SDG 4 in Mozambique: assessing the role of projectification in improving education quality

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 focuses on the delivery of quality and inclusive equitable education. The attainment of SDG4 increasingly relies on the projectification of educational goals, including the delivery of capital projects such as school construction and rehabilitation, as well as projects aimed at training teachers, equipping classrooms, improving education systems, curriculum development, etc. In this paper, we aim to understand how the projectification of educational goals addresses the challenges of SDG 4. We draw on archival data from project reports based on the Mozambican case and find that projectification manifests as a narrow perspective, where the processes of structuring and organizing are used to prioritize project delivery. However, it also manifests as a broader process of adopting projects as habitual and performative reactions to SDG4 challenges. We also discuss the power dynamics observed among different stakeholders and emphasize the need to pay attention to the potential tension between achieving sustainable development goals 'by' and 'through' the projects. Theoretically, we demonstrate how the temporal nature of projects can limit the long-term entrenchment of societal transformation