Champion leaders competition

As part of the implementation of the JPF (Support for Education) Project, funded by Japan self-fund, which started on November 1, 2023 to October 31, 2024. After the attacks of March 24, 2021, two years later, the education sector has faced numerous challenges in terms of materials to guarantee the teaching and learning process.  It is in this context that the project comes in to support the education sector, with a view to ensuring that the teaching and learning process takes place without leaps and bounds in this atypical environment that is plaguing the province of Cabo Delgado and in particular the district of Palma.

The project described above has triggered various actions aimed at education and, in particular, at raising awareness among parents and guardians about the importance of sending their children to school. 

In the first phase, 20 community leaders from the 10 schools/communities (EP's of Quirinde, Mondlane, Muaha, Tandica, Boa Viagem, Chiquedo, Pundanhar, Nhica do Rovuma, Namotho and Unidade) were trained to implement the project, where it was explained that the aim of the awareness campaigns was to make parents and guardians aware of the importance of education. In response to this awareness, parents and guardians should send their children to school and monitor them. Each community had to conduct six awareness campaigns, and at the end, the three most outstanding communities could receive bicycles and school supplies based on the following award criteria:

• 06 awareness-raising and mobilization campaigns on the importance of education, prevention of premature unions and unwanted pregnancies;

• School with the highest number of students enrolled (from the start of the school year until the end of the year);

• School with no/lower number of dropouts;

• School with no record of early unions;

• Fenced and safe schools, community involved in improving education);

• Schools with functioning School Risk and Disaster Management Committees;

• School holding competitions and reading fairs.

Throughout the implementation of the activities, the community leaders benefited from mobile phone recharges to boost their activities, and every quarter there was a meeting to report on and plan the actions for that quarter. We obtained the following results from the awareness-raising activities:

• Greater awareness among parents and guardians of the importance of education;

• Increase in the number of pupils in schools; 

• Good school and community links where parents and guardians have taken part in various school activities;

• Accompaniment of parents and guardians in their children's school life;

• Reduction in school drop-out rates and early unions.

Approximately 12 months after the implementation of the project, the last meeting was held with the community leaders to announce the three communities that had stood out the most. The winners were the communities of Unidade in third place, Chicuedo in second place and Nhica de Rovuma in first place. The winners of the competition won 01 bicycle for each community, which will be used to boost awareness-raising activities and to follow up children who are about to drop out of school, and all the community leaders won school supplies consisting of 10 notebooks, 01 blue pen, 01 red pen, T-shirts and caps.

Although the competition for champion leaders has ended, we would like to leave you with the following recommendations:

• Continue to carry out awareness campaigns for parents and guardians;

• Encourage parents and guardians to enroll their children;

• Engage in school activities;

• Participate in school meetings;

• Ensure that schools remain a safe space;

• District Education, Youth and Technology Service to continue monitoring the activities of community leaders.