Train 30 women preschool teachers in Mozambique!

Project Report | Dec 24, 2025
Investing in the youngest ones: MSLI's preschools

By Cara Myers | Director of Development and Innovation

A child answers questions on an IDELA evaluation.

In preschools supported by the Mozambique School Lunch Initiative (MSLI), learning now starts earlier—and stronger—than ever before.

This year marked a turning point as we hired a dedicated preschool program manager to guide expansion and ensure quality across sites, overseeing the 39 preschool teachers employed by MSLI across our 14 community preschools.

At the end of the school year, children’s progress was measured using the International Development and Early Learning Assessment (IDELA) evaluation, an internationally recognized early learning assessment, and the results were striking: by year’s end, students answered 85–90% of questions correctly on average. These gains reflect more than academic success—they signal confidence, curiosity, and readiness for primary school.

MSLI also shared these lessons nationally, participating in an Early Childhood Development conference in Maputo and contributing to a broader conversation about how to give Mozambique’s youngest learners the strongest possible start!

In 2026, thanks to your generous support, we aim to expand our preschool program to additional communities, training and hiring even more preschool teachers! We greatly appreciate your investment in the young children of Mozambique - helping ensure they are off to a great start.

Permalink

Aug 20, 2025
MSLI's preschool expansion

By Cara Myers | Director of Development and Innovation

With the expansion of MSLI’s preschool program this year, we’ve been really excited to see how the new preschools are transforming young childrens’ lives. Little kids who used to be shy, reserved, and undernourished, are now full of energy, singing songs with enthusiasm, and learning the fundamentals of letters, numbers and how to write.

Each day, the children spend 5-8 hours at the preschool, facilitated by trained preschool teachers. They receive a nutritious breakfast and lunch, ensuring good nutrition at a critical age. MSLI’s preschools are free for all children. The children also enjoy games and fun activities. Recently, the preschools celebrated the “Day of the African Child”, in which the preschool teachers organized special song s and dances for the children, and costumes with the traditional cloth worn in Mozambique – capulanas.

In May of this year, the MSLI team used the International Development and Early Learning Assessment (IDELA) – a rigorous, standardized global tool that measures children’s early learning and development – to assess the status of the 5-year olds in MSLI’s preschool program. The team randomly selected 60 children to complete the assessment, which included activities such as identifying shapes, solving puzzles, recognizing letters, counting and doing basic addition. The assessment also included an evaluation of the child’s socio-emotional status and engagement with other children. Even in a few short months, we were surprised by how much the children had learned! MSLI plans on regularly conducting these assessments so that we can measure the impact of the preschools on the children’s learning.

We are now running 14 preschools in rural Mozambique, employing 39 preschool teachers. But there is far greater need and the opportunity to expand the program even further. With your support, we can make that a reality!

Permalink

Apr 30, 2025
Success! The preschool teachers have been trained!

By Cara Myers | Director of Development and Innovation

Preschool students with newly trained teachers

In January, MSLI collaborated with the District government to host a 4-week training for the preschool teacher candidates. The training is based on a standardized curriculum, developed by UNICEF and the government of Mozambique. This included lessons on pedagogy, how to take care of children's different needs, and create fun activities that are also supporting the child's socio-emotional development and school readiness. After the training, MSLI selected the top 50% of best performing candidates to be hired as preschool teachers.

MSLI now has 40 preschool teachers across 14 preschools, 90% of whom are women! The new preschools opened on February 3rd this year and are serving 1,358 young children. Importantly, these children are now also benefiting from daily nutritious school meals served at the preschools. The preschool teachers have been very engaged so far, and we are inspired by the difference they are making in their communities.

Thank you for your support making this happen! It would not have been possible otherwise. One of the best bets for a better future is investing in the human capital -- the nutrition and education -- of the youngest generation. Childhood is a critical phase for physical and cognitive development, and if the child doesn't get what they need, there is no way to make up for it later. MSLI sees first-hand in Mozambique every single day, and we take it to heart. That is why MSLI takes a holistic approach to improving children's nutrition and education at each stage of their life cycle. These preschool teachers are now extending our reach even further, and we are looking forward to seeing how the children progress in the coming months and years.

Preschool teachers following their training

Preschool teachers during the training

Permalink

1 2 ›

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.