Mozambique: Education Ministry Warns Schools Against Unlawful Moves

Maputo — The Mozambican Ministry of Education on Monday threatened to hold criminally accountable any public school managers who prevent children from attending classes, because their parents have not yet paid the supplementary fees some schools charge to pay for security guards.

Addressing a Maputo press conference, the ministry’s spokesperson, Gina Guibunda, said there is nothing illegal about schools collecting money from parents to pay for security guards. But such payments are entirely voluntary, and under no circumstances should they prevent children from attending classes.

“We want to make it clear that this attitude is totally reprehensible and has not been ordered by the ministry”, declared Guibunda. “This is the reason why we want to reaffirm that any school leader who prevents children from attending class due to lack of payment, will be punished for breaking the law,” .

The issue of parents’ financial support for schools, Guibunda added, has been enshrined in the law since a ministerial diploma of 2004. The amount raised from parents should be used to improve school conditions and parents cannot be forced to pay it.

She said that schools should only start collecting the voluntary fees from March, after the School Councils, which are liaison bodies between school managments and parents to address matters of common concern, have been renewed or set up.

Guibunda also admitted the recently reported corruption scandal at the Education Service in the southern province of Inhambane, where episodes such as the sale of false certificates, the rigging of examination marks, and charging as much as 50,000 meticais (about 780 US dollars, at the current exchange rate) for entry into the Teachers Training Centre (IFP) are commonplace.

The spokesperson told reporters that investigations are under way to find the truth, but the ministry is aware of the fraud and as soon as the probe is completed those involved will be dealt with accordingly.