"The thesis I came to defend is that we need an Angolan with a scientific profile to face the great challenges of the present time in relation to Angola's progress and a response to Angola's development," stated Jomo Fortunato.
According to the minister, the country may be close to achieving the profile it defends for the Angolan, recognizing that, despite being now an "optimist Afro", the path is not easy and could be tortuous.
"We lost a lot of time, in 45 years of independence we should already be close to quality education and only with this profile will we face the world", he argued.
"Let's have no doubt, for such a desideratum to be effective it is necessary to improve the quality of our teaching, let's have no doubt and we need to aim around," said the government official, speaking to journalists.
Jomo Fortunato presided over the opening ceremony of a debate on "Memories, Identity Affirmations and Feelings of Belonging" held this Friday in Luanda by the Center for Studies for Good Governance - UFOLO.
The meeting is part of the cycle of national debates on "What is being Angolan/Angolan? Mentality and Appearances" of this non-governmental organization, chaired by journalist and civic activist Rafael Marques.
The profile of the Angolan throughout history, "from the appearance of the Angolan species in the natural context, to the appearance of the Portuguese, then the struggle against colonial occupation, the issue of assimilationism" constituted some of the axes of Jomo Fortunato's intervention.
The question of the Angolan "against himself, with the civil war, the economic Angolan, corruption, nepotism, an Angolan who is currently fighting poverty and the country's development" also guided the leader's approach.
For the minister of Culture, Tourism and Environment, the country "needs an Angolan who knows its history, its culture, but it is also an Angolan with a scientific profile, who knows the reality of the world," he said.
According to the minister, it is necessary "to move towards a productive Angolan, which places quality products on the market, with a competitive perspective" for the country to leave, "slowly, from importers to exporters".
"So, for me this is clear, there is no confusion, I look to my side and I see the Angolan profile I have and this perspective must be multiplier, we have to have Angolans with a scientific profile in all parts of the country, we cannot think only Luanda," he insisted.
The structuring of a scientific profile for the Angolan, he noted, "goes through the creation of an elite, as it is necessary for teaching to be selective, not everyone has to pass the class, or enter into strategies to pass class".
"You have to demand a minimum level of quality, but then we have to create a scientific elite, not only in the field of science, but in the arts as well, and this work is very serious, because what we are now has a lot to do with our colonial past," he stressed.
Asked about the divergent approaches that arise in various social circles about "Angolans of origin or with acquired nationality", the minister said he was not concerned with these issues, considering them "trivial".
"I see the Angolan as a worker, a disciplined Angolan, an Angolan with a scientific profile and I don't want to know if he is white or not, these are issues that should already be resolved, because there are black Angolans worse than white Angolans," he replied, when questioned by Lusa.
