Mozambique: Teachers push for increased education budget and levy on multinationals

Mozambican teachers on Monday called for an increase in the share of the State Budget allocated to education from 12.1% to 20%, also proposing a fixed contribution from multinational companies operating in the country. “The education budget currently stands at around 12.1% [of the total]. We are calling, through this intervention and the discussions we will be holding, for it to increase to 20%,” said Marcos Mulima, spokesperson for the Mozambican Teachers Association (ANAPRO), in Maputo.

Mulima was speaking during the presentation of the organisation’s proposals to the Technical Commission for National Dialogue (COTE), created to operationalise the ongoing political dialogue aimed at reforms in Mozambique. He also defended the creation of a dedicated funding quota for education sourced from multinational companies. “Multinationals that operate in the country and exploit its resources must have a specific responsibility towards education, a defined and favourable contribution, so that we can say these resources are benefiting the country we aspire to build,” he said.

ANAPRO also called for school managers and directors to be elected through a process involving teachers, in order to avoid the “politicisation” of the sector, which it warned is already affected by party influence and “faceless higher orders” that interfere with results and curriculum implementation. “We cannot have development, we cannot have industry, we cannot have sound politics, nor a developing society without quality education and without a motivated teacher as a key actor in the teaching and learning process,” Mulima said. In the political sphere, ANAPRO proposed a mixed parliamentary model, with direct representation of civil society in areas such as the economy, sport and culture.

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“It would bring greater democratic legitimacy, diversify competencies and strengthen citizenship,” said Carlos Muhate, secretary of ANAPRO’s Fiscal Council, noting that the current parliamentary model limits the real influence of civil society and perpetuates centralised decision-making by political parties. Mozambican teachers also called for the introduction of a maximum age limit of 70 for senior state officials, to renew leadership and ensure space for new ideas and younger generations, as well as reducing the risk of outdated or disconnected political decisions. ANAPRO further argued for limiting the number of terms for senior state positions and prohibiting members of the same family from holding top public offices.

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