As part of the "Strengthening Municipal Education Systems" (SMS) project, financed by USAID, increasing community involvement in education is in focus. During the school break in July and August, project staff conducted door-to-door visits throughout the target municipalities- Baía Farta (Benguela), Londuimbali (Huambo), Cacuso (Malanje), and Catabola (Bié)- to ensure all children are enrolled and ready to attend school from the start of the school year in September. The campaign extended to local markets and community spaces, reinforcing the project’s commitment to reach every corner of these communities.

A significant aspect of the SMS project is its focus on teacher training. In Londuimbali alone, 570 primary school teachers completed refresher courses as part of the "40 Pedagogical Sessions" program, designed to prepare them for the new school year. Similar trainings took place across other municipalities, equipping teachers with the tools to deliver high-quality education.

The project captures the core mission of the Angolan government’s decentralization efforts: ensuring that municipalities take responsibility for education quality. This includes ensuring that children are enrolled, teachers are properly qualified, school leadership is strong, and community members, including parents, are engaged. The goal is to see all children in school, more students completing primary education, lower dropout rates, and fewer children repeating grades.

ADPP’s Teacher Training Schools in Malanje, Bié, Londuimbali, and Benguela are playing a central role in the project. They are collaborating with local education authorities, primary school directors, teachers, and community members to improve education quality in 126 rural and peri-urban schools across the municipalities involved. 

“Pause and reflect sessions” with project stakeholders and a “Most Significant Change” evaluation, both planned for September, will provide a wealth of feedback on the project’s impact and its next steps. It is already noticeable the number of other municipalities requesting to be involved in the project!

From September 16th to November 10th, 799 second year students and 71 teachers from the 15 ADPP Teaching Schools are undertaking the “Learn to Travel, Travel to Learn” period of their teacher training program.

For eight weeks, participants will travel by bus through 14 of the country's 18 provinces, namely, Bengo, Benguela, Bié, Cuanza Sul, Cabinda, Cuando Cubango, Cuanza Norte, Cunene, Huambo, Lunda Sul, Luanda, Malange, Uíge and Zaire.

This is a transformative initiative that positively impacts young students. By promoting education, cultural exchange and personal development, the program not only enriches the lives of participants, but also strengthens communities, contributing to cohesion and sustainability.

Activities will be carried out such as visits to primary schools, museums, historical monuments, the business sector, local and traditional authorities, among others, where they will learn about geography, biology, geology, sociology, communication, etc.

The concept “Learn to Travel, Travel to Learn” takes on a new dimension with the use of e-books during the travel. These contain educational materials that allow students to continue their theoretical studies as they learn in practice.

ADPP – Angola has been implementing the study travel period for over 10 years. Between 2013 and 2014, for 16 weeks, more than a thousand students travelled to seven countries in Southern Africa, including Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. From 2015, the travel has taken place domestically in Angola.  

ADPP Teacher Training Schools offer a four-year pre-service program, preparing young people to become primary school teachers, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Education.

For over 25 years, the 15 ADPP Teacher Training Schools, located across 14 provinces, have been shaping "Teachers of the Future." 15,825 teachers have graduated to date, including 5,318 women, representing 34% of the total.

A ADPP – Agência de Desenvolvimento de Povo para Povo tem em carteira um projecto que visa a formação de professores do ensino primário para as comunidades rurais.

O referido projecto arranca no primeiro trimestre de 2023, no município de Lucala, província do Cuanza-Norte.

Segundo a presidente do Conselho de Administração da ADPP em Angola, Rikke Viholm, o projecto terá grande impacto nas comunidades locais, pelo facto de aglutinar, na sua essência, a valências docentes e tecnológicas, a serem  transmitidas aos professores do meio rural.

Acrescentou que o programa prevê a formação de jovens das províncias do Cuanza-Norte, Uíge e Malanje.

Referiu que o projecto será financiado pela Embaixada da Coreia do Sul em Angola. 

Acrescentou que a colaboração da ADDP e a Agência de Cooperação da Coreia do Sul (Koica), a nível do Cuanza-Norte, dura desde 2009, com a implementação do Centro Educacional de Lucala, que visa a formação de formadores de professores, além da vertente técnico-profissional.

Sublinhou que a criação do referido projecto marca a terceira fase da parceria entre as duas instituições, com o propósito de melhorar a educação a nível das comunidades rurais em Angola.

Fez saber que a colaboração entre o Ministério da Educação e a ADPP existe há 26 anos e permitiu a formação de 14.700 professores de nível médio, preparados para ensinar no meio rural. Acrescentou que a nível do país existem 14 escolas da ADPP de formação de professores, instaladas em 15 províncias.

Salientou que, no Cuanza-Norte, a ADPP controla um projecto de alfabetização, entre os municípios de Lucala e Cazengo, onde estão inclídos 1.500 formandos, com maior destaque para a participação de mulheres, que, também, recebem formação sobre técnicas agrárias, visando a promoção do género e sua inclusão social.

