Maputo, April 10, 2026 (Lusa) - Mozambique’s education and culture minister, Samaria Tovela, has revealed that approximately 10,500 classes across the country continue to study outdoors, describing the situation in the provinces of Cabo Delgado, Nampula, Zambézia, and Maputo as critical.

“We have a higher number. We have around 10,500 classes studying outdoors, according to our statistics,” she said.

She identified the northern provinces of Cabo Delgado and Nampula, Zambézia in the central region, and Maputo in the south as the areas facing the most severe challenges, though she added that every province in the country was grappling with similar issues.

"We are working on this. Where there are the most problems, that is where we are focusing our efforts”, she said.

On 20 February, she announced that thousands of pupils would have to start the academic year in tents, due to the complete destruction of almost 400 schools during the heavy flooding that has affected the country since January.

The government had to ensure all children were accommodated, she said, explaining that tents were being deployed as temporary spaces for teaching and learning.

She acknowledged that while the intervention focused on areas where schools were entirely destroyed, the scale of the damage was vast, particularly in the south, with 1.710 schools of various levels damaged by the January floods, including 376 and 362 support facilities, such as teachers' residences and other facilities.

The latest figures represent a significant increase from February 2025, when she reported that approximately 8,500 classes were studying outdoors.

"There are around 8,500 outdoor classes. As we know, when it rains, the children can’t have lessons; they have to move from one patch of shade to another, and that’s not what we want," she said.

LCE/MYAL // AYLS

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