Mozambique Institute of Sports and Physical Education: 6th Graduation Celebrating Leadership and Transforming the Future

Paulo Vilanculo"

 "Your graduation is not just training, but a mission."-A lecture of wisdom by Professor Dr. Tembe, Lecturer in the Physical Education and Sports course at the Pedagogical University of Maputo.

The city of Beira witnessed, once again, a significant milestone in national technical and vocational training with the 6th graduation ceremony of the Mozambican Institute of Sports and Physical Education. In a context where young people are seeking, at their own expense, real opportunities to enter the job market, this event graduated 160 future teachers, 81 of whom are girls, thus demonstrating the practical commitment of an institution that continues to produce qualified professionals, despite the structural challenges that still limit the appreciation of sport and physical education as pillars of human development.

During the speeches, the urgent need for the State to strengthen institutional support for the sector was highlighted, creating clear employability policies, valuing the role of mid-level technicians in the national education system, and expanding the network of sports infrastructure. The celebration also served as a space for demands and reflection on the future of physical education in Mozambique, a future that depends not only on training but also on the absorption capacity of the job market itself.

The event, celebrated amidst applause, emotional faces, and a mixture of relief and expectation, is not merely a formality. It symbolizes a collective commitment: to transform physical education and sport into a true engine of social and human development. More than the completion of an academic cycle, graduation reflects the maturation of a sector that, although underfunded, demonstrates resilience and the capacity to generate social impact. Many graduates already have a defined path: to integrate into schools, sports associations, community programs, and private initiatives where sport is seen as an instrument of inclusion, health, and citizenship. In a country marked by inequalities and weak investment in educational and sports infrastructure, these new professionals emerge as essential agents for promoting practices that strengthen social cohesion and foster healthy lifestyles.

We would like to especially highlight the strategic vision and sense of mission of our Director-General, Professor Paulo Saveca, whose leadership has been the pillar that sustains the growth and prestige of this institution. His commitment to creating teaching conditions, motivating teaching staff, and humanizing educational practice demonstrates an exemplary commitment to the holistic development of students. It is thanks to his firm and inspiring guidance that we celebrate this graduation today with pride and confidence in the future. His ability to lead this institution with rigor, humanity, and strategic sense has allowed us to celebrate not just a graduation today, but a solid, coherent, and transformative institutional journey. The success of this graduation is also a reflection of his integrity, his commitment to youth, and his faith in the transformative power of education.

As a professor of Sports Psychology, I am honored to witness the transformation of young people who, throughout these years, have faced challenges, overcome limits, and consolidated skills that now launch them confidently into the professional market. Each class, each dialogue, and each seed planted in the fertile ground of youth reveals its fruit today. It is an immeasurable satisfaction to see these graduates raise their diplomas as living proof of the collective effort that characterizes this institution, an effort that involves dedicated students, committed teachers, and a leadership that truly believes in the power of education as an instrument of development. To the graduates who raise their diplomas today, I understand that each challenge faced, each class, each guidance, each debate, each doubt clarified has become strength for these new professionals to move forward firmly and competently in the job market.

If today we are reaping the rewards, it is because yesterday we had the courage to sow. And it is with this awareness that I reaffirm the honor of being part of an institution that believes in youth, sport, and education as instruments of social transformation. The seeds planted along this path of discipline, emotional intelligence, ethics, resilience, and leadership are now bearing visible fruit. This graduation reaffirms the school's mission as a space for transformation and development for Mozambique. May each graduate be a living testament to what this institution is capable of producing: talent, discipline, humanism, and courage to build a better Mozambique. My gratitude is profound. My hope is renewed. My mission continues. For the new graduates, a challenging path now opens, where the knowledge acquired at the Instituto Médio do Desporto will be put to the test in communities thirsty for dynamism, creativity, and leadership.

The Mozambican Institute of Sport and Physical Education thus reaffirms itself as a space of transformation, not only through the diploma conferred, but also through the role it plays in building skills that respond to community, school, and professional needs in the field of sport and physical education. In the end, what was celebrated in Beira was not just the 6th graduation, but the persistence of a collective dream of training, dignity, and progress. The Institute of Sport and Physical Education thus reaffirmed itself as a stage where the future of Mozambique is shaped through the strength and talent of its youth.

2025/12/3