Speaking in Maputo, at a seminar to exchange ideas for drawing up a new strategy for secondary education, Xavier said that, at the end of their secondary schooling, pupils found it difficult either to obtain employment or to follow other courses in professional education - in fact, the current form of secondary education only led to university.
"There are frequent complaints from private and public companies, saying that the graduates from secondary schools need a lot of in-service training to become minimally efficient at work", she said. "The current secondary curriculum is highly academic".
Despite this, there has been a significant increase in the number of secondary schools and of the pupils attending them. In two years the number of students in first cycle secondary education (8th to 10th grades) has risen by 54 per cent - from 250,000 in 2004 to 385,000 in 2006.
Over the same period the number attending the second, pre- university cycle (11th and 12 grades) has risen from 36,000 to 60,000.
There were 105 first cycle secondary schools in 2001, and 190 in 2006. For the second cycle the expansion was from 23 to 49 schools.
Over this five year period, the number of secondary teachers more than doubled - from 3,213 to 6,816.
Despite this, the rise in the number of pupils has outstripped the rise in teachers and in classroom space. So the number of students per class has risen from 53 in 2004 to 60 in 2006 in the first cycle, and from 52 to 57 in the second cycle.
"In recognising the need for change, we are proposing to find a balanced path for developing a secondary education that transcends merely learning to read and write, and prioritises know-how, and which gives answers and solutions to real life situations", said Xavier.
Mozambique, she continued, needs a secondary education that turns out graduates with the knowledge and skills enabling them to compete successfully on the labour market, to continue their education in both formal institutions and non-formal environments, and to participate in adult life.
SOURCE: AIM
