Education in Angola

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation,
search

Children in an outdoor classroom in Bié,
Angola

Education in Angola has four years of compulsory, free primary
education which began at age seven, and secondary education which began at age
eleven, lasting eight years. Basic adult literacy continues to be extremely low,
but there are conflicting figures from government and other sources. It is
difficult to assess not only literacy but also other educational needs.
Statistics available in 2001 from UNICEF estimate adult literacy to be 56
percent for males and 29 percent for women.

Contents

1 History

2 Current
status

3 See also

4 References

5 External
links

[edit]
History

Main article: History of
education in Angola

African access to educational opportunities was highly limited for most of
the colonial
period, many rural Angolan populations of the vast countryside retained
their native culture and language and were not even able to speak or understand
Portuguese.[1]
In mainland Portugal, the
homeland of the colonial authorities who ruled Angola from the 16th century
until 1975, by the end of the 19th century the illiteracy rates were at over 80
percent and higher education was reserved for a small percentage of the
population as well. 68.1 percent of mainland Portugal's
population was still classified as illiterate by the 1930 census. Mainland
Portugal's literacy rate by the 1940s and early 1950s was low for North
American and Western European
standards at the time. Only in the mid-1960s did the country make public
education available for all children between the ages of six and twelve, and the
overseas territories profited from this new educational developments and change
in policy at Lisbon. In Angola, until the
1950s facilities run by the government were few for such a large territory and
restricted to the urban areas.[1]
Responsibility for educating Africans rested with Roman
Catholic and Protestant
missions.[1]
As a consequence, each of the missions established its own school system, however, the
children were educated in Portuguese language and culture. This centuries long
missionary educational
endeavour in Portuguese Angola were
subject to Portuguese coordination with
respect to several pedagogical and organizational matters.[1]
Education beyond the primary level was
available to very few black Africans before 1960, and the proportion of the age
group that went on to secondary school in the
early 1970s was still quite low compared to the white Angolans (as well as
comparing urban versus rural Angolans of all ethnicities).[1]
Nevertheless, primary school attendance was growing substantially.[1]
In general, the quality of teaching at the primary level was reasonable, despite
the fact that sometimes instruction was carried on largely by Africans with very
few qualifications.[1]
Most secondary school teachers were Portuguese.[1]
In 1962, the first university established in
Angola was founded by the Portuguese authorities and was initially called 'Estudos
Gerais Universitários de Angola. This first Angolan university
institution awarded a wide range of degrees from engineering to medicine.[2]
In 1968, it was renamed Universidade de Luanda (University of
Luanda).

The conflict between the Portuguese military and the various nationalist
guerrillas, the Portuguese Colonial
War (1961–1974), did not damage effectively this strong educational growth
started in the late 1950s. However, the Angolan Civil War
(1975–2002) that ensued after independence
left the education system in chaos and all the progress achieved in the last two
decades was seriously damaged.[3]
With the independence and the eruption of the civil war, most Portuguese had
left (including virtually all secondary school staff), many buildings had been
damaged, and the availability of instructional materials was limited.[3]

A report of the First
Party Congress published in December 1977 gave education high priority.[3]
The government estimated the level of illiteracy following
independence at between 85 percent and 90 percent and set the elimination of
illiteracy as an immediate task.[3]
By 1985, after a major literacy campaign, the average rate of adult literacy was
officially estimated at 59 percent; United States government
sources, however, estimated literacy at only 20 percent.[3]
At independence there were 25,000 primary school teachers, but less than 2,000
were even minimally qualified to teach primary school children.[3]
The shortage of qualified instructors was even more pronounced at the secondary school level,
where there were only 600 teachers.[3]
Furthermore, secondary schools existed only in towns.[3]
The First Party Congress responded to this problem by resolving to institute an
eight-year compulsory system
of free, basic education for
children between ages seven and fifteen.[3]

