Perspective Chapter: Higher Education Problems in Angola

Abstract

Higher education has extreme importance in the countries’ economical, political, and social development. Since it has a fundamental role in a country’s development construction in all its aspects and provides political and strategical support that a country requires for its development. Higher education tends to improve human resources capacity that is integrated with the several activity sectors of a certain country or region, adding to business fabric consolidation and technology innovation. And this makes investment in the education sector, especially in higher education, crucial. This paper’s objective is to search for the main problems faced by educational institutions. To this end, based on the qualitative and descriptive method in which, through observation and interviews, information was collected, which after being analyzed with the help of NVivo, allowed to present a set of failures such as lack of investment, lack of management knowledge and planning on the part of managers of educational institutions, and lack of support for publication, among others.

1. Introduction

One of the many challenges of African countries’ is related to education quality search [1], such as Angola. Higher education quality is achieved through scholars’ professionalism improvement and administrative officers’ and students’ ability to learn [2], being that lecturer’s refinement and work conditions improvement are essential to higher education institutions’ quality determination.

Higher education in Angola shows countless debilities, and the search for quality has been higher education institutions’, as well as the government bodies’, main goal. The way this search for quality has been made is constantly questioned by several elements connected to the teaching process, and also by general population. After the postwar period (2002), there was a growth of higher education institutions, without, however, improving their quality. Institutions are created with the aim of reaching as many of the school-age population as possible, but without taking into account the minimum requirements necessary for teaching with the desired quality. On the other hand, many students formed by Angolan higher education institutions are discredited by their leaders by labeling them as “students without quality” for given function, to the detriment of students from outside the country.

The aim of this chapter is to show some of the main problems faced by higher education subsystem in Angola.

1.1 Angola higher education system

Higher education development in Angola was conditioned for many years due to civil war that ended in April 2002. The first higher education institution in Angola (at the time Portuguese colony) arise around 1962 through Decree-Law number 44530, August 21st from Ultramar Ministry, and it was designated as Angola’s University General Studies. The first courses were created in 1963 and were allocated in three cities:

Luanda—medical surgical courses, power engineering, mining engineering, mechanical engineering, and chemical-industrial engineering;

Huambo, former Nova Lisboa—agronomy, forestry, and veterinary medicine; and

Lubango, former Sá da Bandeira—pedagogical science.

Around 1968, Angola’s University General Studies are renamed Luanda University and in 1969 the first Luanda’s university hospital was opened, where the medicine faculty operated. With the transition government creation, Luanda’s University was decentralized in university centers Luanda, Huambo, and Lubango. And with the country already independent, in 1976 Luanda’s University was renamed Angola’s University, and in 1985 it is designated Agostinho Neto’s University in honor of the first Angola’s republic president, who would become the University’s first rector.

Until 2009, the country only had one public Higher Education institution—Agostinho Neto’s University—with university centers in the provinces of Cabinda, Uíge, Benguela, Huambo, and Huíla, and five private higher education institutions all located in Luanda. Back then, Agostinho Neto’s University showed countless operating difficulties, such as infrastructure and courseware lack (Gaspar & Soares, 2021). The first private higher education universities arise in 1999, following the order: Angola’s Catholic University (UCAN), Angola’s Jean Piaget University (UniPiaget), Angola’s Lusíadas University (ULA), Angola’s Private Institute (ISPRA), and Angola’s Independent University (UnIA), the first functioning only took place in 2000 (Angola’s Catholic University).

Higher education expansion all over the country, as well as national boards training in several areas abroad, were some of the government embraced strategies, in the local development perspective of the region and the country in general. In 2009, through the Decree-Law nr. 5/09, April 7th, seven academic regions were created, based in Luanda, Benguela, Cabinda, Malange, Huambo, Huíla, and Uíge provinces, and in each province, one higher education institution, with the goal of the gradual increase of students that could have access to higher education. Therefore, with the war ending in 2002, it was verified that there is an increase in the number of students searching for higher education, going from 871 in 1977/1978 to 12,566 in 2002. Between 2002 and 2008, the number of students that searched for higher education differed from around 12,566 to 70,000 students, with annual vacancies offered from 850 to 8300. This fact led to the approval and creation of several public higher education institutions, especially private throughout the country, because the government could not match this higher formation search increase.

The Angolan government focused on the education expansion for a long time and forgot about teaching quality in the same institutions. Therefore, the institutions, especially private ones, arise without verification of the curriculum they presented, which was never in accordance with the necessary requirements for their functioning, many of them without appropriate facilities and without enough teachers to follow the several existing courses. And several other factors contributed to the higher education institutions’ quality being relatively low. Among those are the teacher’s lack of scientific investigation, as well as the nonperformed studies publication, the lack of suitable libraries and labs, internet resources lack, etc. The public higher education institutions continued to function mostly without their own facilities, and without lecturers, not even labs. The lecturers’ number did not grow with the same rate the number of institution numbers and student numbers grew. For example, in 2016, regarding the public higher education institutions all over the country, a total of 26 institutions, there were 8758 lecturers (4650 graduated, 2917 with a master degree, and 838 Ph.D.) to respond to around 212,284 students, adding to the fact that most of them collaborate in private institutions.

A serious error committed by the supervisory body is the fact that they are constantly approving educational institutions’ creation without an analysis or research of the market needs. In the 2001 national development plan, it was already talked about the necessity of surveys to the market and employers’ needs regarding professionals profile that they required, so that institutions and courses were created according to the market needs and accomplish regular reformulations and adjustments in the existent courses curricula, depending on the changes that take place in the market, as well as seeking to include tutored learning in a real work environment, that is, internships in the courses last years and professionalizing and technical-professional training. The expansion of institutions was carried out and continues to be carried out without taking into consideration these aspects that are very important in the architecture of a country’s education system and its development.

