Training Teachers in Mozambique

Providing Quality Education in Mozambique Building Human Capacity and Strengthening Community by Providing Skilled Teachers for Rural Primary Schools

Building Human Capacity and Strengthening Community and Country by Supporting Primary School Teacher Training

An Invitation from Her Excellency Maria De Luz Guebuza, the First Lady of Mozambique It is with great pleasure that I present this booklet to you, which illustrates the vital contributions Planet Aid and its local implementing organization, ADPP Mozambique, have made in educating the children of our country.

As First Lady of Mozambique, I run an office whose main objective is to support social and cultural programs. Thus, education in general and girls in particular are among our key priorities. In this context we have established a partnership with ADPP to support projects that train teachers.

Our Government has identified the training of primary school teachers as a priority in our national strategic plan for education. The challenge has been to qualify teachers quickly enough to meet the needs of our population. ADPP and Planet Aid have been committed and hard-working partners with us in this endeavor. Our country urgently needs more educators with the capacity and of the caliber produced by the ADPP colleges.

As women and young girls are particularly disadvantaged, with illiteracy rates in some areas reaching nearly 70 percent among females aged 15 and above, ADPP has given special consideration to increasing the number of women being trained as primary school teachers. Following a commitment made under the Clinton Global Initiative, ADPP has reserved spaces for a minimum of 400 young women per year at its teacher-training colleges. These future educators will serve as important role models for our young girls, encouraging them to study and stay in school and advance onward to secondary school. Quality education is intimately tied to socioeconomic development. In turn, development creates resources for improvements in education. The two elements work in tandem to fuel our nation’s growth. I invite you to be a part of this growth by supporting the noble efforts of ADPP and Planet Aid in partnership with my office and the Ministry of Education of Mozambique. Your contribution will directly support student teachers enrolled in the ADPP teacher-training colleges, and provide the children and communities of Mozambique with the opportunity to attain their full potential, while contributing to end poverty and create long-term development.

Ma ri a De Lu z Gu e bu z a

Table of Contents

Teaching Students, Developing a Nation............................ 2 Providing Childtren With a Chance..................................... 3 Tools to Create New Learning Opportunities................. 5 Inspiring Community Development..................................... 8 Levels of Support................................................................ 9 About the Partners............................................................. 10

Teaching Students, Developing a Nation

S

ince the opening of our first teacher-training college in Maputo, Mozambique in 1993, we have been committed to increasing the supply of qualified educators in the country. Today, there are 11 ADPP-operated teacher-training

colleges nationwide. The programs have created a new generation of young primary school teachers and, in turn, providing quality, relevant education for young school children. The model we employ prepares our graduates for placement where there is the greatest need: rural government schools. It is in rural areas that the vast majority of the population resides, and is where the ratio of students to teacher has surpassed 65:1.

A well-trained ADPP teacher delivers immediate benefits to her students and to the school but also to the larger community and country, helping to reduce poverty and increase the opportunity for development. These broader impacts are naturally linked to the advantages derived from a more educated populace, but also to the fact that ADPP colleges train teachers to be community leaders and facilitators, engaging directly in local development projects, including general health education, nutrition, prevention of HIV/AIDS, and capital improvements.

To find out more about our program, we invite you to review the information provided in this booklet and to contact our representatives directly at the address provided on the back cover. We also encourage you to support primary school education in Mozambique by becoming a contributor at one of the four levels set forth on page 9.

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Providing Children with a Chance

Since the early 1990s, Mozambique has made steady progress toward peace, political stability, and a brighter economic future. Nevertheless, the country remains near the bottom of the UNDP’s Human Development Index. Sagging literacy levels, particularly among women, remain as significant obstacles, trapping the population in a cycle of poverty. Only one-third of women are literate (male literacy is at 57 percent). The problem is that vast numbers of children of primary school age— whose numbers represent a substantial portion of the population—do not complete their primary schooling. Moreover, less than half of the students who enter primary school continue to secondary school, and less than 1 percent graduate from 12th grade.

The need for qualified teachers in Mozambique has never been more urgent. UNESCO estimates that 3.8 million teachers will be needed for all of sub-Saharan Africa by 2015 to meet the Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education. Mozambique has one of the greatest “teacher gaps” in the region, with pupil-teacher ratios in primary schools reaching upward of 65:1. Moreover, the quality of primary school educators is in need of substantial improvement.

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Africa must be prepared for growing competition with other continents, but it can only do this with skilled human resources.

Only by investing in quality education can we ensure the availabilty of such resources. –Albertina Bila Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education in Mozambique

2007 Population (millions)

Population 0-14 years

2007 UNDP Development Rank

Male Literacy Age 15 and Above

Female Literacy Age 15 and Above

2005 Males Out of School

2005 Females Out of School

21.9

44.3%

172 out of 177

57.2%

33.0%

46.8%

53.2%

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Tools to Create New Learning Opportunities To meet Mozambique’s educational needs, teachers must not only possess a solid pedagogical foundation but be equipped to adapt and respond to the unique demands of working in the country’s challenging rural environment. Our 11 colleges in Mozambique draw students from nearby rural areas, and are able to graduate approximately 1,700 teachers per year.

We have a reputation for producing well-qualified graduates from our program, who make a difference in the lives of the children they teach.

The prime objective of the training is to create a new generation of teachers who can bring modern education into rural communities and thus contribute to their development. The program emphasizes critical thinking and problem-solving skills while stimulating curiosity and a lasting desire for learning. The method combines classroom instruction with independent study and high levels of hands-on teaching experience. Successful graduates from the program are not only fully trained in the necessary academic subjects, but also provided with the skills needed to meet the challenges of working in a rural community.

