Tag Archives: Angola

According to collegesanduniversitiesinusa, education in Angola has a long and storied history. It was introduced to the country in the early 19th century by Portuguese colonizers, who set up a system of primary and secondary schools, as well as universities. The first university, the University of Luanda, was founded in 1956. Education was free and compulsory for all children between the ages of 6 and 14. In 1975, after independence from Portugal, Angola established a new educational system based on Marxist-Leninist principles. Education was made free for all citizens and primary education was extended to 16 years old. Many new schools were built across the country to accommodate the increased demand for education that followed independence. However, civil war broke out shortly after independence and this had a devastating effect on the educational system. Schools were destroyed or closed due to fighting and many teachers fled or were killed in the conflict. As a result, illiteracy rates rose significantly during this time with only around 40% of adults being able to read or write by 2002. Since then there have been efforts to improve educational standards in Angola with increased investment in education at all levels since 2002. Primary education is now compulsory until age 12 while secondary school is voluntary but encouraged by the government with grants available for those who wish to pursue it further. Higher education has also seen increased investment with several new universities being established in recent years including Agostinho Neto University which opened its doors in 2005 offering courses ranging from medicine to engineering and law. In addition, several foreign universities have opened campuses in Angola including Universidade Catolica Portuguesa which opened its doors in 2010 offering courses such as business administration and international relations. Overall, despite its turbulent past Angola has made great strides towards improving its educational system over the past two decades with increased investment leading to higher literacy rates and improved access to higher education opportunities for its citizens. In 2009, Angola was still recovering from the devastating effects of a long civil war that had lasted from 1975 to 2002. The country was facing serious economic and social challenges as a result of the conflict. The country’s infrastructure had been badly damaged by the war and was in need of serious repair and investment. The health care system also suffered greatly due to lack of resources, with many hospitals and clinics in dire need of new equipment and staff. Angola’s economy was heavily reliant on oil exports, which accounted for around 80% of government revenues. With oil prices having dropped significantly during the global financial crisis in 2008, Angola’s economy suffered greatly with high levels of unemployment and inflation. Despite these challenges, however, there were some signs of progress in 2009 with economic growth beginning to pick up again due to increased investment in infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, ports and airports. This had a positive effect on the job market as well with employment rates slowly increasing throughout the year. Education also saw some improvement as investments were made into primary and secondary schools across the country to improve access to education for all citizens. The number of universities also increased during this time with several new institutions being established or foreign universities opening campuses in Angola such as Universidade Catolica Portuguesa which opened its doors in 2010 offering courses such as business administration and international relations. Overall, while the situation in Angola remained challenging in 2009 there were signs that things were slowly improving thanks to increased investment into infrastructure projects and other areas such as education which would help lay the foundations for further progress over coming years. Check internetsailors for Angola in 2011.