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The Mozambique Institute

[18] The Mozambique Institute

The Mozambique Institute, officially Instituto Moçambicano, was an aid-funded school for Mozambican refugees located in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Formally founded in 1963 by the American professor Janet Rae Mondlane together with her husband and UN official Eduardo Mondlane [15], the Mozambique Institute opened its doors in 1964 [3].

Given the deficient educational policies adopted by the Portuguese administration, adding to the growing number of Mozambican refugees in Tanganyika (modern-day Tanzania) during the colonial war, the project aimed to establish a safe educational centre for young Mozambicans [5]. It provided them with tutoring in various subjects [26], from the standard elementary/secondary education to a Medical Programme [11], including the controversial promotion of the colonial Portuguese language [2]. Backed by the country's nationalist movement fighting for self-determination - FRELIMO (Frente de Libertação de Moçambique), the school also served as a focal point to disperse revolutionary values against the Portuguese rule and mould a new decolonial society in the future liberated Mozambique [5].

Financed entirely on voluntary contributions from governments and organisations [18], notably from the Ford Foundation, the Mozambique Institute was originally home to roughly 52 students aged between 14-19 [19]. Throughout its operating years, the school kept developing its facilities and respective programmes to be able to accommodate more students/staff, surpassing 100 pupils by the end of 1965 [26]. From its rather modest beginning, the Mozambique Institute's impact extended beyond its gates, nurturing a network of educational programmes across the nearby villages and refugee camps, becoming a central actor within FRELIMO's democratic vision [25]. Eventually, due to so-called divergences within FRELIMO's governing body [19] and internal conflicts between students and staff, the school shut down in May 1968 [1].

With an African-centred curriculum grounded on cultural self-respect, inclusivity and human rights [16], the Mozambique Institute served as a role model school not only for independent Mozambique but for other aid-funded schools across the decolonising world [3].

Colonial Context, Segregation and Illiteracy

Education in Mozambique during the colonial years was structurally flawed, merely designed to meet the colony's low-skilled labour demands and reinforce the Portuguese Empire's dominance [3]. In the 20th century, Portugal's Estado Novo corporativist regime sought to increase Portugal's colonial control and economic exploitation of its colonies, capping the amounts allowed to be invested in the colonised territories' development while simultaneously turning the financial burden of education over to religious institutions [5].

Educational programmes were then based on the assumption that the African people should be simply literate enough to understand the colonisers' speech, preserving a manipulated lower class of technical/agricultural workers among the masses. Parallelly, the schooling system was too shaped to reinforce the relations of colonial subordination through the diffusion of Luso-tropical ideology. The colonial administration reinforced the idea that only the white Portuguese were civilised and that the rest of the population, by contrast, could only become civilised once absorbed into the Portuguese culture by acquiring their education, language and religion. Officially, two categories of schools were then established: the deprived Catholic mission schools for African children; and the more sophisticated government schools for the white and assimilated students [4].

Due to these segregation policies, only 2% of children got the chance to go to school, while 97% of the population was illiterate [18]. Those who did manage to go further in their studies were later coerced by the Portuguese government and prevented from achieving higher administrative/ruling positions within the colony [5].

The Institution

Purpose and Founding

Eduardo Mondlane (1920-69), co-founder of the Mozambique Institute and former President of the FRELIMO

Given the nature of the educational system upheld by the Portuguese colonial administration, Eduardo Mondlane highlighted the need to free the people's minds and educate them towards their independence and self-appreciation [18]. In his view, only the complete abandonment of the Portuguese segregating system and the adoption of an African-centred curriculum could nurture democratic political independence [10][16].

Following this sentiment, in 1962, FRELIMO officially delineated their educational policy and manifested the intention of building/funding schools wherever possible to increase the Mozambicans' literacy numbers and spread its revolutionary agenda. This decolonising aim, together with Mondlane's determination to establish an educational centre for Mozambican refugees in Tanganyika, led to the creation of the Mozambique Institute in early 1963 [19].

Upon its founding, the project's primary objective was to create a programme to qualify Mozambican refugees to acquire scholarships in institutions overseas [1]. Shortly after, the secondary school programme for which the Institute is known was debuted with two central goals in mind. The first and initial one was to give the educationally deprived students constant and thorough academic training to a level at which they can successfully continue their studies. Aligned with FRELIMO's democratic vision, the second one was to enrich the students' knowledge of the world so that they can conduct themselves and the ones surrounding them in a developing environment [25].

