EDUCATION MINISTER DEMANDS EFFECTIVE INSPECTION

Mozambican Education Minister Zeferino Martins on Thursday demanded efficient and effective inspection to guarantee the quality of education.To this end, he said, the government intends to redesign and reorient the education inspectorate, so that it becomes more pro-active, and contributes to achieving the goals of education policy.”We want an inspectorate that contributes decisively to solving the problems from which education suffers”, Martins said at the opening of a seminar of the General Education Inspectorate. “We want an inspectorate that is committed to improving how the sector functions”.Martins stressed that the inspectorate must guarantee that the reforms under way in the sector provide better quality education for all Mozambicans. This should be an education “which leads us to create the human capital that is so necessary for the socio-economic development of our country”. He added that it was key to break with the spirit of “apathy, indifference and negligence”.The inspectors, the Minister said, should take as their key areas of priority the enrolment of pupils, compliance with school programmes, and the use of time in the classrooms. They should also be concerned with the quality of training offered in the country’s teacher training institutes.The inspectorate, he continued, should also monitor the use of school funds, the hygiene and maintenance of school facilities, and matters concerning teachers’ promotions and their progress along the teaching career.
The General Inspector of Education, Quiteria Mabote, stressed that priorities must be defined, given the scarcity of resources allocated to inspection.“We have to define priorities and redefine our strategy so that we can solve the problem of the quality of education”, he said. “There are many difficulties. Financial and human resources are scarce, and we have to use them rationally”.