In a note sent to Lusa, teachers from the School Board (QE) of the Portuguese School of Luanda (EPL), linked in an extraordinary competition on September 1, 2024, complain about the worsening of conditions and injustices and admit to leaving the EPL before the end of the school year because the situation has become "unviable".
Teachers highlight that the transition in school management that began in 2021 brought a "substantial loss of benefits and remuneration, placing these professionals in a situation of inequality compared to their colleagues in statutory mobility".
According to the same note, the net salary of these teachers is significantly lower than that of a teacher in the first echelon of the career in Portugal, due to the country's taxation, "making it clearly insufficient to cover basic expenses, such as food, health, education, accommodation and transport".
They also speak of the growing discontent that has already led to other protests and highlight that due to the increase in the cost of living and the lack of effective measures, "many teachers consider it unfeasible to remain at EPL until the end of the school year".
The strike covers all teachers and workers with teaching functions who carry out their professional activity at EPL, including both teachers belonging to the School Board, under Decree-Law No. 45-B/2024, of July 12, and those who are on statutory mobility.
"The Government now has the opportunity to correct this injustice and show that it values its teachers, regardless of the contractual regime they are under", they appeal, adding that the continuation of this situation "could have serious consequences for the stability of the institution and for maintaining excellent teaching for EPL students".
In June last year, the Portuguese Minister of Education, Science and Innovation, Fernando Alexandre, announced, during a visit to Luanda, that the Government had created a solution for the 70 teachers "in a situation of serious precariousness" at the Portuguese School of Luanda, which was done through the diploma relating to the extraordinary external competition for the selection and recruitment of teaching staff at that educational establishment.
The EPL, created in the 1980s, was administered by the Portuguese Teaching Cooperative in Angola (CPEA) until 2021, but, as of September 7, 2021, it began to be administered by the Portuguese Ministry of Education, after a dispute with some cooperative members.
The Portuguese Ministry of Education had overseen the institution since 2006, although the school was run by a private entity that had a management contract with the State.
When the CPEA administration was transferred to the Portuguese State, there was no transfer of the teachers' employment relationship and, in order to continue teaching, the teachers had to sign a new contract, losing benefits and remuneration, which the majority accepted.
