Mafambisse Secondary School brings a new reality to educational infrastructure in Mozambique. It is the largest secondary school built from scratch since national independence. The history of this mega infrastructure echoes a past that still lives on in the memories and the marks left on the province, Cyclone Idai.
The calendar pointed to March 2019 when the Central region of the country was ravaged by Cyclone Idai, where it is estimated that 1.85 million people were affected, with major damage to the city of Beira in Sofala.
As consequences of this tropical cyclone, the fury of the rains swept away various infrastructures and decimated human lives, prompting the Government of Mozambique to establish, on April 11, 2019, the Post-Cyclone Idai Reconstruction Office, GREPOC, under Decree No. 26/2019, to oversee Planning, Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation, Recovery, and Reconstruction in the affected provinces.
Nearly five years after the tragedy that struck that part of the country, even though life has returned to normal, there are still lingering scars in the memories of those who experienced the terror up close. As such, the Government of Mozambique, recognizing the paramount importance of education for the country's development, began the construction of the largest secondary school in the country since colonial times, with funding from the Zu Chi Charity Foundation in June 2022.
This is the impressive infrastructure of Mafambisse Secondary School, comprised of three floors, fifty-eight classrooms, eighteen bathrooms, five fully equipped classrooms, as well as three computer rooms, a library, three laboratories for Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, and a medical room.
This infrastructure is valued at around eight hundred and fourteen million meticais and is part of the Post-Cyclone Idai Reconstruction Project.
The present Mafambisse Secondary School is located in the Administrative Post of Mafambisse, Dondo District, in Sofala, and was inaugurated at the solemn ceremony marking the opening of the 2024 Academic Year, presided over by the President of the Republic, Filipe Nyusi. This undertaking realizes the Government of Mozambique's plan for the development of modern and resilient educational infrastructures, capable of withstanding severe climatic events that often affect that region of the country.
With this initiative, the province of Sofala now has a total of 48 existing public schools attended by over 116,311 secondary school students. Additionally, nationwide, ten new schools with a total of 140 classrooms will come into operation.
During the inauguration ceremony of this school, President Filipe Nyusi stated that the Government of Mozambique is concerned about issues of equality and that this initiative "reflects the goal of seeing children without discrimination," as "the ultimate goal is to educate citizens capable of solving problems affecting themselves, their families, and their communities."
Furthermore, Filipe Nyusi made it known that "We intend to educate men and women equipped with knowledge and skills, with patriotic cultural values. Men who think about Mozambique," stated the Head of State.
Meanwhile, the Governor of Sofala Province, Lourenço Bulha, conveyed that the Mafambisse School represents "The realization of a dream with one of Sofala's emblematic infrastructures."
According to the President of the School Council, the population of this locality will no longer suffer from a shortage of secondary school classrooms, and "Our children will never miss classes due to inclement weather. We, as parents and/or guardians, and the community of Mafambisse in general, take on the challenge of keeping our school clean and beautiful, and hope that similar initiatives will be extended to other communities in our country for the benefit of more Mozambican children."
This school is a newly built construction and is classified as the largest institution ever erected in the country since colonial times, with the capacity to accommodate 10,000 students.
It is worth noting that the current academic year 2024 takes place under the motto: "For an inclusive, patriotic, and quality education."
By Joana Carlos
