In schools, students express concern about the interruption of quarterly tests, especially in the 1st cycle of primary and secondary education, due to the teachers' strike, while management awaits negotiations between the parties to suspend the strike declared by the centrals unions.
"We are on a general civil service strike for the right to a fair salary. Teacher, stay at home. Teacher, stay at home. Long live the strike", can be read on the posters posted at the entrance to public schools in the capital, as noted by the Lusa.
"I didn't have classes because of the strike, the teachers are on strike, they didn't say anything and tomorrow we won't have classes, the strike is worrying because we were already in the last quarter", told Lusa student Edivaldo Pereira, attending the 8th year class at Colégio Público Juventude em Luta.
A reduced presence of people in the well-known "Largo das Escolas", contrasts with the normal working day, with the majority of those present at the place being students in white coats who were returning home.
Among these we find Vítor Malungo, 9th grade, who also did not have classes: "They are on strike due to lack of wages", said the also student at Colégio Público Juventude em Luta.
The demands about salary increases and increases in the minimum wage are legitimate, for the student: "They are demanding their rights because they should earn more".
To Lusa, the acting director of Colégio Público n.º 1139 – Juventude em Luta, Miguel João, confirmed the suspension of classes at the institution he directs, marked by completely empty rooms, noting that they had to guide students to return home due to the absence of teachers.
"We are in the quarterly test, I believe that if the strike lasts until Friday we will resume the test on Monday, but I hope they reach a consensus and we can reactivate the tests", defended the director of the educational institution in the Urban District of Maianga.
The interruption of classes, noted the person in charge, should have implications for the teaching and learning system for students: "I hope that the unions and the Government can return to negotiations so that classes can resume as quickly as possible", he stressed.
General strike posters are also posted at the Instituto Médio de Economia de Luanda, the Instituto Médio Industrial de Luanda, the Instituto Médio Comercial de Luanda, Escola Anangola and other educational institutions.
Nurses from the Lucrécia Paim Maternity Hospital, in the center of Luanda, also joined the strike, guaranteeing minimum emergency services at the hospital unit.
Posters with the words "Nurses on Strike. Exploited, sick and harmed nursing professionals" welcome patients and other visitors to the maternity ward.
Catumbela Cambila, union secretary of the Lucrécia Paim Maternity Hospital, confirmed the strike by professionals, having denounced acts of coercion on the part of hospital management, recalling that the strike is free to join.
Speaking at the hospital unit's emergency bench, the union leader said that adherence to the strike at Lucrécia Paim is satisfactory, recalling that minimum services, especially in the emergency department, "are guaranteed".
Family members of patients hospitalized there fear, however, greater delays in care, as said by Nadiana Manuel, 23 years old, who was waiting outside the hospital for information about her sister-in-law's health status.
"We are here with my sister-in-law, she was transferred here to the hospital, we are waiting for care, but so far we have not been given any news", she lamented.
This general strike in the public sector, called by the trade unions, whose first phase runs until Friday, is also extended to public offices, with employees of the Administration of the Urban District of Rangel also deciding to stand by.
In that public department, only minimum services are being guaranteed, as confirmed by Joaquina do Rosário, a technician at the department's secretariat.
"Here the general strike did not cover everything, we are delivering some documents that remained pending, such as residence and advertising certificates, these are the minimum services here in the administration", she told Lusa, in one of the sections where Joaquina was just work with a colleague.
The paralysis of the public service is also visible in the main stops in Luanda, which register little influx of people, also reflected in the fluidity of car traffic, as a reflection of the fact that many joined the strike.
