Maputo — The Mozambican NGO, the Education for All Movement, has pointed to natural disasters, teacher shortages and the late distribution of primary school textbooks as the main factors that have been jeopardizing fulfillment of the goals established in the National Education System.

According to Sarmento José, a representative of the Education for All Movement, who was speaking, on Monday, in Maputo, at the launch of the Global Action Week for Education 2024 (GAWE 2024), these factors make the education sector weak.

The organization also pointed to Islamist terrorism in the northern province of Cabo Delgado as one of the factors that puts national education in danger.

"Our country is affected by terrorism and other emergencies, such as natural disasters, particularly cyclones and floods, which have had a negative impact on the achievement of education indicators. These factors are combined with the reduction in the capacity to hire teachers for basic education and the delay in the distribution of school books', he said.

"In the middle of the second quarter of the school year, we have many schools without access to books,' he added.

For his part, the Deputy Minister of Education, Manuel Banzo, confirmed that, indeed, the sector faces a major challenge since the money for building more schools and hiring new teachers has been cut reduced.

"The current trend of reduced financial resources has interfered with the full achievement of some goals. Every year, more than 1.6 million first grade children enter the system, requiring the construction of more schools and classrooms and the hiring of more teachers to respond to the Sustainable Development Challenges', he said.