Mozambique

Background

Despite improvements in school management and infrastructure, access to textbooks, and lower student-teacher ratios, learning outcomes are still low in Mozambique.

In 2016, a large-scale assessment conducted by Facilidade ICDS through its TPC Mozambique programme found that only 1 of 10 children could read a simple grade 2 story and only 2 out of 10 children could do a basic grade 2 addition sum.

Partnership

Facilidade ICDS collaborated with the Nampula Provincial Department of Education, the Larde District Department of Education, the Provincial Civil Society Network for Education, Pratham, and the PAL Network to implement the Wichutha Nithuelaca (WN) programme. The programme works closely with School Management Committees (SMCs) to ensure community involvement.

WN Model and Pilot

WN was implemented in 5 schools in 2018 in Larde district, Nampula. Grade 4 students focused on basic reading and mathematics skills for 2-3 hours a day for 9 weeks guided by teachers and Facilidades ICDS staff.

The pilot results are promising. While at the beginning of the pilot, 12.7% of children could read at least simple sentencesand by the end of the pilot, 20.8% could read simple sentences.