Angolan teachers and government in “dialogue of deaf people”. Strike closer

O Sinprof called four strike periods in Angola, the first to 21 September, in protest against the alleged non-compliance with the agreement concluded with the executive in January.

According to the Secretary-General of Sinprof, Admar Jinguma, the Minister of Education, Erika Aires, reviewed the points of the agreement, provided some information, “but that turned out not to be new”.

For the trade unionist, it was “a dialogue of the deaf”, because Sinprof understands that the “dialogue has value only if at the end of the day is reflected in solving the problems of teachers”.

“If it’s mesmice, we talk and then, in practice, they do different, it’s more of a deaf dialogue, and obviously teachers are no longer interested in hearing the same things. In one word, we had no progress in this meeting, there were no advances ", vincou.

Without wanting to advance the information provided by the employer before the meeting with the associates, scheduled for Saturday, Admar Jinguma stressed that if the decision of the teachers goes towards the strike, “as is more expected”, the union management will respect it.

“ We'll give the information firsthand to the teachers at the Saturday meeting. In Luanda, the meeting will be at the cine São João and in the other provincial capitals will depend on the indication that the local secretariats do and then it will be up to the teachers to make the final decision ", said.

Admar Jinguma stressed that the direction of Sinprof will respect “intally any decision” to be made by teachers.

The strike subdivided into four phases was called by Sinprof, the first scheduled for the period from 21 September to 15 October, the second period from 02 to 18 December, the third from 10 to 26 February 2027, and the fourth of 17 May and 18 June 2027.

In a statement, the union advanced that, “in the face of non-compliance and violation of the terms of the agreement concluded on January 8,”, the Sinprof National Council decided to decree strike in general education, technical-professional, teacher training and adult education.

The strike will be preceded, on September 12, by representative assemblies in all the capitals of the 21 provinces of Angola.

At the meeting in which the strike was decided, the president of Sinprof, Herminia Maria da Conceição Ferreira do Nascimento, quoted in the statement, stated that “the Angolan teacher is tired of unfulfilled promises”.

“For three decades we have claimed the same questions, and the time has come for concrete answers,” he said.

The Union concluded that “the Ministry of Education has violated a substantial part of the commitments made in the Agreement concluded on January 8 between the executive and Sinprof, a situation that undermines the appreciation of the teaching career and weakens trust in the executive.”.

Sinprof claims compliance with the agreement regarding the “inclusion of thousands of teachers unfairly excluded from the Internal Ticket and Access Competition in the registration phase and in the selection phase”.

It calls for the “reassessment of the process by the joint national committees Ministry of Education-Sinprof” and the “immediate insertion into the Integrated State Financial Management System (SIGFE) of teachers admitted”.

The National Council of Sinprof “existes its deep concern and indignation at the situation of thousands of Angolan children and adolescents who, once again, are unable to attend school for lack of vacancies in public schools”.

This reality represents, for the union, “a serious limitation to the effective exercise of the right to education, which the Angolan state has an obligation to guarantee”.