Can we reconcile poverty, higher education and Covid-19? The experience of Mozambique

Abstract

In the midst of many challenges such as the recovery from the Cyclones Idai and Kenneth that hit Mozambique in 2019, the situation imposed by the Coronavirus has forced a lot of people and institutions, particularly those of higher learning, in Mozambique, to readjust their lifestyles to a particular kind of life that they did not expect to live before. Such an approach has been adopted as a way to save and protect the greatest gift that God has given to humanity, which is human life. In this situation, a lot more challenges are imposed to poor and underprivileged university students who already face many obstacles not only to study but also to meet their daily human needs. This reflection aims to discussing the problems that such students are facing in regard to the mitigation of the effects of Covid-19, in Mozambique, yet having to fulfil their academic and university obligations. After having presented a general overview of the Covid-19 situation and how different institutions of higher learning are addressing the same situation in Mozambique, the same reflection draws from the longstanding tradition of Catholic Social Teaching to suggest other approaches as to what more can be done to improve underprivileged university students’ living and academic conditions, particularly in the face of the Covid-19.
Keywords: poverty, higher education, Covid-19, solidarity.