"A total of 20,709 students have benefited from scholarships, through a program that covers 900 thousand students, within the scope of the Girls' Empowerment and Learning for All Project (PAT II), to date, in the provinces of Luanda and Bengo" , reads a statement from the Government, to which VerAngola had access.
Regarding the number advanced – which is expressed in a statement released on Thursday, at the end of the 2nd Ordinary Session of the Multisectoral Commission for the Implementation of PAT II, whose guidance was the responsibility of the Vice-President of the Republic and also coordinator of the commission, Esperança da Costa –, the head of the Education portfolio considered it "satisfactory".
Speaking to the press at the end of the session, Luísa Grilo informed that it was planned to reach the mark of 21,000 scholarships awarded, "but it was possible to grant more than 20,000", considering "a satisfactory result".
For this year, according to the official, forecasts point to the awarding of approximately 170 thousand scholarships: "What is planned for this year is that we will award 170 or so thousand scholarships".
"We cannot see when the project will end, but each step and each stage has a determined value", she added, quoted in the statement.
PAT II, according to the head of the Education portfolio, comprises several "areas of action, including training of teachers and school directors, health education, with an emphasis on school and reproductive health and, mainly, the awarding of scholarships, which represents more than 60 percent of the World Bank's total financing".
The minister also said that they want to "train school directors" in the capital. "We want to train the directors of schools in Luanda. So it is necessary for Luanda to present this need duly quantified in number of participants, days of training and also the costs of this training. After the province approves these values, they are submitted to the World Bank for consideration", she clarified.
It should be noted that the session considered the minutes of the 1st ordinary session, held in July of last year. It also served to analyze the level of compliance with the recommendations of the previous session, as well as review the "balance of PAT II activities and respective subcomponents" and the "challenges and constraints on the implementation of PAT II".
PAT II concerns a partnership between the Government and the World Bank. "The funds are made available based on a budget duly approved by the World Bank, in accordance with the need to carry out actions already foreseen within the scope of PAT II", says the note, which adds that the project is "working in partnership with ministerial departments in the field of school health for young Angolans, expansion of education for young people and adults, awarding scholarships for girls and boys, construction and rehabilitation of schools, training of teachers and managers, project management and improvement and development of the management capacity of local staff, to achieve the recommended objectives".
