s rate of native students was only 30% during Portuguese colonialism (Carnoy and Samoff 277). Following Mozambique’s independence, “academic quality as measured by the exam system did not improve; learning quality was low, and the dropout and failure rates were high” (Carnoy and Samoff 292). In 1984 only 18% of the students enrolled in classes with the equivalence to the fourth grade in America were passing, while fewer than 12% of the adults in the same level classes were doing the same (Carnoy and Samoff 297 - 300). “All transition strategies involve, in some sense, mass mobilization—and a crucial element in mobilizing masses is education,” something Mozambicans at the time were lacking (Carnoy and Samoff 13). Soon after Mozambique’s de-colonization the country entered into a 16-year civil war which left it in ruins. (Phinny 2) In the mid 90’s when it began to make its first movement towards democracy it also had to keep in mind that “satisfying [the demand for education] was fundamental to the legitimacy of the new state” (Carnoy and Samoff 309). South Africa has by no means completed all of the necessary steps to bring it into the 21st century as a fully developed and prosperous stable democracy, but it has made significant progress. The military has maintained its stance as pro-democratic and successfully kept the peace throughout the transition to democracy. Recent education reforms are helping increase the standards of learning in South Africa, and the economy is slowly reviving (Matloff 1). Despite this, there are still other problems such as health care, the tax system, immigration control and additional improvements of the aforementioned that need to be dealt with, before the country can reach a stable equilibrium conducive to democracy. Countries such as Nigeria, Uganda, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe are also making the necessary reforms from which to establish a ...