, it is urgent to create high performance and ethical academic environments that stimulate students and teachers to progressively raise their skills and stimulate interest in research, the President insisted.

"Faculty members, particularly at the graduate level, should serve as a living example in the production of knowledge, research, and university extension. One of the things that we sometimes see is the lack of connection between managers, professors, administrative staff, and students", Nyusi said, and then wondered "I don't know why people, at this level, should think they are different." Nyusi also expressed his willingness to see Mozambique and Angola exploring their historical relations through the transmission of knowledge and exchange of experiences in the higher education field.

Tagged:
Copyright © 2022 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.

AllAfrica publishes around 400 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.