Why is the project "Educação Bilingue" so important?

Pedagogic reasons.

From experience it is known that the sole use of Portuguese during 30 years of independence has given very poor academic results. The data for pass rates in primary school before the Eb project shows that of 1000 pupils, only 77 graduated grade 5.

This is the same kind of experience from other countries - if the primary schooling is done in a foreign language, the pupils will not be able to use the acquired knowledge outside the class room. It becomes parallel learning, where the school and the real world never meet. The "non scholae sed vitae" principle is let down. In this connection it should be mentioned, that an efficient health campaign (AIDS) can only be carried out, if you use the language of the people.

Cultural reasons.

The language and the culture is so closely connected, that they can not be separated. The Mozambican culture can not be expressed in Portuguese and the only way of respecting the local culture is to respect the local language. And the only way of making sustainable development is to built on the existing culture.

Human right reasons.

The Portuguese language was deliberately used as a tool  of power in the colonial time. After independence it still is - only those who master the Portuguese languages have a chance to be heard. The use of the national languages is a necessary condition for democracy, not only on the national level but also a condition for influence on the situation locally. Before the first elections after the civil war, big efforts were made to translate the election material into all the languages.