Admissions

Students were only admitted into the Institute if they had attained the Quarta Classe (4-6 years of primary school) [26]. After checking their educational background, the young refugees were placed in the appropriate classes with students of similar education levels [19].

In case a student was behind in solely one/two subjects compared to their peers, the Institute, in cooperation with the African-American Institute, was given fill-in classes in Portuguese at the Kurasini International College [26].

Enrolment could only be made at the beginning of the terms to prevent any disruptions [26].

Further Developments and Difficulties

As thousands of new refugees arrived after 1964, the number of students with enough educational background to enter the Institute increased. By the end of 1965, the Mozambique Institute was already home to more than 100 refugee students [19].

Initially focusing on only secondary/higher education, the Institute decided to go further in its instruction mission and opened a primary education programme in early 1965, once the influx of refugees with low literacy levels was too increasing [26]. Despite the humanitarian intentions behind this expansion, the limited capacities and financial resources of the Mozambique Institute became increasingly apparent, and it turned out to be impractical to meet the needs of all these groups of students successfully. Thus, the Mozambique Institute's educational priorities shifted back to those students who already possessed either primary or secondary levels of education [17][19].

In the meantime, difficulties in guaranteeing all students' nutrition needs were reported as their diet was composed mainly of a low variety of grains. Concerns with their clothing and shoewear were also noted [23].

To relieve the growing overcrowding problem, the Institute rented a house in Dar es Salaam to house around 20 of its students [23].

Incidents and Closure

In 1967-68, generational tensions between young students and their senior leaders resulted in increased verbal and physical confrontations within the Institute, accompanied by a growing discontentment with FRELIMO's decolonising approach [20]. Students staged protests and disrupted classes, mainly due to the use of Portuguese rather than English as a medium of instruction (since this was a barrier to further studies) and against the obligation for students to join FRELIMO's liberating army (as it became a prerequisite for studying at the Institute) [1].

Later, these grievances became part of the broader tensions within FRELIMO, as the revolutionary front was being accused of regional elitism/discrimination to benefit southern/white citizens. The same regionalism that pushed black northern students/refugees into the front of the Colonial War started influencing student perceptions of power and opportunity within the Mozambique Institute [14][19].

In March 1968, a group of students led by the Catholic priest Mateus Gwenjere gathered to protest against having to interrupt their studies in order to perform military service inside Mozambique, as well as against the predominantly white leadership of the Institute. The FRELIMO suppressed these protests by force, causing around 80% of students to abandon their studies and be sent to refugee camps elsewhere in Tanzania. Gwengere, the leader of the revolt, was later identified by FRELIMO as a provocateur sent by the Portuguese counter-insurgency to destabilise the movement in Tanganyika. These altercations not only forced the closure of the Mozambique Institute in May 1968 but also seriously undermined the entire liberation struggle and led directly to the breakdown of FRELIMO's revolutionary agenda [21].

Curriculum

Methodology and Assessments

A critical aspect of the work being carried out in the Institute was the emphasis on trial and experiment in educational methods.

Once the Portuguese educational system was not designed to train Africans to a higher degree of responsibility and knowledge, FRELIMO and the school board were constantly devising new pedagogical approaches that better aligned with the new decolonising reality [18]. Within this framework of constant discussion and trial, the school's staff resorted to writing their own textbooks and assessment pieces. This way, the Institute established a revolutionary tutoring system coordinated with their staff's academic background and social context [25].

A course on "How To Study", including writing tips and information on how to do simple library research, was opened to support students' progression and reduce the number of pupils with knowledge/language gaps. Classroom performances generally improved in less than a year, and this part-time course became mandatory [25].

Grades were based on the work of one term (4 months approximately), and, based on each student's results, they would be placed in distinct class levels and tutoring programmes [25].

Programmes and Subjects

[6] Number of classes/subjects per week

Students at the Institute had lessons 6 days a week, and all took part in a wide range of classes/subjects: History, Mathematics, Geography, Political Administration, Natural Sciences, Physical Education and others, depending on the level taught [6][7][8].

Among these, particular attention was given to the History programme in which, through an anti-imperial perspective, students learned about the past of Mozambique and neighbouring nations, as well as the damages caused by the Portuguese Empire. Topics such as the ideology of the Portuguese Estado Novo regime, the Jesuit Missionaries' impact and the economics of slavery were all studied in detail. With this emphasis, FRELIMO's intended to stimulate a sentiment of unity against the Portuguese presence among the young refugees [8].

