Financing for equity in pre-primary education
1. Education resources to subnational governments
2. Education resources to institutions
3. Education resources to students and families
4. Social policies and family support programmes
Introduction
Key financing indicators (UIS Data)
The official entrance age to pre-primary education in 2023 is 3 years old. There is no information available regarding the number of years of compulsory pre-primary education granted in legal frameworks, nor the net enrolment rate for pre-primary for both sexes.
Governance
Pre-primary education is governed by the Pre-Primary Subsystem under the National Education System Law (Law No. 18/2018, December 28). The Ministry of Education and Human Development (MINEDH) is primarily responsible for regulation and coordination. Other ministries, such as the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Social Action, Gender (MSAG) and Children, also support services, particularly for daycare centres, children's centers, and initiatives focused on child health and development during early childhood.
There are two types of preschool establishments operated by the government. The first comprises government centres administered and managed by the Ministry of Gender and Social Action. The second includes the new Early Childhood Development (ECD) strategy centers, known as DICIPE, which are overseen by the Ministry of Education.
Tuition-free status
There is no information available regarding the number of years of free pre-primary education granted in legal frameworks.
1. Education resources to subnational governments
Although Law No. 1/2008 specifies that local authorities must invest public resources in pre-school education centres, funding for pre-school education in Mozambique continues to operate under a different mechanism. This mechanism is characterised by a lack of decentralisation and greater reliance on public-private partnerships. The Ministry of Education (MINEDH) contracts and pays NGOs (Third-Party Providers) directly to implement community services. In the case of the MSAG centre, allocations come directly from the central level.
2. Education resources to institutions
In 2012, the government approved the National Strategy for Early Childhood Development Project (DICIPE) for 2012-2020, aimed at supporting children from prenatal to six years old. Initiated in 2016, DICIPE built 350 preschool facilities (escolinhas) near primary schools, staffed with four local instructors each.
MINEDH contracts third-party providers (TPPs) to implement and deliver ECD services across the five provinces under its supervision. TPPs are responsible for all community-level services, including community mobilisation, construction of escolinhas, training of teachers (facilitators), and providing ECD services to children ages 3-5 in the escolinhas. MINEDH develops a Basic Service Package (BSP) that outlines the minimum criteria for each community and escolinha, which each TPP must adhere to.
3. Education resources to students and families
No information was found regarding financial support mechanisms for pre-primary education.
4. Social policies and family support programmes
No social policies aimed at improving access to pre-primary education (not by the Ministry of Education) have been identified.