School enrollment, which rose very slowly considering Angola's youthful
population, reflected the dire effects of the insurgency. In 1977 the government
reported that more than 1 million primary school students were enrolled, as were
about 105,000 secondary school students, roughly double the numbers enrolled in
1973. What proportions of the relevant age groups these students constituted was
not known, but in the case of the primary school students it may have been
almost two-thirds, and in that of secondary school students, perhaps a tenth to
an eighth. Official government statistics released in 1984 showed that primary
school enrollment had declined to 870,410, while secondary school enrollment
(including vocational school and teacher training students) had increased to
151,759. This made for combined primary and secondary school enrollment
consisting of 49 percent of the school-age population. By 1986 the primary
school enrollment had increased to 1,304,145. After the independence of Angola
from Portugal in 1975, the Portuguese-built University of Luanda was refounded
as the "Universidade de Angola" (University of Angola) in 1979 as a successor of
the higher education institutions created during the Portuguese colonial
administration. This included other institutions like the faculty of
agricultural sciences based in the central Angolan town of Huambo which was known before
independence by its numerous educational facilities, especially the
Portuguese-founded Agricultural Research Institute that currently belongs to the
Faculty of Agricultural Sciences of the Agostinho Neto University.[3]. The University of Luanda, founded in 1962, became known by
its current title in 1985 to honor the first president of Angola, Agostinho Neto. In 1984,
Luanda's Agostinho Neto
University, the country's only university, had an enrollment of 4,493
students. This number had declined to 3,195 by 1986. A total of 72,330 people
were enrolled in primary adult education programs in 1986.

The government began implementation of its education plan in close
cooperation with its allies,
particularly Cuba and
the Soviet Union.[3]
Hundreds of Cuban and Soviet teachers traveled to Angola to teach, and about
5,000 Angolan students studied in Cuba or the Soviet Union.[3]
Despite the government's efforts, the UNITA insurgency prevented the
construction of a new education system on the remains of that inherited from the
Portuguese.[3]
Between 1977 and the mid-1980s, school enrollment declined, reflecting the dire
effects of the insurgency.[3]
The demands of the war had drained funds that could otherwise have been applied
to building schools, printing books, and purchasing
equipment.[3]
Fighting also disrupted the education of hundreds of thousands of school-age
children.[3]

A number of Angolan organizations become active during the 1980s in the quest
for better educational facilities.In 1987 the JMPLA launched a special campaign
to recruit 1,000 young people to teach in primary schools in Luanda Province.
The groups targeted by the campaign included secondary school and higher
education graduates, as well as some workers. The OMA not only sponsored
programs to teach women to read and write but was also involved in programs to
reduce infant mortality and promote family planning. Even the military formed a
special group in 1980, the eighth contingent of the Comrade Dangereux Brigade,
whose basic function was to teach primary school; 6,630 brigade members were
reported to have taught 309,419 students by 1987.

Despite the government's efforts, the UNITA insurgency prevented the
construction of a new education system on the remains of that inherited from the
Portuguese. The demands of the war had drained funds that could otherwise have
been applied to building schools, printing books, and purchasing equipment. In
1988, according to the United States Center for Defense Information, the Angolan
government spent more per capita on the military (US$892) than on education
(US$310). The war in the southern and central regions of the country also
prevented the spread of the school system; the consequences of the fighting,
including UNITA attacks on schools and teachers and the massive displacement of
rural populations in those areas, disrupted the education of hundreds of
thousands of school-age children. Further damaging to Angola's future was the
fact that many of those studying abroad had either failed to complete their
courses of study or had not returned to Angola.

Since after independence from Portugal in 1975, a number of Angolan students
continued to be admitted every year at Portuguese high schools, polytechnical
institutes and universities, through bilateral agreements between the Portuguese
Government and the Angolan Government; most of them belong to the Angolan
elites. However, many of those studying abroad, in European countries like Portugal and Russia, had either
failed to complete their courses of study or had not returned to Angola.

Release of UNICEF's 1999 annual report on "The State of the World's Children"
predicted that illiteracy rates would escalate in the following century because
one out of four children in the poorest nations would not be in school. By 1998,
Angola alone had more than 50% of children under age 12 who did not attend
school.[4]

Although by law,
education in Angola is compulsory and free for
8 years, the government reports that a certain percent of students are not in
school due to a lack of school buildings and teachers.[5]
Students are often responsible for paying additional school-related expenses,
including fees for books and supplies.[5]
In 1999, the gross primary enrollment rate was 74 percent and in 1998, the most
recent year for which data are available, the net primary enrollment rate was 61
percent.[5]
Gross and net enrollment ratios are based on the number of students formally
registered in primary school and therefore do not necessarily reflect actual
school attendance.[5]
There continue to be significant disparities in enrollment between rural and urban areas.154 In 1995, 71.2
percent of children ages 7 to 14 years were attending school.[5]
It is reported that higher percentages of boys attend school than girls.[5]
During the Angolan Civil War
(1975–2002), nearly half of all schools were reportedly looted and destroyed, leading to
current problems with overcrowding.[5]
The Ministry of Education hired 20,000 new teachers in 2005, and continued to
implement teacher trainings.[5]
Teachers tend to be underpaid, inadequately trained, and overworked (sometimes
teaching two or three shifts a day).[5]
Teachers also reportedly demand payment or bribes directly from their
students.[5]
Other factors, such as the presence of landmines, lack of resources
and identity papers, and poor health also prevent children from regularly
attending school.[5]
Although budgetary allocations for education were increased in 2004, the
education system in Angola continues to be extremely under-funded.[5]

