This article presents a study on the access and permanence or equity of the students in schools of General Secondary Education. The research was carried out in two schools, which sought to understand the level of access and permanence of students. The research opted for a qualitative approach as it made a content analysis of interviews and readings. It was observed that the Mozambican educational system was marked by the exclusion of other cultures due to the weak negotiation between the school culture and that of the students, and in this context, there was a systematic and constant abandonment of students. This abandonment occurred for several reasons: cultural issues and fragility of family structures. The research also showed that in schools there was a strong trend toward generalization and harmonization of evaluation practices, without looking at issues of asymmetries between schools. A continuous and constant practice of expressing value judgments was also carried out in order to generalize the students' behavior. Faced with these factors, students have access to school but over the cycle are giving up, which makes it possible to understand that Mozambican public policies still need to maintain an inclusive and acceptability dialog with and from other cultures.

ResumoEste estudo procurou estabelecer a relação entre as qualificações dos professores e o rendimento dos alunos, por um lado, e os padrões de distribuição professores e o rendimento dos alunos, por outro. As perguntas que orientaram este estudo foram as seguintes: quais são os padrões de distribuição dos professores e que critérios são utilizados na colocação e distribuição dos professores do Ensino Primário na cidade de Maputo? Em que medida o rendimento dos alunos se relaciona com os níveis de qualificação e padrões de distribuição dos professores? O estudo seguiu uma abordagem quantitativa, tendo analisado estatísticas sobre as qualificações dos professores e rendimento dos alunos. Entrevistas foram conduzidas para determinar os critérios de recrutamento, seleção e distribuição dos professores. Uma amostra estratificada, de 129 professores com idades entre 25 e 65 anos e ± 60% ≤ 15 anos de serviço, foi selecionada, em oito escolas de três distritos municipais. Os resultados indicam uma relação negativa entre as qualificações dos professores e o rendimento dos alunos. Uma relação positiva, porém, foi encontrada entre os anos de serviço, o sexo e o tipo de vínculo laboral dos professores e o rendimento dos alunos. Palavras-chave: Ensino Primário. Qualificações dos professores. Rendimento dos alunos.

From the early days of national independence in 1975, the central aim of the educational policy in Mozambique has been to ensure that all school-age children have access to school and can remain there until they have completed their basic education. In the pursuit of this aim, the extension of access to primary education was achieved relatively successfully, given that it reached a net rate of school coverage of almost 100 per cent. However, the impressive increase in school attendance rates has not been accompanied by a corresponding improvement in the quality of learning, and there are worrying signs of a considerable setback in relation to this aspect. Using this observation as a starting point, the study identifies and analyses the variables in the institutional context behind ‘schooling without learning’. The results of the study point to (i) weak state capacity; (ii) excessive dependence on external aid; and (iii) poor community involvement and participation in school management, as being factors with a major influence on the poor quality of education in primary schools.