FIFTH HIGH LEVEL GROUP MEETING

ON EDUCATION FOR ALL

BEIJING

28 - 30 NOVEMBER 2005

 REPUBLIC OF MOZAMBIQUE

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND CULTURE

 

SPEECH OF

H. E. MINISTER OF EDUCATION

AND CULTURE

AIRES BONIFÁCIO BAPTISTA ALI

Firstly, I have been invited to comment on the role of the FTI process in promoting policy dialogue and reforms.

Secondly, I should say something about the ways in which, the FTI could enhance donor coordination and scale up resource mobilisation at country level.

Regarding the first point, the objective of EFA-FTI, is to help countries with credible plans in Mobilising the resources required to speed up progress towards universal primary education.

  1- Sees the role of the FTI in the process of promoting transformation of the Curricula through all levels of education, in order to respond to the solutions required for basic education to all children by the year 2015; 2- Is happy that the EFA-FTI focuses on the double goal of gender equity and universal primary education.

 The Government of Mozambique:

Both, need the implementation of a new curriculum, apt to give to women and children, the skills to overcome the difficulties in which they live.

For such a programme, an appropriate budget has to be organised, with internal and external resources. This operation has to be made, in a practical dialogue with donors.

Meetings to control the implementation of the Strategic Plan Monitoring and Supervision, should take place on a regular basis.

Monitoring and Supervision are paramount. The Government Five Years Plan, privileges in the context of Good Governance, Monitoring and Supervision. Both, contribute to the transparency of Government activities. Both, control the levels of execution of the designed plan.

The Ministry of Education and Culture of Mozambique, has a common fund to support education and to support decentralisation, to be articulated with local priorities and concretised in a plan, for developing education at district level. The Ministry of Education and Culture needs to have a greater empowerment to lead this process.

The general articulation of this plan has to be exclusively done by the Government, avoiding the existence of two sorts of budget: one depending on the Government and the other depending on different intentions of donors.

Such a situation, makes difficult the implementation of a coherent development policy.

I touch now the second point.

Mozambique has designed the guidelines, for implementing the Sector Wide Approach Programme. Those directives have been harmonised, and are in line with the requirements of the declaration.

 

The document describes key patterns for dialogue and coordination with cooperation partners at national level.

 

The main objectives for the setting up of a common Sector Wide Approach Programme are:

1. The improvement of planning, budgeting and the implementation of the Education Sector Strategic Plan.

2. The reduction of transaction costs arising from the coordination of external aid. The improvement of monitoring and dialogue, between the Ministry of Education and Culture and its partners.

The Fast Track Initiative and the Ministry of Education and Culture, are setting up mechanisms, for communication among partners and a code of conduct to guide the dialogue, starting in the year 2006.

This code will be set up in the form of an institutional commitment. All cooperation partners should sign the code.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

To invest for education, extended to all citizens, is to put the foundation for all other sectors of human development, like public health, creation of a society governed by law, development of a mechanised agriculture and improvement of skills, to know how to explore economic resources existing in the country.

 

We affirm, that Education has Education has to be at the top of strategic to be at the top of strategic prioritiespriorities..

What is said here, amounts to saying that education has to do with all sectors which are dealing with development. 

 

THANK YOU

Muito Obrigado

Khanimambo