1.2.1 Child-related Factors

To allow for these developments, a high share of the state budget has been earmarked for education. When compared to the average among low-income and sub-Saharan African countries, Mozambique has spent more on education as a share of total government expenditure and GDP (UNICEF, 2018). In the 2019 budget proposal, the education sector was allocated MZN56.7 billion (US$ 930.4 million5), representing the largest-ever nominal allocation to the sector (UNICEF, 2019: 14). General education (i.e. primary and secondary education) was budgeted to receive MT 47.5 billion. The ratio of general to higher education is 84 per cent to 16 per cent (ibid: 6). In this context, primary education received the largest share of the education budget, which is line with the global recognition that the foundational years are of critical importance for developing better outcomes later in life (Cunha and Heckman, 2010).

Mozambique’s national education strategy makes a specific reference to the reduction of gender disparities and to the provision of an education that guarantees inclusion and equity in access to, and retention in, school for all (Education Strategic Plan 2012–2019: 4). An improvement can be observed in the Gender Parity Index (GPI) in school enrolment (ratio of female-to-male value), from 0.83 in 2004 to 0.93 in 2018 (World Bank, 2018); i.e. in the same school year, for every 100 boys enrolled, 92 girls are enrolled.

All these positive developments provided opportunities to children who were previously not in school. However, eliminating fees proved to be insufficient to improve educational attainment (Abuya, Oketch and Musyoka, 2013) and ensure gender equality in all educational dimensions. Despite encouraging figures that show progress on closing the gender gap in accessing primary education between 2000 and 2007, gender disparity in attainment persisted. As highlighted in the MINEDH, Revisão de Políticas Educacionais de Moçambique 2019, while 94 per cent of girls in Mozambique enrolled in primary school, more than half dropped out by Grade 5; only 11 per cent continued on to study at the secondary level, and just 1 per cent continued on to college (MINEDH, 2019a: 57; 2020).

Pupil absenteeism is another persistent problem of the current system. Although nationwide absenteeism has decreased in the last five years, a recent World Bank study reported that more than half of enrolled pupils were absent on the day of the study visit (World Bank, 2019). The northern and central regions, which include the poorest provinces of Niassa, Cabo Delgado, Tete, Sofala, Nampula and Zambézia, are critically affected. Regional disparities are also highly pronounced in school retention: the dropout rate ranges from 3.4 per cent in Maputo to 16 per cent in Niassa (EMIS/EducStat 2016). These disparities are not surprising given the unequal distribution of educational funding between some northern and southern provinces (UNICEF, 2016; 2018; Van der Berg, da Maia and Burger, 2017). Structural disparities are closely linked to an unequal distribution of wealth (as measured by the asset index): children from wealthier families remain in school longer (Van der Berg, da Maia and Burger, 2017). Thus, school dropout is complex and a hard-toovercome challenge for the Mozambican education system (Mambo et al., 2019; de Walque and Valente, 2016). The ratio of general to higher education is

84% 16%

GENERAL EDUCATION HIGHER EDUCATION

2018

100 BOYS ENROLLED

92 GIRLS ENROLLED

12% OF GIRLS

UNDER THE AGE OF 15 BECOME PREGNANT IN MOZAMBIQUE

the likelihood of school dropout increases by 29 per cent among pregnant girls relative to their female peers.

The following section provides an overview of the national and international literature that shows the multiplicity and intersection of drivers of school absenteeism and dropout. It is on this basis that the following analysis is developed in later sections of the report.

1.2 EVIDENCE ON FACTORS AFFECTING PUPILS’

ABSENTEEISM AND DROPOUT

A regional review conducted in Eastern and Southern Africa and national evidence indicate that drivers of absenteeism and school dropout are multifaceted and can relate to the various domains of a child’s development. This section presents an overview of the most relevant findings from both quantitative and qualitative studies, and academic and grey literature available to date.

1.2.1 CHILD-RELATED FACTORS

Evidence suggests that a child’s sex, age and socio-economic disadvantages are factors affecting his or her ability to attend school (Hunt, 2008). The review below discusses some of the findings.

GENDER

National data from the World Health Organization (WHO) show that slightly over 12 per cent of girls under the age of 15 become pregnant in Mozambique (WHO, 2013). Using data from the Mozambican Household Budget Survey (IOF 2014/15), Mambo et al. (2019) examine the effect of early pregnancy on girls’ dropout. The study shows that, on average, the likelihood of school dropout increases by 29 per cent among pregnant girls relative to their female peers. More specifically, “the probability of dropping out from school increases immensely if the girl is less than 13 years old (about 82%) and becomes 34 per cent for girls in secondary school” (ibid.:12). This is in line with previous quantitative research that also identified adolescence as a critical age and turning point for girls’ school attendance across the country (Heltberg, Simler and Tarp, 2003: 13; World Bank, 2005).

Regarding progression to secondary school, a multi-country survey in the East South Africa Region (ESAR) also shows how Mozambican girls are less likely than boys to progress (UNICEF and UIS, 2015). These findings resonate with a survey conducted in Kenya (Lloyd, Mensch and Clark, 2000), which highlighted how the gender gap emerges during the last years of primary school when girls experience puberty and become adolescents. They become “particularly vulnerable at that point within the school system because of widely held negative attitudes about adolescent girls. At this age, a supportive learning environment for girls could make a critical difference in subsequent school retention” (ibid.). Similarly, mixed-method research conducted in Rwanda shows that whereas boys under the age of 13 are more likely than girls to drop out, the odds reverse with increased age, which has drastic long-term impacts:

Dropout for younger boys tends to disrupt their education and contributes to over-ageing, whereas dropout for girls more often represents an end point in their education, which is evident in enrolment of boys and girls in the upper years of secondary education (UNICEF and MINEDUC, 2017: vii).