Government policy towards private bodies in education has had two expressions in historically different periods. Immediately after the proclamation of independence, one of the first and strongest political decisions taken by the government was the nationalisation of education. This was a measure aimed essentially at democratising education, creating the legal basis to ensure access for all citizens.

However, study of the educational situation in 1990 noted worrying levels of exclusion from school caused partly by the destruction of about half the primary school network by the war, and a reduction, in real terms, of the ability to finance education out of public funds. This finding, together with the spirit of liberalisation that inspired the economic reforms, led the government to recognise that the state could not continue to be the sole provider of education. In this context, the government approved legal mechanisms seeking the intervention of non-governmental agents in education.

Behind this law lay a government expectation that private education would contribute to the expansion of the school network nationally. However, the levels of coverage suggest that the r ole of private education can be further strengthened and developed. Table 3.2 shows the distribution of the pupils who were attending the various levels of private education in 1999.

The data in table 3.2 show a clear concentration of private schools in Maputo city, and in Sofala, Maputo, Niassa and Zambezia provinces. The geographic distribution of private schools shows that they are located in urban centres, while they scarcely exist at all in the countryside.

An analysis of how these schools operate enables us to distinguish two categories: fee-paying private schools, normally sought after by the social classes who are able to pay the costs inherent to education in these institutions; and community schools run by religious bodies, philanthropic associations and other forms of community organisation.

Broadening access to the first category will always be limited by the size of the market. This private education is obviously aimed at the well-of f social strata.

The second category contains an enormous potential for development, guided not so much by market criteria, but by the need to offer opportunities to citizens who find no places available in the public education network. That is why it is this type of school which, at this stage, has benefitted from government support (albeit still insignificant) in the form of wages for the teachers, and textbooks for the pupils.

Private schooling has also enter ed the sphere of higher education. Non-public higher education first appear ed in 1996 with the appearance of the Catholic University and the Higher Polytechnic and University Institute (ISPU). Initially catering for only 262 students, private higher education has grown rapidly, and in 1999 the number of students reached 2,913. Part of this growth resulted from the opening of another higher education institution, the Higher Scientific and Technological Institute of Mozambique (ISCTEM).