First and second level primary education (EP1 and EP2), which, in the spirit of the law on the SNE, should be the levels of compulsory education, show a level of supply below the existing needs. On the basis of the 1999 educational statistics, it is estimated that only 37% of children -that is, 37% of those aged between 6 and 12 - are attending the two levels of primary education. As one can conclude from observing maps 3.2 and 3.3, there are great disparities in access between the various provinces, resulting from limitations on the supply of places in the system.

This data shows that the expansion in possibilities of access to educational ser vices is less rapid than the strong demographic growth - which is why less than half of children of school age, between six and 12 years old, are actually attending primary education.

In 1983 and 1992 there were two important changes affecting the age structure for admissions to 1st grade.

In the first case, under the introduction of the SNE in 1983, the legal age for admission to 1st grade was set at seven, although the law also allowed the admission of six-year-olds, if they had attended crèches. But this opening favoured children in urban areas who had the chance of attending pre-school educational establishments.

The second case was the revision of the SNE law in 1992, which brought down the age for admission to 1st grade to six.

Analysis of the available data leads us to the following conclusions:

The age range of 1st grade pupils has the same characteristics and trends as in 1983;

Bringing down the admission age to six did not lead to changes in the age structure of 1st grade pupils, where the modal age remains seven.

The two earlier findings suggest that although there is a trend towards an increased number of six year old pupils in recent years, it should be noted that this phenomenon is essentially urban.

In rural areas, despite the progress in expanding opportunities for access to education, there still remain problems concerning the location of supply compared to demand - or the location of the schools compared to where the pupils live. In many of Mozambique's rural areas, schools are set up and endowed with teachers - but are inaccessible because of the distances which the pupils must travel to reach them. This seems to be the main obstacle to a rapid increase in the percentage of six year olds attending 1st grade.