In a press conference, the president of Sinprof, Guilherme Silva, informed that the meeting with the employer was mediated by the Ministry of Public Administration, Labor and Social Security (MAPTSS).
Guilherme Silva referred that on the point of salary revision, the MAPTSS "says that it is impossible to make an adjustment of this nature only for education agents, because it would force the readjustment to all sectors of the civil service".
Regarding the reduction of the Labor Income Tax (IRT) and the isolation subsidy, MAPTSS claimed that it is still waiting for a study that is being carried out by the Ministry of Finance, as it is a matter claimed by all unions.
According to the president of Sinprof, there was some understanding regarding the increase of one more subsidy, whose percentage will be defined in the preliminary work that will be carried out by the Ministry of Education, MAPTSS and Ministry of Finance, to be presented to the union on the 16th of January 2023.
On the use of the gown claimed by the teachers, it becomes optional, informed Guilherme Silva, advancing that the teachers with categories of the general regime of the civil service (administrative) will be admitted in an internal competition.
Single teaching in the fifth and sixth grades ceases to be in force from the next academic year onwards, thus fulfilling this demand from teachers.
"We have not signed any agreement with the MED [Ministry of Education]. There is only one meeting minutes that is in our possession. teachers decide on the next step", underlined Guilherme Silva, who at the press conference also reported the various constraints recorded during the strike that took place between the 6th and 16th of this month.
The claim booklet was delivered to the Ministry of Education in 2019, from then until the present date, the demands of the affiliates have not been met, who adhered to about 100 percent of the second phase of the strike.
With 15 points of claim, the teachers demand the abolition of mono-teaching, distribution of school lunches throughout the country, updating of teachers in the second academic level and length of service, payment of subsidies and management and leadership positions, payment in full and not in half of the 13th and holiday subsidy and the regularization of the situation of teachers in the categories of the general regime.
Teachers also intend to reduce the Employment Income Tax (IRT) and its exemption in all subsidies, review the career status of education agents, change the remuneration status and subsidies of education agents according to the salary proposal presented by Sinprof and the reinstatement of union leaders in performance evaluation committees.
The non-compulsory use of overalls, more public tenders for access to comply with the teacher-student ratio, improvements in school infrastructure and the non-commodification of education in Angola, where there are more private schools than public schools, are also part of the list of claims.
A third phase of the strike is already foreseen between the 3rd and 31st of January, if their complaints are not attended to.
