Committed but demotivated teachers in Mozambique

Mozambique is working to improve salaries and levels of motivation for teachers and other civil servants. Teachers are generally committed to their profession, but the quality of education is threatened by the conditions they live and work in and the impact of these on their performance, wellbeing and professional pride.

A report from Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) finds that Mozambiquan teachers consider low salaries to be the issue that has the biggest impact on their morale, followed by working conditions, inadequate training and administrative procedures.

Mozambique moved quickly from an elitist, colonial system to a system of mass education dependent on large numbers of hurriedly recruited, untrained and often minimally educated teachers. Despite progress in recovering from 17 years of civil war after independence, the country is desperately poor. The education system is under-resourced as Mozambique struggles to fulfill a pledge to provide all children with seven years of primary education by 2015.

Most schools have two, three or even four shifts, meaning that the school day is short for most pupils, but very long for those teachers who teach on several shifts. Pupil-to-teacher ratios (PTRs) are high and rising. Drop-out rates are high. Primary completion rates have improved dramatically, but are still only 58 percent. Only 1.4 percent of young people complete secondary school.

Over half of all recurrent government expenditure goes on salaries. Donors press Mozambique to keep down its wages bill. In 2006, Mozambique spent 17.4 percent of its budget on education and plans to raise this to 20 percent (6.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product) by 2015. Impressed by Mozambique’s stability, donors provide budget support which covers over half of all government expenditure. However, they have not committed to continuing this level of aid. The education ministry is therefore wary of employing and training the additional teachers needed to reduce PTRs and achieve Education for All goals.

Teachers told researchers that:

• They are exhausted by years of struggling to survive and a sense that they are not able to do their job as they would like to.
• Material hardship, health problems, social stigma associated with low salaries and the need to have second or even third jobs undermine their wellbeing, self-esteem and ability to work effectively.
• They receive little or no training in how to cope with massive class sizes and insufficient teaching materials.
• They feel under-valued by education managers.

The Mozambique research is part of a wider ‘Valuing Teachers’ project. From its experiences in many developing countries, VSO has identified a frequent tendency to ignore the opinions of teachers in many countries. While acknowledging the government’s desire to act on the concerns expressed by teachers, VSO urges the Mozambiquan authorities to:

• simplify and make transparent procedures concerning recruitment, deployment, promotion and payment of teachers
• target specific and appropriate training for all teachers, including headteachers, and education administrators
• communicate education policies more effectively and allow opportunities for teachers’ opinions to be considered
• investigate ways of giving education workers acceptable salaries, accommodation, healthcare and transport
• work with Mozambique’s emerging civil society and local communities to plan investments in infrastructure, equipment and materials
• work with donors to enable costed mid-term and long-term strategic planning.

Source(s):
‘Listening to Teachers: the Motivation and Morale of Education Workers in Mozambique’, Voluntary Service Overseas, by Simone Doctors, Sofia Jambane, Roy Marsh and Joaquim Ngomane, 2008 (PDF) Full document.
‘Teachers’ Voice: A Policy Research Report on Teachers’ Motivation and Perceptions of Their Profession In Nigeria’, Voluntary Service Overseas, by Helen Sherry, 2007 (PDF) Full document.
Further publications from the Valuing Teachers campaign Full document.

Funded by: UK Department for International Development (DFID)

id21 Research Highlight: 3 August 2008

Further Information:
Valuing Teachers Project
Voluntary Service Overseas
317 Putney Bridge Road
London, SW15 2PN
UK

Tel: +44 20 87807200

Voluntary Services Overseas, London, Uk

Augusto Macicame
VSO Mozambique
Av. 24 de Julho No. 797
Caixa Postal 902, Maputo
Mozambique

Tel: +258 21311572
Fax: +258 21321661
Contact the contributor: augusto.macicame@vsoint.org

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'Some progress but Education for All can do better '