The local curriculum in Mozambique: the Santa Rita Community School in Xinavane

In 1983, Mozambique started reviewing the education system that it had inherited from the Portuguese colonial administration. One of the innovations introduced into basic education is the time allocated to the local curriculum (LC) within the national curriculum (NC). The LC enables the communities, including the poorest and those furthest removed from the school environment, to identify themselves with the importance of schooling and allow children to find meaning in what they learn with respect to their life in their community. The good practice described below has been introduced in a community school, where it has successfully brought together the LC and NC to become an individual and collective asset for the community in which it has been implemented. It is a successful example worth studying in detail.

Albertina Moreno ChachuaioEmail:

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Adelaide Dhorsan (Mozambique)   is a holder of a postgraduate diploma (DEA) in languages and general linguistics from the University Paul Valéry, Montpellier III, France, she is a pedagogical officer in the Department of Curriculum Planning and Development, Section of Bilingual Education, at the National Institute for Education Development (INDE). Previously, she was a lecturer in the Department of French at the University of Education, Maputo, and Head of the Department of Languages in Upper Secondary Education. Her research focuses on socio-linguistics and didactics, in particular, teaching methods for bilingual education (Portuguese and Mozambican languages). She coordinated the design of the project for curriculum reform and planning for general secondary education and is the author of numerous teaching manuals for basic education in Mozambique. Albertina Moreno Chachuaio (Mozambique)   is a holder of a master’s degree in linguistics from the University Eduardo Mondlane, Maputo, Mozambique, she is Head of the Department for Curriculum Planning and Development at the National Institute for Education Development, Ministry of Education and Culture of Mozambique. Previously she was a teacher of Portuguese in Upper Secondary Education and a research assistant in linguistics for the computerization of linguistic data at the University Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambique. Her work and research interests focus on monitoring the curriculum for basic and secondary education and the assessment of teaching materials. She is the author of numerous teaching materials for basic education.