Literacy
is quite low, with 67.4% of the population over the age of 15 able to read and
write in Portuguese.[citation
needed] 82.9% of males and 54.2% of women are literate as of
2001.[citation
needed]

In Angola in 1999-2000, the gross primary enrollment rate was approximately
74 percent and the net primary enrollment rate was approximately 30 percent.[6]
In provinces hardest hit by the war, gross enrollment rates averaged less than
40 percent.[6]
In 2002, 26 percent of children who were enrolled in primary school reached
grade 4. Rates of enrollment, retention, and completion in Angola tend to be
lower among girls.[6]

When the civil war ended in 2002, Angola's educational infrastructure was in
disarray. Several programs started after the end of the civil war were expected
to improve education in Angola.[6]
In 2004, the Government of Angola concluded its national child registration
campaign, which has documented 3.8 million children under the age of 18 years
since August 2002.[6]
UNICEF and the Government of
Angola expanded their existing Back-to-School campaign by recruiting and
training 29,000 new primary school teachers for the 2004 school year.[6]
As a result, student enrollment has increased by nearly 1 million, primarily in
grades 1 through 4.[6]
The program is developing into an Education for All Program.[6]
In April 2004, the Ministry of Education held public consultations on the
proposed National Plan of Action for Education for All.[6]

Many areas of rapid resettlement, areas hardest hit by the Angolan Civil War
(1975–2002), and remote rural areas, however, continue to lack basic social
services, including education.[6]
This absence of services has led to an increased migration to municipal and
provincial capitals, where basic services and schools are already operating
beyond capacity.[6]
Although primary school construction has received significant support from donors, many of
these newly constructed schools lack qualified teachers, curricula, staff, and much
needed resources and support.[6]
Viable non-formal education, accelerated education, vocational training, and other
alternative educational opportunities are also scarce, and lack qualified
teachers, staff, resources and support.[6]

Years of conflict have left many students, including former child soldiers, severely
traumatized and some physically
disabled.[6]
Abuse experienced by many abducted and war-affected girls has left them
especially vulnerable, and some with young children requiring care during school
hours.[6]
During the conflict, many students missed years of schooling, resulting in
classrooms populated by many overage students.[6]
For these young people, the services that are available to them are often
inadequate to meet their special needs.[6]

Some teacher training and community programs have included special training
for adults working with former child soldiers, war-affected children, and
children engaged in or at risk of engaging in the worst forms of child labor.[6]
Some social protection and educational programs, curricula, policies, and
resources have also been revised and made more suitable for this population.[6]
However, there continues to be a need for more relevant and adequate teaching
techniques; resources, curricula, and teaching tools; formal, vocational, and
alternative educational programs; life skills training; social services;
community support; educational and social polices and programs; and
opportunities for young people to develop into productive and responsible
citizens.[6]

[edit]
Current status

After the end of the Angolan Civil War in
2002, and with the oil price increases in the late 2000s, the Angolan Government
was able to collect huge financial resources from taxes on oil and diamond
extraction profits. This increase of the governmental budget plus the end of the
armed conflict allowed a new opportunity to expand and improve Angola's
educational system. Angola's Education Ministry requested the implementation of
the "Cuban system" (a Cuban teaching method) beginning in
March 2009 in the provinces of Luanda, Benguela, Huambo and Bié, to be
afterwards extended to other areas of the nation. The method will be first
implemented on February in Luanda, as an experimental project, for which a group
of 10 teachers from Cuba will travel to the African nation in the first months
of 2009. The Angolan leaders are looking to eliminate widespread illiteracy
before 2014 or at least reduce it to a minimal extent by that year.[7]

