Speaking at the 27th thematic session of the 'Communicate for Angola' programme, which took place under the theme "Challenges of the 2024/25 School Year", the official announced that the country will have 10,444,632 students enrolled in this academic year.
Of these more than 10 million students, 878,383 are first-time students, he added, writes Jornal de Angola.
According to Pacheco Franciso, quoted in a statement from the Ministry of Telecommunications, Information Technologies and Social Communication, to which VerAngola had access, for the current academic year it is expected that "603,524 new students will be included in the introductory class, 932,300 students in the 1st grade (module I), 470,467 students in the 7th grade and 238,693 students in the 10th grade".
Thus, in total, the national education system "should accommodate 10,444,632" students this academic year.
Regarding challenges, the official pointed out that the sector "has the challenge of budgeting primary and secondary schools", which he added aims to "address the challenges and difficulties that these institutions have been facing".
On the occasion, he assured that the Government will proceed with the introduction of single-teacher education in the fifth grade, which will include "seven subjects, including national languages and French, in accordance with the reforms underway in the sector".
"The Executive's strategic plan for education encompasses five main axes: expansion of the network and access to the school system, improvement of the quality of education, strengthening the school-community relationship, strengthening the skills of school managers, teachers and administrative staff and modernisation of the education system", reads the statement.
Furthermore, the secretary also stated that the country has one of the "highest fertility rates in the world", second only to Niger, "with a direct impact on the quality of education".
On the occasion, Pacheco Francisco also gave instructions to teachers to start classes after the presentation ceremony to students in the classroom, explaining that "teachers tend to spend the first day of classes presenting themselves in the classroom for almost the entire week, with the aim of using personal adjectives". However, he added that teachers have already been warned about this behaviour.
"We have 16 school weeks for the first trimester and, if we don't work on the first one, we will practically be teaching with one less", he said, quoted by Jornal de Angola.
He also confirmed that the school calendar for this academic year has 48 school weeks, informing that classes will end on 31 July next year.
Census does not 'disrupt' classes
Pacheco Francisco also said that the completion of the census, which begins on September 19, will not 'disrupt' the normal functioning of classes in general education, rejecting the idea that these should be suspended.
The official explained that trainee teachers will temporarily replace teachers who are working with the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
The national director for pre-school and primary education, Soraya Kalonguela, in statements to Angop, said that, in the current academic year, Angola has 76 new schools, equivalent to 669 classrooms in Cuando Cubango, Bié, Lunda Norte, Malanje, Bengo, Cuanza Norte and Cuanza Sul.
It is worth remembering that the official opening ceremony of the 2024/2025 academic year took place last Friday, in Uíge, where Maria do Rosário Bragança, Minister of State for Social Affairs, was present.