A medical programme for senior students led by two experienced Doctors was initiated in late 1964, forming 15 young aides by 1966. The taught students in medical aid started helping communities in the surrounding refugee camps and thereon across the liberated areas in northern Mozambique. Within this programme, the Institute inaugurated its first clinic in 1965, initially just for students and then for other refugees [11].

Studying Abroad

Another critical facet of the operation of the Mozambique Institute was the number of students attending schools in foreign countries.

By September 1965, there were 122 Mozambican students attending schools overseas, mainly males who had attended either the Africa-American Institute in Kurasini or the Mozambique Institute. Still within the Institute's walls, young refugee students were encouraged to attain scholarships from external institutions/governments to pursue advanced degrees that FRELIMO could not afford [2][19].

This group of university students abroad were then expected to return and participate in the leadership of independent Mozambique with their improved knowledge [25].

Language Question

[9] Portuguese grammar exercises

As FRELIMO's pioneer school, the Mozambique Institute had to decide which language to adopt not only within its facilities but as the leading institution of the newly formed nationalist movement. More specifically, it had to manage the linguistic diversity which marked the context FRELIMO and the Institute stood on: centred in Tanganyika, a British trusteeship territory, home to thousands of Mozambican migrants of distinct ethnocultural/linguistic backgrounds [2].

Confronted with this complex background, the Mozambique Institute (following FRELIMO's directives) opted to adopt the imperial Portuguese language as the language of instruction. This choice sought to foster linguistic unity across the country and also ended the problem of choosing only one of the Bantu languages to become instructed/official [22].

As the majority of the population/refugees, including FRELIMO's members, neither spoke nor comprehended Portuguese, the Institute was challenged to teach both literacy and a new language to its students simultaneously [18]. Following this decision, the Institute used books and texts in Portuguese in all its classes and even had a dedicated class about the Portuguese language and its grammar [9].

This decision was controversial since put into practice, being one of the main motives that caused the closing of the Institute in 1968 (as explained in the previous section) [1].

Beyond the Curriculum

Gender Equality and Self-Responsibility

Dr Janet Rae Mondlane, the co-founder of the Institute, was always vocal about the importance of providing equal opportunities for male and female students and deconstructing pre-settled gender norms [19].

Regardless, by 1965, the Institute was home to 52 male students and merely 6 external female students who lived close enough to the campus to attend classes [27]. Given this disparity, the Institute administration launched a series of measures to expand its infrastructure and be capable of accommodating more female students [19].

Adding to these expansion works, the Institute followed a strict non-sexist ideological position, endorsed by FRELIMO. Such policy codified that the school's maintenance was all students' responsibility regardless of gender. Students were then required to contribute actively to the daily domestic chores of the school, such as washing/drying dishes, bed-making, and sweeping. As the Institute did not have its own cooks, male and female students also had to cook independently for themselves [12][19].

Domestic responsibilities, which had been the primary domain of women in colonial Mozambique, were, at the Mozambique Institute, also the responsibility of young men. This revolutionary stance sought to reinforce FRELIMO's (particularly Mondlane's) vision toward an egalitarian decolonised society, becoming a widespread practice across boarding schools throughout East Africa [16][19].

Nutrition, Healthcare and Well-being

Adding to its schooling purpose, the Mozambique Institute was simultaneously involved with its students' general health, nutrition and medical care, ensuring they were in the best possible condition to attend their studies [18].

Representing more than a third of the Institute's working budget (explained in more detail in the next section) [24], FRELIMO paid particular attention to the students' nutrition, ensuring each student obtained a healthy amount of calories daily. In addition, proper clothing and recreational/cultural equipment, such as films/books, were also a matter of concern, together with healthcare access and good hygiene habits [3].

Collaboration with nearby Refugee Camps

FRELIMO's democratic vision for liberated Mozambique ended up extending beyond the school's gate to the general population.

The majority of the nearly 400 refugees sheltering in the nearby Bagamoyo Refugee Camp were illiterate and with poor healthcare habits. Once it turned out to be impossible to provide primary school access to young refugees within the Mozambique Institute, the Institute inaugurated a network made up of senior students to give hygiene and literacy classes across the refugee camp [18][26].

