The SACMEQ IV Project in Mozambique: a study of the conditions of schooling and the quality of basic education in Mozambique

The SACMEQ IV project represents a major increase in the scale and complexity of SACMEQ’s research and training programmes. The focus of the project was on conditions of schooling and the quality of education in 14 school systems: Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania (Zanzibar), Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The purpose of the project was to gather information on a) the general conditions of schooling, b) the reading and mathematics achievement levels of Grade 6 learners and their teachers, and c) the knowledge that learners and their teachers have about HIV/AIDS. The main data collection for the project covered a total of around 62 218 pupils, 6 667 teachers and 2 507 school heads. In this chapter, specific aspects of the methodology followed in SACMEQ IV study are outlined. These include a description of the sample used, data collection, cleaning and analysis.