Africa Angola : Education reform covers 80 percent of students

In 2004 Angola started to implement new education reforms and in 2008 almost 80% of students are enrolled in the programme.The reforms are part of the UNICEF Schools for Africa initiative and were supported by the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Hamburg society through UNICEF Germany. You can find an up to date assessment of Angola education in this Revised country programme document for Angola UNICEF report.

Angola class

[Photo credit : Living in Kuito]

According to official sources the latest results are looking good and school performance and drop-out rates have improved.A recent report states that failure rates have dropped from 32% to 22%.  I found it interesting that in the same report they associate reduction in drop-out rates from 26  to 24% with the introduction of school meals. The rise in pupil enrollments has put pressure on the infrastructure and there is still a lack of teachers and classrooms. With the introduction of teaching in 7 of the indigenous languages, Kikongo, Cokwe, Umbundu, Kimbundu, Ngaguela, Nhaneka, and Oshikwanyama, for the first year of primary school there is also a need for local language textbooks to be developed and printed. The Chalkboard has a good critique of the Angola education reform programme which you may be interested in.

Suggested Book(US)

• Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2010: Reaching the marginalized
• Education For All: Critical Issues in the Education of Children and Youth with Disabilities

Suggested Book(UK)

• Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2010: Reaching the marginalized
• Education for All: Critical Issues in the Education of Children and Youth with Disabilities