5 technical and vocational training centers provide education for youth

(MissionNewswire) At the end of July, teachers in Maputo, Mozambique, attended technical training as part of the “Technical Volunteering” project that is a collaborative effort between Salesians in Maputo and Pamplona, Spain. The training normally takes place every year in person, but due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, it has been done remotely online for the last two summers.

At the end of 1992, Mozambique was ravaged by civil war. The peace agreements signed in Rome put an end to 17 years of clashes, but the population faced hundreds of thousands of deaths and millions of people who had been displaced, some having left the country as refugees who would never return. Many children lost years of schooling in the process.

In 1994, two Salesians in Pamplona reached out to Salesians in Mozambique, as well as state and local authorities and international organizations, to start talks about launching vocational training to help educate, and in some instances, re-educate a whole generation of youth. Initially, 12 members of the Salesian community in Pamplona traveled to Maputo to provide teacher training and help set up technical training centers for youth.

Five technical and vocational training centers have since been developed. The Don Bosco Higher Institute in Maputo has also developed a university center dedicated to the preparation of technical and vocational teachers. The Don Bosco Higher Institute is the only professional teacher training program in the country and provides training to more than 600 students each year. Partially funded by the Spanish Cooperation, it is also the only teacher training center in Mozambique recognized by the Ministry of Education for the training of teachers of professional schools.

Mozambique has made great strides in reducing poverty, according to the World Bank. But with nearly 50 percent of the population still living in poverty, progress has not been fast enough. Poverty is concentrated in rural areas, and even with growth within the country, the regions of Zambezia, Sofala, Manica and Gaza saw an increase in poverty in the 2000s.

More than 70 percent of those living in poverty reside in rural areas and rely on farming and fishing to make a living. The vast majority of the rural population lives on less than $1.25 a day and lacks basic services such as access to safe water, health facilities and schools.

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Sources:

ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS) 

ANS – Mozambique – The question from the very start: “What can we do for these young people?”. A history of international technical volunteering

Salesian Missions – Mozambique

World Bank – Mozambique