The strike, "indefinitely", of university professors, called by the Union of Higher Education Teachers (Sinpes), began on January 3, 2022 and enters today for another week.
In a note sent this Tuesday to Lusa, the MEA, which promoted last Saturday, in Luanda, a demonstration for the return to classes in the public higher education subsystem, states that the second march is scheduled for 19 February, also in Luanda.
Demanding an end to the strike by university professors and the resumption of classes at public universities are among the purposes of the "peaceful, academic and orderly" demonstration, which should take place from Largo Santa Ana Cemetery to Largo 1.º de Maio, in the capital. .
According to the MEA, the suspension of classes "is harming students with concrete plans", especially at a stage when students "would already be in exam tests in the first quarter".
"If, on the one hand, the Government cannot resolve the teachers' demands, on the other hand, we, as students, cannot accept to see our future stagnant", reads the note.
The students also lament the "sepulchral silence" of the authorities, which demonstrates, they say, "a lack of will on the part of those who say they are governing for the better".
"We will take to the streets again until the strike falls to the ground", they assure, stressing that the February 19 demonstration "is open" to all who show solidarity with university students from public institutions.
The first MEA demonstration, convened for the same purpose, took place last Saturday, in the Angolan capital, and brought together more than 100 students who marched for the resumption of classes and disapproved of the "poor" salaries of teachers, asking for the intervention of President João Lourenço .
The march was followed by personnel from the national police, who followed the path of students who also asked for the dismissal of the Minister of Higher Education.
The Angolan Ministry of Higher Education considers that the salary increase of teachers, who have been on strike for more than a month, is a "delicate and complex process", but guarantees that actions are already underway at the Government level in this area.
The Angolan Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESCTI) says, in a press release, to which Lusa had access, that "actions are taking place at the executive level, in the context of a more general approach to the salary matter of the administration public".
For the ministry, the salary increase for university professors "is a delicate and complex process that requires considering a set of variables that guarantee the sustainability of any counter-proposal presented by the executive".
Salary increases, better working conditions, payment of public debt and elections of the governing bodies of public higher education institutions are some of the demands of Angolan teachers on strike for an indefinite period.