"O objectivo é garantir que as mulheres tenham acesso ao ensino, terras para o cultivo, além do seu pleno exercício de cidadania e abertura de contas bancárias”, disse.

Frisou que as mulheres que participam do projecto estão a aprender técnicas para a construção de fogões de lenha, onde podem usar menos paus, mas com grande eficácia na cozedura dos alimentos. 

Apoio da Coreia do Sul

A Embaixada da Coreia do Sul em Angola tem disponíveis seis milhões de dólares para financiar o projecto de formação de  professores do ensino primário no meio rural.

A informação foi tornada pública, quinta-feira, pelo primeiro secretário e chefe da Secção Política e Económica da Embaixada da Coreia do Sul em Angola, Hyung Kwon Jung, que está em Ndalatando para avaliar o local onde será implementado o projecto.

Deu a conhecer que a formação será ministrada no Centro Educacional de Lucala, tutelado pela ONG Ajuda de Desenvolvimento de Povo Para Povo (ADPP), tendo avançado que o projecto vai durar cinco anos.

 Segundo Hyung Kwon Jung, o principal objectivo é garantir formação técnico-pedagógica aos professores do ensino primário em comunidades rurais, com direito a treinamento para o manuseio de aparelhos electrónicos, de forma a garantirem formações com qualidade.

Hyung Kwon Jung fez saber que o seu Governo possui boas relações com o Executivo angolano, facto que permitiu o financiamento de outras acções, como o projecto de modernização da segurança pública e criação do Centro Industrial de Tecnologia Avançada, em Luanda, bem como a revitalização da cidade do Sumbe, avaliados em cerca de 200 milhões de dólares.

Article on Jornal de Angola, 08.12.2022
The United States of America, in partnership with the Provincial Government of Benguela and the Ministry of Education, launched two new social projects in Baía Farta, namely Communities in Action for Peace and Inclusion (CAPI) and the Strengthening of Municipal Education Systems in Angola.

The projects will support the decentralization of social services with a focus on the education sector and the promotion of building communities and skills in resolving conflicts among young Angolans. The project also aims to improve the position of women in their communities, starting with support in obtaining civil registration documents, such as an Identity Card, and in eliminating gender-based domestic violence against women and girls.

Funding for the two projects implemented by the NGO APP Angola totals US$3 million for a period of five years.

The CAPI project in 45 communities in the three municipalities of Cubal, Balombo and Ganda will benefit from support for working with high-risk populations in promoting peace and social inclusion through conflict resolution.

Read the article in Portuguese here:

https://www.jornaldeangola.ao/ao/noticias/eua-lancam-projectos-sociais-em-benguela/

Article on Angop, Cunene, 9 December 2022

Ondjiva - The deputy coordinator of the Human Rights Committee in Cunene province, Sara Tulikeni, called this Friday for people to denounce violations of human rights. Speaking to ANGOP about the International Day for the Defence of Human Rights, she said that denouncements are the best way to end impunity.

She explained that during the current year the committee registered only five cases of denunciation, of which two were homicides, two suspicions of human trafficking and one of physical aggression. She clarified that the homicides were committed by relatives of the victims, while the trafficking involved 24 young people transported from Cuvelai supposedly to work in a quarry and sawmill in Luanda, and a further 23 young people trafficked to Namibia. She said that thanks to the denunciations, the defence and security forces were able to carry out a rapid intervention. 

She explained that the number of complaints does not reflect the cases of violations practiced in the region.   “Many of the cases do not reach us and when we do hear about them, it is already too late, but for those that do reach us, we have been working with the relevant bodies to be able to hold the perpetrators accountable.” she said.

She admitted that many citizens do not know about the existence of this institution, which is why they are working on its promotion and dissemination. “The committee was created recently and more education and awareness actions are required in the communities, so that people develop the habit of reporting cases of violation. She said that the region has a provincial committee and six municipal committees, intending to take over the communal committees by 2023.

Students at ADPP Cunene Teaching Training School in Oifidi learned about the dignity of the human being, according to the universal declaration of human rights. The opening talk on the day to mark the 74th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights was aimed at raising awareness among the students about the need for prevention, safeguarding and promoting human rights. Speaker Neto Braga Tchipungo said that the action was aimed at promoting human rights, so that students have a body of knowledge on the subject. “The objective is to explain the basic notions of what a human being is, as a member of society and that in the event of violations they do not remain silent but help communities to denounce these practices. In the same vein, staff from the municipal command of the National Police of Cuanhama addressed aspects of “the right to affiliation as human rights.”.

The program also included a consultation visit to the inmates of the Peu Peu prison and a radio debate on the right to image and presumption of innocence.

International Human Rights Day was established by the United Nations on December 4, 1950, in order to celebrate the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted on December 10, 1948.

Read the article in Portuguese here:

https://www.angop.ao/noticias/sociedade/populacao-encorajada-a-denunciar-violacoes-dos-direitos-humanos/