In the meantime, some of the Institute's teachers working in the camp carried out a three-month Administrative Training Course focusing on founding political concepts and simple accountancy to prepare future graduates' work across the liberated areas of Mozambique [18].

This flexible network was revealed to be successful, managing to encourage young/adult literacy on the one hand and FRELIMO's popularity among the masses on the other [26].

Financing and Working Budget

The Mozambique Institute was entirely financed by voluntary contributions from governments and organisations [18]. However, there was never a direct fund to form the school, but rather a sequence of negotiations on an educational project for Mozambican refugees that culminated in the Institute [1].

[24] Three years working budget

The initial funding for Mondlane's project was compromised with the Ford Foundation on 27th May 1963 - the Mozambique Emergency Education Fund (M.E.E.F.). This grant was meant to enable the collaboration between the already established African-American Institute in Tanganyika (funded by the U.S. foreign aid agency) with the prospective Mozambique Institute to meet the educational needs of Mozambican refugees. Of the total of US$ 99,700.00 subsidised via the M.E.E.F., $16,000 were destined for the Institute's construction [1][5].

Once built, a three-year working budget was set, starting with $18.998 in 1964 and reaching $30.058 by 1966. Within this budget, particular attention was given to the students' nutrition as food expenses represented over a third of the total budget ($8.271 in 1964). A private doctor and medication at a set fee of $3 per student per month were also included in FRELIMO's provisions, as well as proper clothing and recreational equipment for all students. Throughout the years, donations of food, clothing, educational equipment and medicines were received and distributed, helping to maintain the functioning of the Institute [24].

Excluded from the expenses envisioned in this budget were the costs of hiring and transporting staff/teachers and their respective salaries [24].

