With a population of approximately 29 million citizens, half of whom are school age, 1.5 million Mozambican children do not go to school. Mozambique has one of the highest dropout rates in the world and only 24% of children aged 13 to 17 years attend secondary school.
Long distances from home to school and the lack of economic capacity to support school costs are some of the reasons for dropping out of school. 90% of daily trips are made on foot, with distances ranging from 1.5 km to 40 km, and only 8% of Mozambicans own a bicycle.
On the other hand, in São Tomé and Príncipe, universal primary education has been achieved, but further efforts remain essential, in order to improve the quality of education and to increase the rate of transition from elementary to high school.
Educar para o Futuro (Educating for the Future) is a Galp Foundation initiative, in partnership with Helpo, which supports the development of education projects in Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe. Active since 2008, the Helpo Association is a non-governmental development organisation (NGDO) focused on education and nutrition. This NGDO funds their activities through the Child Sponsorship Programme, free donations, projects funded by international agencies and companies.
In 2021, in Nampula, in the community of Natoa, three classrooms are being built through the program that will serve students from the 1st to the 9th grade and a library that will allow them to have a space to do research, study and prepare their homework. With the help of its volunteers, the Galp Foundation also offered materials such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps and other materials.
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This project supports children’s and young people’s education in nine communities in northern Mozambique and seven communities in São Tomé and Príncipe.
By 2021, 675 merit scholarships will be awarded, and 11.421 students will directly benefit from paid tuition fees, school supplies, food and nutritional and health counselling programs for families. We are also committed to reach more than 11.260 people and to offer more than 700 scholarships by 2025.