"There's talk of accountability, but we still don't see people who have been illegally collecting fees and emoluments in all these years [in public schools] being penalized, because that sends a clear and strong signal to those who want to continue with the practices," said Luaty Beirão.
According to the president of the Handeka Civic Association, the state, by "clearly assuming" that there were illegal fees and charges in public high schools, should "hold the offenders accountable".
The state, "being aware and assuming clearly that there were [illicit charges], instead of making those charges official, [should] hold the people who were collecting them accountable and take measures to prevent this from happening again".
"Because there's no guarantee that, with this officialization of fees, these people will leave the practice of charging apart," considered Luaty Beirão.
The public high schools will be authorized to charge fees, whose value is still to be defined, according to a presidential order that Lusa had access to at the end of September.
The diploma signed by João Lourenço on September 11 justifies that "school revenues constitute an important alternative slice of funding for public secondary education institutions," so collecting them will increase the financial resources needed for their needs.
The collection of fees and emoluments for the services provided by secondary schools should be ensured by the Ministries of Education and Finance, in accordance with the decree, which gives their authority to approve and define values.
This Tuesday, in a press conference, Handeka, Mosaiko-Instituto para la Ciudadana and the Angolan Network of Education for All (ETP-Angola Network), civic organizations, presented an open letter, addressed to the President, where they defend the withdrawal of the measure.
These organizations considered "indecent and shameful" the government's intention to institute fees in public secondary schools, stating that families "cannot be the pocket" of public education.
For Handeka, Mosaiko and the ETP-Angola Network, in the current situation, "aggravated by the devaluation of the kwanza, with vertiginously inflated prices, with the increase of taxes" on basic basket goods "we cannot and do not want to pay more".
"There is no money for emoluments, when most Angolan families lack food on their plates," reads the open letter presented by Friar Júlio Candeeiro, general director of Mosaiko.
In the occasion, Luaty Beirão also defended the need for all citizens, from the commune to the municipality, to participate in the elaboration of the General State Budget (OGE) because "they know better the local realities".
"Transparency must be transversal to any response we can give, we can only give a sustained and valid opinion if we have access to good information", he commented.
"Otherwise, we will be in a permanent position of reaction, because all we have is a decree or the numbers that give us, so transparency is essential," he concluded.
