Since 2022, the British Council has been working in the TVET sector in Mozambique with a focus on supporting their national policy aspiration to build a “quality, efficient and effective education system that responds to the needs of human development”.
Our objective
To support institutional capacity building, the British Council has facilitated a UK-Mozambique International Skills Partnership focused on embedding soft skills development in curriculum and building capacity of staff in participating institutions.
This partnership between South Eastern Regional College (SERC) in Northern Ireland and three Institutes of Technical and Professional Education in Mozambique (Instituto Comercial de Maputo, Escola Técnica de Mumemo and Instituto Industrial e Comercial Eduardo Mondlane de Inhambane) was delivered in cooperation with SEETP (Secretaria de Estado do Ensino Técnico Profissional), the main government department responsible for TVET in Mozambique.
Our strategy
The collaboration focused on exchange of knowledge and experience of using project-based learning (PBL) pedagogy to develop soft skills of trainees following programmes in the curriculum areas of Travel and Tourism and Hospitality.
Over the course of the project, SERC supported their partner institutions in Mozambique as they implemented real-life projects which provided trainees with the opportunity to apply their skills in meaningful contexts.
Our impact
The impact at an institutional level included improved pedagogy which has already produced positive results for both trainers and trainees. Each college implemented unique projects as selected by their student groups based on the opportunities and challenges in their college. The projects the institutions chose for the pilots were as follows:
- In Maputo, an affordable tourist package was created for young people aged 18 to 35 with several spectacular itineraries around the city.
- In Mumemo, a tourist information centre was established within the institute, helping to promote tourist attractions.
- The Instituto Industrial e Comercial Eduardo Mondlane, in Inhambane province, developed a popular culinary experience in the local area for visiting groups and members of the public, raising over 4000 Mozambican meticais.
Senior leaders in the partner institutions confirmed that they hope to extend PBL to other curriculum areas following the pilot and commented on the value of the project:
“Today's world increasingly requires qualified professionals, who know how to work as a team, who have the ability to solve problems and who have a critical view of the challenges they face.”
“We firmly believe that the transversal skills acquired will be of great value in the professional and social life of each trainee we have had the opportunity to direct.”
The benefits to SERC included the strong connections made with partners with the potential for further opportunities going forward in the continued development of hospitality and travel and tourism, as well as entrepreneurship and employer engagement.
"We've learned so much from our three international partners who really inspired us. We've been so impressed to see how far our partners and their students have come through the process in such a short time.", Diane Weatherup, Head of Learning Academy at SERC
Find the full case study in the Downloads section below.
This International Skills Partnership is supported by funding from the British Council’s Going Global Partnerships programme. Going Global Partnerships supports universities, colleges and wider education stakeholders around the world to work together towards stronger, equitable, inclusive, more internationally connected higher education, science and TVET.