[edit]
See also

List of schools
in Angola

List of
universities in Angola

Angolan Civil
War

[edit]
References

^ a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Warner, Rachel. "Conditions before Independence". A Country Study:
Angola (Thomas Collelo, editor). Library of
Congress Federal Research
Division (February 1989). This article incorporates text from this
source, which is in the public domain.[1]

^
(Portuguese) 52. UNIVERSIDADE DE LUANDA

^ a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
Warner, Rachel. "Conditions after Independence". A Country Study:
Angola (Thomas Collelo, editor). Library of
Congress Federal Research
Division (February 1989). This article incorporates text from this
source, which is in the public domain.[2]

^
Brenda Wilkinson, Street
Children of Angola, General Board of Global Ministries (December 22,
1998)

^ a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
"Botswana". 2005 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor. Bureau
of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department
of Labor (2006). This article incorporates text from this source, which
is in the public domain.

^ a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
t
"Combating Exploitive Child Labor Through Education in
Angola". U.S. Department
of Labor (May 27, 2005). This article incorporates text from this
source, which is in the public domain.

^
Angola Will Use Cuban Teaching Method in Literacy
Campaign

[edit]
External links

Profile of
education in Angola from UNICEF

Profile of higher education in Angola from Boston College

Profile of higher education in Angola from UNESCO

Profile of
information communication technology in education in Angola from infoDev

v • d • e

Education in Africa

Sovereign
states

Algeria ·
Angola · Benin ·
Botswana ·
Burkina
Faso · Burundi ·
Cameroon ·
Cape
Verde · Central
African Republic · Chad ·
Comoros ·
Democratic
Republic of the Congo · Republic
of the Congo · Côte
d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) · Djibouti ·
Egypt1 ·
Equatorial
Guinea · Eritrea ·
Ethiopia ·
Gabon ·
The
Gambia · Ghana ·
Guinea ·
Guinea-Bissau ·
Kenya ·
Lesotho ·
Liberia ·
Libya ·
Madagascar ·
Malawi ·
Mali ·
Mauritania ·
Mauritius ·
Morocco ·
Mozambique ·
Namibia ·
Niger ·
Nigeria ·
Rwanda ·
São
Tomé and Príncipe · Senegal ·
Seychelles ·
Sierra
Leone · Somalia ·
South
Africa · Sudan ·
Swaziland ·
Tanzania ·
Togo ·
Tunisia ·
Uganda ·
Zambia ·
Zimbabwe

States
with limited
recognition

Sahrawi
Arab Democratic Republic · Somaliland

Dependencies,
autonomies,
other
territories

Canary
Islands / Ceuta /
Melilla /
Plazas
de soberanía (Spain) · Madeira
(Portugal) · Mayotte /
Réunion
(France) · Puntland
(Somalia) · Saint
Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (United
Kingdom) · Southern
Sudan (Sudan) · Western
Sahara · Zanzibar
(Tanzania)

1 Transcontinental
country.

v • d • e

Angola
topics

Politics
and government

Constitution · Corruption · Elections · Ethnic
groups · Flag · Foreign
relations · Human
rights · Law
enforcement · Military · Ministers · National
Assembly · Political
parties · Politics of
Angola · President · Prime
Minister

History

Precolonial
history · Colonial
history · War
of Independence · Civil
War · 2000s

Geography
and environment

Cities
and towns · Ecoregions · Municipalities · National
parks · Provinces · Wildlife

Economy
and infrastructure

Agriculture · Airports · Banks · Communications · Companies · Health · Fishing · Kwanza · Mining · Tourism · Trade
unions · Transport

Culture
and society

Demographics · Education · Films · Football · Holidays · Languages · Literature · Media · Music · Notable
Angolans · Religion · Women

See also: List
of Angola-related
articles

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Angola"

Categories: Education in
Angola

Hidden categories: All
articles with unsourced statements | Articles
with unsourced statements from June 2008

Personal tools

Log
in / create account

Namespaces

Article

Discussion

Variants

Views

Read

Edit

View
history

Actions

Search

Navigation

Main page

Contents

Featured
content

Current
events

Random article

Donate

Interaction

Help

About Wikipedia

Community
portal

Recent
changes

Contact
Wikipedia

Toolbox

What
links here

Related
changes

Upload file

Special
pages

Permanent
link

Cite
this page

Print/export

Create a book

Download as PDF

Printable
version

Languages

Português

This page was last modified on 24 October 2010 at
23:05.

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of Use for
details.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a
non-profit organization.

Contact
us

Privacy
policy

About Wikipedia

Disclaimers