Category: Education

Angola Elections 2022: Education

Angola does not have enough schools or teachers to meet the needs of a population growing by a million each year. Experts theorize (and parents instinctively understand) that education is key to social progress and it’s one of the key issues facing the political parties contesting this election: how to deliver their promise of free and universal education to university level. Both the governing MPLA and its main rival, UNITA, have promised to boost spending but they don’t go into detail in their published programmes and campaign speeches. Maka Angola has some suggestions. Education is one of the most visible indicators of social progress and the benefits are far-reaching. Education provides individuals with intellectual and practical skills that make them productive. It enhances living conditions by fostering social equity and justice. It develops human talent and civic virtues. Angola has experimented with different teaching models by default since achieving independence […]

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Higher Education in Angola is not in Safe Hands

Since Angola’s civil war ended in 2002, the overall number of students in higher education has risen more than tenfold to over 140,000 but have educational standards kept pace? Some suggest they have not; that quantity should not be confused with quality. No less a figure than General João Lourenço, the MPLA Vice-President and Defence Minister, said in a speech to the academic community this month that institutions of higher education should not exist just to train the masses. He referred openly to the need for higher quality in Angola’s institutions of higher education and added that merit should be rewarded. It is remarkable that João Lourenço chose to highlight the concept of merit when this has not been high on the list of attributes required for appointments under José Eduardo dos Santos’s regime. Up to now nepotism, affinity and servile obedience have been more likely to secure an academic […]

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