Abstract
The study is based on a survey of academic achievement and occupational aspirations among secondary school pupils in Mozambique, one among the few countries in Africa that have opted to follow a socialist path of development and which have taken some concrete measures towards that goal. The main objective of the study is to ascertain to what extent Mozambican secondary school pupils' social and cultural background influence their academic achievements and educational and occupational aspirations. The research was based on a sample of 829 grade 6 to grade 11 pupils attending six secondary schools in Mozambique, in the academic year 1986. The research consisted of the administration of self-completion questionnaires to pupils; the interviewing of headmasters at each of the schools; and an examination of the records of each of the pupils in the sample. The specific measure of academic achievement used in this study was the proportion of grades failed at secondary school. An analysis of the six sampled schools indicated that the Frelimo school was an elite school in terms of the background of the majority of its pupils and of its physical and pedagogical resources. No substantial differences were found between the other five schools. Significant differences were found in the repetition rates between the Frelimo and the other schools. The findings suggest that family background variables had a significant, influence on academic achievement. Pupils from non manual backgrounds appeared to fail less grades at secondary school than those from manual backgrounds. The most important variable associated with academic achievement appeared to be the language spoken at home. Pupils who spoke Portuguese at home were less likely to fail at secondary school than those pupils who spoke one of the tribal languages. A close association was also found between academic achievement and other indicators of social advantage such as the type of housing and material goods possessed. The study suggests that some of the prior studies carried out in Africa may have underestimated the influences of family background on academic achievement in developing countries. It is argued that these other studies used narrow indicators of family background, whereas, the present study employed a wider range of family background variables. The study found that parental education and occupation are associated with pupils' educational and occupational aspirations, but that the relationship is less strong for males, and more powerful for females. An analysis of overall gender differences in educational and occupational aspirations showed that Mozambican women had lower educational and occupational aspirations than their male counterparts. These findings are discussed in terms of the efforts made by the Mozambican government to increase female participation at all levels of education and employment. It is suggested that class-based subcultures are emerging in Mozambique and may have a direct influence on pupils' academic achievement and educational and occupational aspirations. These findings are discussed in terms of the Mozambican government's attempts to achieve equity in education.