The start of the school year in Mozambique included the launch of the Educate for the Future Project on the 5th of February in Nampula. Galp Foundation and Galp partnered up with Helpo and together they support the development of education projects in Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe and in Portugal. As part of this project, 103 merit-based grants have been awarded to 8th grade students at Natoa secondary school. This initiative will allow students to finish 1st grade of Secondary Education in this school?, which up until now, was a mission deemed impossible due to the distance covered of 20km daily. Over the course of the 3 years of the project, 675 merit-based grants will be awarded.
Long distances between schools are one of the issues affecting drop-out rates at school in Mozambique, since 90% of trips are made on foot and can range from 1.5 to 40km. In response to this need, and considering that only 8% of Mozambicans own a bicycle, 57 bicycles were also distributed to Mozambicans, in partnership with Mozambikes, as an incentive for them to continue their school career. 171 bicycles will be distributed over the course of the project.
The project will also donate, until 2021, clothes, school supplies, hygiene material and a bicycle to 30 students due to their academic performance, 10 health education sessions for the students’ parents and the distribution of 50 collections of school textbooks and weekly snacks. In the long term, the project will support 22 schools and 2 orphanages, 11421 students, 300 parents and 90 teachers, and in addition to bicycles and merit-based grants, it will provide 3609 nutritional kits and 3000 blankets.
“For quality, inclusive and competitive education” is the motto of the opening ceremonies of the school year, which took place at Natoa Complete Primary School, where 1 year ago, Helpo inaugurated 6 classrooms, allowing students to move on to secondary education. According to the Governor of Nampula, during the year 2018, 175 new halls were built in the province, with Helpo contributing 12.
Helpo is an NGDO - Non-Governmental Development Organisation, which has been active since 2008 in the fields of education and nutrition, providing support to the most vulnerable populations in countries with low human development index. Helpo reaches more than 19,000 children and funds their activities through the Child Sponsorship Programme, free donations, projects funded by international agencies and companies.
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