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Higher Education in Mozambique

Chapter 8: Conclusions and Recommendations

A Dynamic Field

Amazing progress has been made in higher education in post-independence Mozambique. After the initial hiatus caused by the exodus of the Portuguese, the socialist interlude, the long years of bitter civil war and then the extenuating efforts required to adjust to a market-driven economy and a democratic political order, Mozambique now possesses a higher education system that offers a wide variety of course options, undertakes first-rate research in some areas, and, although concentrated in the capital city of Maputo, is present in four outlying provinces.

Equity of Access

Regrettably all these institutions cater to a minute fraction of the Mozambican population. They are responsible for training the tiny elite that will be prominent in government, in political parties, in non-governmental organizations and in the professions, industry and commerce.

A major problem is that the majority of the students who succeed in entering governmental and non-governmental HEIs are the daughters and sons of relatively well-to-do families (in Mozambican terms). Perhaps the most dramatic finding of this report is that nearly 80 per cent of university students in Mozambique use Portuguese as their principal means of communication. HEIs thus fulfil the role of establishing, reproducing and consolidating a hereditary elite.

Within this tiny elite, some social categories are present more than others. We have shown, for example, that people from the northern and central provinces of Mozambique have fewer chances to enter the governmental universities than those from the southern provinces, in particular from the city of Maputo. We have also shown that women have less of a chance than men to enter institutions of higher learning, especially the public ones.

In order to improve equity of access, we have a number of suggestions to make:

Rationalize existing scholarship arrangements and establish student loan facilities

At present UEM runs its own scholarship programme funded by donors and government, which caters for a small number of students. There is little evidence that it has done much to correct imbalances of socio-economic class, gender and regional origin in the student population. The most successful and interesting scheme that we observed was Nisomé in the province of Nampula. We suggest that similar schemes be established in all provinces with funding from the provinces themselves, donors (each province has rather specific donors) and central government. Each provincial fund would be run by a non-governmental board, overseen by the Ministry of Higher Education. Such a scheme would automatically address the issue of regional imbalance. Guidelines for local committees would be established to address gender and social class inequalities.

At the moment there are no student loan schemes available in Mozambique, although the Catholic University has made overtures to banks in the city of Beira. We recommend that a simple but reliable student loan system be introduced with considerable urgency. We also recommend student fees and a national loan scheme as a subject for further study.
As these two mechanisms are brought into effect, the governmental institutions might commence charging fees compatible with those of the non-governmental institutions. We understand that such a decision would probably be extremely unpopular, since it would signal yet another "capitulation" to market forces. But government might prefer to provide support to its own university through the medium of student loans and scholarships rather than only through direct grants. This is evidently a contentious issue, and we make the suggestion in the spirit of wishing to initiate a debate.

Undertake a review of entrance examination procedures

A number of people to whom we talked felt that the entrance exams to all institutions of higher education favor students who have retentive memories and who have had the privilege of attending good governmental and non-governmental schools. We suggest that alternative means of evaluation be considered that would give due attention to intellectual aptitude and personal predisposition toward certain programmes.

Diversify the existing higher education subsystem

Encourage the emergence of new and non-traditional HEIs closer to the local communities. These institutions should be able to respond more rapidly and flexibly to the demands and expectations of the public and private sectors and non-governmental organizations for a trained workforce, while addressing both regional and socioeconomic imbalances in the country.

Expanding access to higher education can be achieved through evening, residential courses for those from outlying areas, as well as distance and open learning courses. Therefore, we strongly recommend that a study on distance higher education be carried out very shortly.

Teaching staff

The government, donors and non-governmental HEIs have taken important steps to train highly qualified teaching staff. The dependence of most non-governmental HEIs on teachers "drained" from the governmental institutions has the effect of reducing the research potential of the governmental institutions while enhancing the teaching quality in the non-governmental institutions.

National Science Research Fund

To safeguard and promote research and to guarantee dedication to teaching and research on the part of university teachers, we also suggest that the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology establish a national science research fund to provide funding for research in general but also research scholarships for individual researchers. In principle this would allow faculty members at a public university to dedicate themselves full time to their research and students without having to moonlight. Some examples of interesting work carried out by UEM staff that need to be encouraged include publications and ongoing research by the History Department, the Centre for African Studies, the Linguistics Department, the Faculty of Agronomy, the Faculty of Medicine and the recently reopened UEM Faculty of Education, to name a few.

Curriculum, teaching methods and relevance

We found that the governmental institutions, in particular UEM, have developed their own critique of curricula and teaching methods and are in the process of implementing changes. UEM faces the problem of reconciling its role as the country's only full-blown university with demands for immediate market relevance. Due to their dependence on students' fees for survival, the non-governmental institutions are obliged to offer courses that are perceived to be "relevant." Even so, there are differences of approach between the denominational Catholic University and the for-profits (we have no information on the Islamic University). While the for-profits are closely geared to "market forces," the UCM is driven also by Christian ideals of service and community development.

Universities involved in curriculum reform are encouraged to take steps to ensure student mobility and a more rational use of existing teaching and learning facilities and resources on campus. There are different ways in which student mobility can be facilitated and enhanced. These include the development and use of improved entrance examinations and selection criteria; the coordination and harmonization of degree structures and content of similar programmes between institutions of higher education; and the development and use of comparable credit unit systems across the higher education system. On the other hand, a more rational use of learning facilities and resources on campuses may involve the development of inter- and multidisciplinary courses and research programmes, starting at postgraduate level, and contracts for the use of existing teaching materials, teaching staff and physical facilities (e.g. libraries, science labs, computer labs, sports facilities, etc.).

Distance Learning

Upon conclusion of relevant feasibility studies, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology should appoint an installation committee for distance higher education in Mozambique. In addition to laying the foundations for a future Open University of Mozambique, such committee should act as a focal point for all higher education institutions interested in open and distance learning.

Information and Communication Technologies

While UEM has been well in advance of most African universities in the field of information technology, we cannot overemphasize our disappointment at its relatively slow dissemination at Mozambique's other universities. For this vast country with poor infrastructure and dispersed faculties, a more complete utilization of the Internet (including e-mail) and electronic databases is essential to the expansion of quality higher education and the development of a sophisticated research community. As far as libraries are concerned, we must also express our dismay. With the exception of a few subject-specific libraries at UEM, we found insufficient collections, much irrelevant material and no intra-institutional cooperation.
Taking into account this situation we strongly recommend the sharing of ICT facilities (including VSAT, Internet and library facilities), especially amongst governmental HEIs. We also endorse the UEM plan to expand its library capability by building a central library open to other HEIs and the general public in Maputo.