Armed conflict in Cabo Delgado left eight teachers dead

MAPUTO, Mozambique 

At least eight teachers have been killed and 123,433 general education pupils were affected in 2021 by the armed conflict in Cabo Delgado, in northern Mozambique, the Ministry of Education told our reporter on Friday.

Of the victims, four teachers were from Muidumbe and the rest from the districts of Nangade, Palma and Macomia, said Gina Guibunda, spokeswoman for the education and human development ministry (Minedh).

“The situation affected more the districts north of Cabo Delgado, where the attacks occurred. In the other districts, classes were running normally,” she said, adding that as well as the teachers killed, a further 2,074 were affected by the violence and had been forced to leave their regions of origin.

A total of 46 schools, 104 classrooms, 30 administrative blocks and five buildings of the district services of education, youth and technology were destroyed following the attacks.

“Throughout 2021, there were no classes in 385 schools, with, in the last quarter, 166 that managed to resume,” Gina Guibunda added.

According to the Minedh, a total of 1,600 teachers have been reintegrated into the education system in the regions and provinces they fled the violence to.

Without giving details, Guibunda said that the construction and rehabilitation of primary and secondary schools was planned this year as part of the Cabo Delgado Reconstruction Project, noting that primary schools were the most affected by the insurgency.

Cabo Delgado province is rich in natural gas but has been terrorised since 2017 by armed rebels, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.

The conflict has led to more than 3,100 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project, and more than 817,000 displaced people, according to Mozambican authorities.

Since July, an offensive by government troops with support from Rwanda that was later joined by the Southern African Development Community allowed for increased security, recovering several areas from the rebels, including the town of Mocímboa da Praia, which had been occupied since August 2020.