References

1. Bastos, F. (2018) ‘Políticas de Língua e Movimentos Nacionalistas: Campos de Interação Histórica Entre Tanzânia e Moçambique (1961 – 1969). Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas (IFCH) – Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Available at: http://bdtd.ibict.br/vufind/Record/CAMP_9001b09e4130c4378cbc9c38366dd8c2
2. Bastos, F. (2020) ‘Mozambique Liberation Front’s Educational Programs and the Ford Foundation: The Case of the Mozambique Institute in Dar es Salaam (1960-1964)’, Rockefeller Archive Center Research Reports. Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas (IFCH) – Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Available at: https://rockarch.issuelab.org/resource/mozambique-liberation-front-s-educational-programs-and-the-ford-foundation-the-case-of-the-mozambique-institute-in-dar-es-salaam-1960-1964.html
3. Costa, C. (2018) O Instituto Moçambicano e o Estado Social dentro da FRELIMO. Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto. Available at: https://repositorio-aberto.up.pt/bitstream/10216/118324/2/307303.pdf
4. Cross, M. (1987) ‘The Political Economy of Colonial Education: Mozambique, 1930-1975’, Comparative Education Review, 31 (4), pp. 550–569. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1188319
5. Egerö, B. (1987) Mozambique: A Dream Undone. The Political Economy of Democracy, 1975-84. Nordiska afrikainstitutet Uppsala. Available at: https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A274053&dswid=-303
6. FRELIMO D.E.C. Instituto Moçambicano (1967a) ‘Programas para ensino primário: "Programa de ciências", 1967, Emerging Nationalism in Portuguese Africa. University of Southern California Digital Library. Available at: http://doi.org/10.25549/chil-c60-9696
7. FRELIMO D.E.C. Instituto Moçambicano (1967b) ‘Programas para ensino primário: "Programa de geografia", 1967, Emerging Nationalism in Portuguese Africa. University of Southern California Digital Library. Available at: http://doi.org/10.25549/chil-c60-9650
8. FRELIMO D.E.C. Instituto Moçambicano (1967c) ‘Programas para ensino primário: "Programa de história", 1967, Emerging Nationalism in Portuguese Africa. University of Southern California Digital Library. Available at: http://doi.org/10.25549/chil-c60-9641
9. FRELIMO D.E.C. Instituto Moçambicano (1967d) ‘Programas para ensino primário: "Programa de português", 1967, Emerging Nationalism in Portuguese Africa. University of Southern California Digital Library. Available at: http://doi.org/10.25549/chil-c60-9626
10. Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (FRELIMO). (1965a) ‘Mozambique Institute 1965’, Mozambique Liberation Documents Collection. Available at: http://www.aluka.org/stable/10.5555/al.sff.document.pwmoz000005
11. Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (FRELIMO). (1966b) ‘The Mozambique Institute - Medical Program 1966-1968’, Mozambique Liberation Documents Collection. Available at: http://www.aluka.org/stable/10.5555/al.sff.document.pwmoz000008
12. Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (FRELIMO). (1967d) ‘Mozambique Institute’, Mozambique Liberation Documents Collection. Available at: http://www.aluka.org/stable/10.5555/al.sff.document.pwmoz000010
13. Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (FRELIMO). (1967e) ‘Mozambique Institute 1967’, Mozambique Liberation Documents Collection. Available at: https://www.aluka.org/stable/pdf/10.5555/al.sff.document.pwmoz000011
14. Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (FRELIMO). (1969f) ‘Mozambique and the Mozambique Institute [Brief History]’, Mozambique Liberation Documents Collection. Available at: http://www.aluka.org/stable/10.5555/al.sff.document.pwmoz000016
15. Marcum, J. (1969) "A Martyr for Mozambique", Africa Report, 14 (3), pp. 6-9. Available at: https://www.proquest.com/docview/1304056277/fulltext/D5826E27BFC648BDPQ/1?accountid=14182&imgSeq=1
16. Mondlane, E. (1964a) ‘Old roots in African education by Eduardo C. Mondlane, 1962’, Emerging Nationalism in Portuguese Africa. University of Southern California Digital Library. Available at: http://doi.org/10.25549/chil-c60-7079
17. Mondlane, J. R. (1965) ‘The Mozambique Institute (Instituto Moçambicano), Progress and Plans, 1963-1964’, Emerging Nationalism in Portuguese Africa. University of Southern California Digital Library. Available at: http://doi.org/10.25549/chil-c60-7180
18. Mondlane, J. R. (1967) ‘THE MOZAMBIQUE INSTITUTE’, Southern Africa Bulletin (9), pp. 1-3. American Committee in Africa. Available at: https://projects.kora.matrix.msu.edu/files/210-808-566/acoabulletinno9opt.pdf
19. Panzer, M. (2013) A nation in name, a 'state' in exile: The FRELIMO proto-state, youth, gender, and the liberation of Mozambique 1962-1975. State University of New York at Albany. Available at: https://www.proquest.com/docview/1434876543?fromopenview=true&pq-origsite=gscholar
20. Pearce, J. (2021) ‘Simango, Gwenjere and the Politics of the Past in Mozambique, Journal of Southern African Studies, 47 (3), pp. 387-404. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/03057070.2021.1907136
21. Poppe, G. (2009) The origins of Mozambique's liberalization, a reassessment of FRELIMO's early years. University of Southern California. Available at: https://www.proquest.com/docview/304997604/5CCA1ED0ED414A86PQ/4?accountid=14182
22. Simão, C. (2017) ‘Projeto Instituto Moçambicano: Uma Montagem de Afeto’, Revista África(s), 4 (7), pp. 73-84. Available at: https://revistas.uneb.br/index.php/africas/article/view/4183
23. The Mozambique Institute (Instituto Moçambicano), (1964a) ‘The crisis among Mozambican student refugees in Dar Es Salaam, [Jan. 1964?]’, Emerging Nationalism in Portuguese Africa. University of Southern California Digital Library. Available at: http://doi.org/10.25549/chil-c60-7184
24. The Mozambique Institute (Instituto Moçambicano), (1964b) ‘The Mozambique Institute - Three year working budget, 1964 Oct. 9’, Emerging Nationalism in Portuguese Africa. University of Southern California Digital Library. Available at: http://doi.org/10.25549/chil-c60-7209
25. The Mozambique Institute (Instituto Moçambicano), (1964c) ‘The Mozambique Institute, 1964 Oct. 9’, Emerging Nationalism in Portuguese Africa. University of Southern California Digital Library. Available at: http://doi.org/10.25549/chil-c60-7216
26. The Mozambique Institute (Instituto Moçambicano), (1965d) ‘The Mozambique Institute - Background information and progress, 1965 Mar. 10’, Emerging Nationalism in Portuguese Africa. University of Southern California Digital Library. Available at: http://doi.org/10.25549/chil-c60-7236
27. The Mozambique Institute (Instituto Moçambicano), (1965e) ‘Mozambique Institute - Report, 1965 Sept. 1’, Emerging Nationalism in Portuguese Africa. University of Southern California Digital Library. Available at: http://doi.org/10.25549/chil-c60-7256