According to Ana Paula Elias, who was speaking to Rádio Nacional de Angola, all the conditions are in place for the start of the 2020 school year, which is scheduled to open officially on 31 January, with new teachers also expected.
The process of registration and enrolment for general education at the national level is already underway and the search for a vacancy at the various levels of education is a concern of parents and guardians in view of the reduced supply of institutions.
For the government, the lack of vacancies "is a problem" whose solution lies in "increasing the construction of more classrooms" and also in the entry of more agents into the education system.
"The demand that the institutions receive is higher than the available vacancies," she assumed, condemning the sale of textbooks, especially in the first cycle of secondary education, "because basic education in the country under the law is free.
The National Institute for Consumer Protection (Inadec) last week criticized private educational institutions for "unilaterally adjusting" the prices of tuition fees and emoluments for the 2020 school year, admitting "civil and criminal liability" for offenders.
According to an Inadec press release, many private educational institutions tend to raise the prices of tuition fees and emoluments unilaterally, clinging to a supposed readjustment, an intention that motivated the "repudiation" of the public body.
Asked about this, Ana Paula Elias said she was aware of the pretensions of private educational institutions, pointing out that the decision of whether or not to increase tuition fees is the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance.
The 2020 school year, whose official opening is scheduled for 31 January, runs until the second half of December.
