Paper short abstract:

This paper analysis data from 4 years on promotion of access to higher education at STEM areas in Mozambique. Phase I, 2019-2022, included northern provinces and girls' students, while phase II (ongoing) includes the capital province and male students. Regional and gender disparities are considered.

Paper long abstract:

In Mozambique there are significant regional inequalities, between North and South, between rural and urban areas, and between boys and girls, with disadvantage for girls, rural areas, and northern provinces. Regarding school access, disadvantages may be a result of lack of parent's support, lack of knowledge and lack of motivation for higher education, no school material or textbooks, poor quality of education and no tools for catch-up activities. With the aim of reducing internal imbalances in relation to regional and gender representation in access to higher education in Mozambique, a program was created to help secondary school seniors prepare in the most relevant thematic areas for STEM university admission exams: Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology and Physics. To access higher education, students must complete secondary school and submit themselves to a specific university and degree admission exam. The program intends to prepare students for that exams.

Phase I took place in the northern provinces, Nampula, Niassa and Cabo Delgado, involving female students from rural and urban contexts, who got access to vocational guidance, smartphones, mobile data, learning materials and online classes.

Phase II, ongoing, also expanded to the southern province of Maputo, involving 25% boys. Students have access to online classes at the school support media center, complemented with vocational guidance and learning materials. Students profile (residence, gender, and family members prior access to higher education) and their path through higher education are collected to answer the question: which approaches better promote access to higher education according to student's specific vulnerability aspects?