The British Council, in partnership with the Mozambique Ministry of Education and the University of London, managed a major 5-year British Government-funded project to improve the quality of English Language teaching in Mozambican schools.

Client, stakeholders, partners

• Ministry of Education, Mozambique
• Institute of Education, University of London 

Focus
Improving the quality of English language teaching and learning in secondary and technical schools, at national level.

The project
The British Council, in partnership with the Mozambique Ministry of Education and the University of London, managed a major 5-year British Government-funded project to improve the quality of English Language teaching in Mozambican schools.

The project had huge impact, influencing all areas of secondary English provision in the country. It successfully:

• developed a team of well-qualified managers in the Ministry of Education and Provincial Directorates of Education
• revised secondary English syllabuses for Grades 7 to 11 and commissioned suitable textbooks adapted to the Mozambican content
• set up a certificated Diploma Course validated by the Institute of Education, University of London, and an Access Course for less-qualified teachers
• established English Language Resource Centres, connected to the internet, in all ten provinces of the country.

By the end of the project approximately 150 teachers had been trained to diploma level and over 300 had benefited from the Access Course. A series of secondary level textbooks was adapted by the British ELT publisher Macmillan to fit the new syllabuses, and for the first time all students at secondary level had access to the books and materials they needed to achieve success in English.

What the stakeholders say
"The STEP Project was really very successful because we managed to set up a network of ELT resource centres in the provinces which are still being used by teachers. The model has now been replicated more widely in the system - for example the French have used the same principles and approach for a French language project in partnership with the Pedagogic University. The project provided a model for INSET and other systems of teacher support. For instance, the new Institute for Distance Education is setting up centres on the STEP model, not just for teacher training but for a whole range of distance learning courses."
Jose Dinis, Director, Institute of Languages, Ministry of Education and Culture, Mozambique:

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