Evaluation of Finland’s Education Sector Support in Mozambique in 2014-2022
The evaluation commissioned by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs examines Finland's support for the education sector in Mozambique and the results achieved in cooperation. In 2014-2022, Finland supported education sector in Mozambique mainly through the Education Sector Support Fund (FASE). Finland has also funded COACH (Aprender mais), a World Bank pilot project implemented with the government to improve in-service teacher training and teaching materials. The report also examines the complementary impact of other programmes on the overall objectives of the country Strategy.
Education is an important priority area in Finland’s Development Policy and development cooperation. The Finnish support for the education sector in Mozambique is one of the highest investments in a single sector in the Finnish development portfolio. Finland has focused particularly on improving girls’ retention and school completion, teachers and principals’ performance and school accountability in education in Mozambique.
According to the evaluation, the Finnish support to the education sector in Mozambique has been consistent and substantial over the past decades, with a specific focus on basic education since 2016. Key stakeholders in the education sector, particularly the Ministry of Education and Human Development (MINEDH), recognise this valuable partnership with Finland and highly value its expertise and technical assistance particularly in areas of teacher training and bilingual education.
In addition to bilateral support – FACE and COACH – the education sector has been supported by actors in Finnish higher education institutions and civil society. This has increased Finnish visibility and relevance among Mozambican actors in the education sector.
Over a longer period, Mozambique has made remarkable progress in improving access to basic education. The support of Finland – as well as other donors – to FASE and more specific project support have contributed to significant achievements across the country and to improvements in the parity of education service delivery. However, there are still enormous gaps in education provision, particularly in narrowing gender-gaps, increasing and improving school facilities, furniture and textbooks, improving inclusion in education and addressing learning outcomes.
Evaluation recommends Finland to continue to focus on the three focus areas for Finland in basic education - girls’ retention and school completion, improving teachers’ performance and strengthening school accountability in 2024. Also, evaluation urges Finland to make stock of its lessons learned in the education sector and make it available for other development partners. In addition, the evaluation includes many other recommendations both for Finland and other actors in the education sector in Mozambique.
The evaluation was carried out between August 2023 and February 2024. In January 2024, Finland decided to refocus its cooperation with Mozambique. In the future, the focus will move from traditional bilateral development cooperation towards diverse political, trade and economic relations. The revised situation has been taken into account in the recommendations of the evaluation.