MAPUTO, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Only 8 percent of the Mozambican people enroll in higher education within the country, President Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique has said, underscoring the urgent need to improve the overall schooling rate, which currently falls below the average of southern African countries.
"The higher education population currently corresponds to a gross schooling rate of around 8.19 percent, meaning that for every 100 Mozambicans of higher education age, only eight are enrolled in this subsystem," Nyusi said Wednesday while inaugurating a new building for the science faculty and geology department at Eduardo Mondlane University, the country's oldest and largest higher education institution.
Nyusi said that Mozambique's gross schooling rate is lower than the southern African average of 10 percent, as well as the rates in Latin America (52 percent) and Europe (70 percent). He believed that these figures affirm the appropriateness of the country's policy to expand educational opportunities.
Expressing further concern, Nyusi addressed the uneven distribution of students across Mozambique's regions and provinces, along with the imbalance in courses attended. Currently, 73.4 percent of students are enrolled in social sciences, literature and humanities courses, while only 26.6 percent pursue technological sciences, engineering and mathematics courses.
Addressing the challenges, the president also emphasized the importance of technological innovation and investments to address development needs. He noted the significant costs of research and the need for investment but stressed the necessity of fostering a visionary approach and creating opportunities in this regard.
Nyusi said that achieving gradual technical-scientific independence is crucial for strengthening the country's sovereignty in the specific fields of knowledge and socioeconomic activity.
The newly inaugurated building, constructed and equipped through a partnership between the Mozambican government and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, represents an investment of more than 12 million U.S. dollars. ■
