According to the secretary-general of Sintape, Abreu Cahanda, school protection agents in Luanda "continue to suffer casualties" when confronting thieves, because "they work in reduced numbers, one or two, in large schools.
"And the most aggravating thing, without food, with a workload of three to four days at the post, so when the crooks arrive they haven't had much reaction to respond," Abreu Cahanda said this Monday, speaking to radio Luanda.
A statute on the operation of public school protection agents in Luanda, the union leader said, is in the possession of the Government, but, he noted, is slow to be approved by the authorities.
"Until now it is not approved, we don't know why, we negotiated last May 26. Even so, we continue to register agent deaths, last week we lost another agent who was stoned and beaten with knives, and others are found dead in the schools", he lamented.
The assailants, stressed Abreu Cahanda, "are appearing, and they are even taking the firearms in the possession of these security guards".
"We are seeing that this is only happening because we are not complying with the guidelines of the statute in possession of the Government and the lack of a public tender," he commented.
For the secretary-general of Sintape, the construction of new schools in the nine municipalities of the capital "has not been accompanied" by a public competition for the entry of agents, a situation that "reduces the workforce in the old schools."
"They have been taking [security agents] away," he noted, commenting that before each school had five men and currently has only one or two.
In relation to the lack of food and other working conditions for school protection agents, the union official spoke of a "lack of will" on the part of Luanda's provincial office of Education.
"We have security guards who are 77 years old at the posts, who have been without food for three days and are totally debilitated," he lamented.
Abreu Cahanda also expressed his concern with the next school year, which he considers "to be compromised", due to the lack of staff in the schools, when more than 300 members, ex-military, have already reached the retirement age.
"A reform is urgently needed, because the workforce is finished, they were ex-military, now tired and they are not going to retire. We are seeing that the government can not remove them, because otherwise the schools are unprotected, there is no support for food, uniforms and everything," stressed the leader of Sintape.
