Money, Sex, and Alcohol in Mozambican Schools

A young Mozambican girl dreams of going to college.  She sees herself dressed in white at a hospital.  But the reality is, she can't even afford a school uniform.  One day, she walks to the marketplace.  She sees a vendor selling the white uniform for her school.While the saleswoman isn't looking, she drops the shirt in her bag.  She doesn't see her stealing, but her math teacher does.

The next day at school, he asks her to stay after class.  He wants to talk.  He says that he knows about her stealing and that he is going to tell the police.  However, if she has sex with him, he will keep his mouth shut.  Because she wants to become a doctor, she sleeps with him.

During our pre-service training (PST), we watched films and heard countless lectures and stories about how pervasive school corruption is in Mozambique.  These despicable acts occur in the United States and in other parts of the world, but supposedly it is a HUGE issue here.  That's why  I want to shed light on this topic.

Common Types of Corruption in Mozambican Schools

1. Bribery for better grades

2. Sexual Harassment                                                    

3. Lack of Exam Monitoring

4. Sex for better grades
-Yes, some teachers tell their students, "You better sleep with me if you want to pass this year."                                                

5. Forced Labor                                                                      

6. Labor for better grades                                                      

7. Stealing School’s Money for Personal Items
-Teachers here are often underpaid.  Because of budget cuts, sometimes teachers go months     without getting paid. They have mouths to feed at home and they sometimes steal money from the school or have students give them money in exchange for better grades.

8. Increasing Students' Grades to Keep Up School’s Reputation with the MEC

One thing that wasn't mentioned on this list, is the fact that alcoholism is a big deal here and sometimes teachers go to class after drinking heavily.

Another aspect that wasn't mentioned, is hitting students as a way to discipline them. Like some other developing countries, school corporal punishment is common here.  One volunteer in Mozambique reported that a teacher would read off the names and scores that the students received on a test. Those who received low marks got hit with a ruler.

                                       

I hope to never hear about these stories from my students while I work here.  But the reality is, I may.  The issues here are complex and run deeper than the issues of AIDS, Malaria, and school corruption. I think the issues intersect and are therefore, compounded.  Further,there was a 15-year civil war here that ended in 1992 and people are still suffering the effects of that war.  In the future, I'll write an entry on Mozambican history.