Focus on Primary School Student Outcomes A well-trained, motivated, and knowledgeable teacher can make all the difference for a youngster in Mozambique, particularly in the rural areas where teachers are a rarity or possess little formal education.

Students in primary schools under the tutelage of an ADPP-trained instructor receive quality instruction in math, language (Portuguese), science, geography, as well as important life skills. They advance steadily through their grade levels and are more likely to go on to secondary school.

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Use of Digital Libraries Student teachers benefit from access to comprehensive digital libraries, which are available via on-campus computers.

These libraries contain all lessons and related matter for the course of study, including syllabi, exercises, and other written assignments. It also allows for direct and timely written feedback from instructors. Such use of computer technology has helped facilitate the teacher-training college’s learning objectives by giving students unfettered access to instructional materials, thereby allowing students to preview all materials, assess what will be demanded of them, plan study strategies, and further explore topics that pique their interest. It easily allows highly motivated students to progress at a more rapid pace while ensuring that all students understand and meet basic requirements.

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Letter from Mozambique: A Teacher Makes a Difference I began studying to be a teacher in 2010 because I have always enjoyed children and wanted to help them. I also believe that it is a great honor, and that teachers have a duty to provide pupils with a good education. My many new experiences at the teacher-training college in Maputo have also taught me how important it is to help young girls believe in their abilities and themselves. I know that they do not always receive such encouragement in their lives. I help those in my classroom to set and go after their own goals and never wait for somebody else to do it for them.

As for me, I have gained a lot of confidence in myself, about my own capacity, and in what I am able to do. Being involved in many different activities related to daily life at the college, I have learned new skills and discovered some new sides to myself. For example, I never thought that along with teaching my pupils I could also help the families and community in which I work to take steps to reduce their poverty. This has helped me gain much more self-confidence.

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Inspiring Community Development One of the most important aspects of the program is that it incorporates training in community development skills, whereby student teachers learn to build and maintain school facilities, mobilize community support, and act as local facilitators and leaders while learning to be sensitive to a community’s needs and concerns. The schools where the graduates teach often evolve into community centers, where meetings are held to discuss local concerns and projects are initiated to address those concerns, improving the community’s quality of life.

Examples of projects that student teachers and graduates have helped facilitate include: community education about HIV/AIDS and malaria prevention; workshops for women on early childhood development, gender equality, and entrepreneurship opportunities; planning and planting vegetable gardens to improve nutrition; campaigning for better hygiene and healthy eating, promoting continuing education for all members of the community, including evening classes for adults and teenagers in basic education, literacy, or information technology; establishing youth clubs that combine learning with activities such as sports or drama, and environmental campaigns such as tree planting and community clean-up projects.

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Support Levels Planet Aid and ADPP Mozambique invite you to help support the continued operation of the teacher-training programs across Mozambique. We are seeking one to three-year educational partnerships at the levels specified below, and offer proposed packages of sponsor benefits to thank you and acknowledge your generous contributions.

Your support will be used directly to finance the education of student teachers during their course of study at ADPP’s colleges. The cost per student is approximately $3,000 to complete the intensive program.

Contributor Level - supports 25 student teachers ($75K+) Recognition on ADPP Mozambique and Planet Aid websites (with a hotlink to the company website) and on printed newsletters, press releases, brochures, and other promotional material. Other benefits for your consideration include: •

Recognition at ADPP events and conferences.

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Display of contributor logos on college directional signs and entry billboards.

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The opportunity to tour the colleges with the director.

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The opportunity to host a corporate event at one of the colleges.

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Photographs suitable for framing of the graduating class of one of the eleven teacher-training colleges.

Associate Level - supports 50 student teachers ($150K+) All of the benefits obtained at the Contributor Level plus 10 copies of a documentary video about the ADPP teachertraining program with recognition of sponsorship at the opening and in the closing credits. In addition, naming opportunities will be available for facilities at the teacher-training colleges.

Partner Level - supports 100 student teachers ($300K+) All of the benefits obtained at the Associate Level plus the opportunity to have company logos displayed on Planet Aid used-clothing bins in one selected city/ metropolitian area in the United States..

Benefactor Level - supports 200 student teachers ($600K+) All of the benefits obtained at the Associate Level plus the opportunity to have company logos displayed on Planet Aid used-clothing bins in two selected cities/ metropolitian areas in the United States.

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About the Partners

Planet Aid is a 501(c)(3) U.S. non-profit organization founded in 1997. Planet Aid operates a clothes-recycling program in the United States. With income derived from the sale of used clothing and other sources, Planet Aid has provided more than $60 million for development programs worldwide. Planet Aid manages several multiyear contracts worth more than $30 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for Food for Progress (FFP) projects in Mozambique and Malawi. Through the FFP contracts, Planet Aid has expanded its technical capacity by overseeing and coordinating multifaceted programs that are implemented by in-country staff of its partner organizations: ADPP Mozambique and DAPP Malawi.

ADPP Mozambique is an association recognized under the law of associations in Mozambique. ADPP currently employs more than 2,500 staff nationwide. The organization has worked in cooperation with the Government of Mozambique and with local and international partners to secure improved living conditions for disadvantaged communities and individuals—mainly within the areas of education and health. Partnering agencies include the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Agency for International Development, the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and others.

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8919 McGaw Court Columbia, Maryland, 21045 USA Tel: 410 309 1002 Fax: 410 309 1170 www.planetaid.org

ADPP Mozambique Rua Berta Caiado, C.P. 489, Machava Tel: 21 75 01 06 Fax: 21 75 01 07 www.adpp-mozambique.org