Mozambique faces schooling gap for 5 million children as government plans €305 million pre‑school boost

A study by the Movimento de Educação Para Todos (MEPT) and the Instituto de Estudos Sociais e Económicos (IESE) found that about five million Mozambican children are currently outside the national education system. Coordinator Isabel da Silva highlighted that many of these out‑of‑school children end up in gold‑mining, informal trade, early marriages or become pregnant adolescents, and noted the lack of a specific legal framework to reintegrate girls who leave school due to pregnancy.

In parallel, the Mozambican government announced a plan to invest €305.8 million up to 2035 to expand pre‑school education, aiming to raise coverage from 3 % to 10 %. The National Early Childhood Education Strategy, presented by Nguma Geraldo of the National Council for Social Action (CNAS), earmarks an annual €30.3 million and will shift responsibility for early education to the Ministry of Labour, Gender and Social Action. The proposal received CNAS approval and will move to the Council of Ministers. Prime Minister Benvinda Levi called for stronger coordination among public institutions, civil society and the private sector to address vulnerable groups, including the roughly 300 children living on the streets in Maputo and Pemba identified during the session.