"Regrettably we did not get from most private higher education institutions the response we wanted, so we forwarded it to MAPTSS (Ministry of Public Administration, Labor and Social Security), which, through the INSS, is able to identify the discounts that are made," Maria do Rosário Sambo said this Wednesday.
The governor was responding to Lusa regarding the situation of private institutions of higher education, which suspended contracts with thousands of employees and teachers due to financial difficulties to pay salaries, due to the paralysis imposed by covid-19.
According to the minister, in the context of the difficulties presented by private institutions, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESCTI) issued a circular requesting institutions to provide a nominal list of teachers and non-teaching staff and most did not respond.
"And the Ministry of Finance is in possession of this information, so what we had to do that was the survey to have the real value of the permanent staff linked to the institutions, that's what we did and now it's on track," he explained.
The Association of Private Education Institutions of Angola announced last July the suspension of about 14 thousand jobs due to difficulties in paying salaries.
Classes in general and university education in the country were suspended in March, before the President, João Lourenço, declared a state of emergency, which took place between 27 March and 25 May.
On Tuesday, the authorities announced that classes at all levels of education would gradually resume from 5 October.
According to Maria do Rosário Sambo, previously MESCTI had already made a survey at the level of public and private institutions about the "real conditions" for the resumption of classes, affirming that the main challenge is "the sustainability of biosafety material".
"Therefore each one of them will adapt the beginning of the school year to its real conditions, we are working at the ministry level and we will continue to work with the institutions that within the framework of their autonomy, each one of them taking into account the guidelines of the health authority and MESCTI, will gradually find the best mechanism to start the classroom activity in person", she argued.
Questioned about the end of the academic period that begins on October 5, the minister did not specify a time horizon, admitting, however, the extension of the academic period until 2021 because if the usual schedule is met "the contents will be extremely small".
"Therefore, we are studying the possibility of extending this school year even to safeguard, eventually with the evolution of the pandemic there may be a retreat here or there, so we go step by step and with prudence", she concluded.
