Almost 40% of the Mozambican population, of 30 million inhabitants, is illiterate, said the president of the country on Monday, noting that the majority are women.
“It is noted that currently the illiteracy rate among women is 49.4% and 27.2% in men, we need to reflect why this is happening,” said Filipe Nyusi, during the opening of the national education conference, which is being held in Maputo, specifying that an overall illiteracy rate in the country is 39%.
According to the Mozambican head of state, the provinces of Niassa, Cabo Delgado and Nampula, in the north of the country, and the provinces of Tete and Zambézia, in the centre of Mozambique, have the highest illiteracy rates.
Mr Nyusi also said that the problem affects 50.8% of the rural population and 18% of the urban population, suggesting that the governors of the provinces mentioned identify and correct the deficiencies in education that are contributing to the low literacy rates.
The Mozambican president also expressed concern about the delays in completing academic levels, referring to statistics that show that it takes a child twice as many years on average to complete primary school and that the average rate of graduates in Mozambique is below 30%.
“These delays in completing the levels increase the costs for families, for society and also jeopardise the student/teacher ratio,” he said.
Also according to the head of state, there is a “great disparity” in the number of university students distributed across the country, with about 100,000 (42.4%) of the more than 237,000 enrolled in higher education being centred in the capital, Maputo.
Mozambique has a total of 56 higher education institutions, of which 22 are public and 34 private, according to data provided by the president.
Lusa
