Good afternoon. On the front of the 1st of May Industrial Institute in the city of Maputo you can find a compass symbol, the ancient sign of the stonemasons’ profession. This tradition of skilled manual work, and the professional pride that goes with it, seems to have been left behind, judging by the institute's recent decision to close its courses for mechanics and for machinists, who produce metal parts using lathes and milling machines. According to the state-controlled newspaper Notícias, the reason the courses were closed was due to a lack of “teaching resources”. This usually means that there are not enough materials available to teach the course such as car parts or specialised machines. Instead, classrooms have been rented out to the Higher School of Journalism, which trains over 1000 people in professions like journalism, marketing and public relations.
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Does this change reflect a transition in Mozambique from an economy built on farming, mining and other natural resources to a service economy? Is demand for journalists and marketing executives overtaking demand for machinists and mechanics? Certainly not. On the contrary it is scandalous that so many people are being trained in professions for which there are not enough jobs available when they graduate. Many of those young Mozambicans who have acquired these qualifications will join the growing ranks of the unemployed. (They are not ignorant of that fact: a lot of them are only on those courses because they were unable to secure places on other courses with better job prospects, but their families still expect them to get a qualification.) On the other hand, there is a shortage of skilled mechanics. It is simply a lack of funding which has forced the closure of the mechanics’ and machinists’ courses.