The Angolan state has been carrying out successive reform projects in the higher education subsystem for years. Any of these higher education reform projects in the country were conditioned by the nonparticipation of the main stakeholders of the teaching and learning process in their formulation: teachers, students, civil society, and unions. As a result, their constant failures were verified [3]. This author concludes that economic, social, political, and cultural transformations are the ones that affect the country’s education system the most. That is, despite the existence of a decree that defends democratic management in higher education institutions, defining it as the participation of all actors in the higher education subsystem, including civil society, in improving quality, and respecting the norms in force applicable to them (Article 9 of Decree No. 90/09), it was only in 2022, after a series of demands by the teaching profession, that the process of electing the public higher education institutions managers in the country was carried out. As a result, it is expected that there will be effective collaboration and participation of all in the decision-making of higher education institutions.

It is known that in Angola higher education institutions worked at the service of the political agenda instead of their true mission, vision, and value, which has led them to face numerous constraints such as the lack of administrative, disciplinary, and pedagogical autonomy; scientific, cultural, and financial values; the lack of competent staff; and social recognition and appreciation of its mission [3], which places quality, the institutions’ improvement, and the project’s development as a challenge and also a strategy on the political agenda. This fact is supposed to change with the policy of electing the higher education institutions’ management bodies, but some teachers discredit it because managers are, mostly, partisan preventing higher education institutions’ academic and scientific freedom. That is to say, the Angolan educational system has always been linked to the political system, in which the public higher education institutions’ managers’ functions have always been conditioned by the political power, since they were appointed by the supervisory body (Higher Education Ministry) that controlled all their actions, turning them into simple executors of the ruling party policies. For this reason, the higher education institutions’ autonomy in Angola has always been legally recognized, but never implemented [4], as the State has always appeared as the guide and supervisor of the activities carried out by educational institutions. The Higher Education Science, Technology, and Innovation Ministry has always been in charge of the higher education policies management and execution in Angola and was oriented to access promoting and higher education massification.

Until the end of the academic year 2021/2022, the Angolan State took the main decisions relating to the academic process, besides controlling it, and higher education institutions had only administrative and financial autonomy, controlling the financial process according to the budget shares allocated to them [5]. According to Appiagyei-Atua, Beiter, and Karran [6] higher education institutions’ autonomy level in Angola is 46.6% and is found in the set of African countries that comply with the required level of compliance with rights and individual freedom of 61.7%, with academic freedom of 70%. This is questionable since academic freedom has never been felt. However, Paiva and Campos [7] believe that the process of electing managers of public higher education institutions will provide some autonomy regarding the activities to be developed, allowing them to indicate their work cast and freedom for higher education institutions, allowing them, in some cases, to define their own laws. At the beginning of the 2022/2023 school year, the first elections were held in Angola at the public higher education institutions level, which gave hope to the academic community in terms of institutions teaching and learning process improvements, and mainly greater appreciation of the country class.

The purpose of this work is to take an approach to the main problems of Angolan higher education institutions, from the failures of the management of the guardianship body, the managers of the institutions themselves, to the teachers and students of the same. However, the research questions are:

• What are really the main problems facing Angolan higher education institutions?

• Managers, teachers, or students, who least contributes to improving their quality?

2. Method

The research is part of a descriptive study since it is intended to determine the main flaws of the Angolan higher education system [8], and the study is qualitative in nature, in which through observation (also reflected in the long years of service in higher education in Angola) and conversation with some students (a total of 30), teachers, managers, and administrative staff of some higher education institutions in the cities of Lubango and Moçâmedes, provinces of Huíla and Namibe, a series of answers were obtained to the questions asked. The interview with the students was done in groups, in an adaptation of the “focus group”, to facilitate the collection of information and later the answer was worked with the help of the NVIvo program.

3. Results

The results are presented in stages (titles), depending on the variables addressed in the interviews (leaders of educational institutions, teachers, students, evaluation system, and pandemic effect), in a simple and clear way so that it is noticeable at all levels.

3.1 Characterization of the interviews

The students were mostly in the 20–30 years age group (justified by the fact that they were regular, day students) and are in the third and fourth year of the degree (Table 1 of the appendix). Five students were from humpata´s average polytechnic in Huila province. About 13 teachers participated, of which 5 are part of the management of higher education institutions. Most of the teachers who participated have more than 10 years of service and are masters (Table 2 of the appendix). Only two administrative officials agreed to participate.

			N	%
Students	Sex	Female	9	36,0
		Male	16	64,0
		Total	25	100,0
	Age	21 a 30 years	15	60,0
		More than 30 year	10	40,0
		Total	25	100,0

Table 1.

Characterization of the students.

		Years	N	%
Teachers	Years of service	33	2	15,4
		31	1	7,7
		19	1	7,7
		17	1	7,7
		11	3	23,1
		10	3	23,1
		5	1	7,7
		2	1	7,7
		Total	13	100,0
	Academic nível	Doctorate degree	3	23,1
		Master´s degree	7	53,8
		Graduate	3	23,1
		Total	13	100,0

Table 2.

Characterization of the teachers

3.2 Presentation and discussion of results

3.2.1 What to say about the Angolan higher education institutions leaders?

It is known that the teaching and learning process quality depends on all stakeholders’ quality in the education system, especially the various heads of departments and sections and especially the team leaders of the higher education institution.

One of the teachers and also manager said that “the most of the higher education institutions leaders and managers in Angola were appointed for party convenience”. And for this reason, according to Simões et. al [9], many of them did not have any knowledge in terms of financial management, human resources management, and especially institutional planning management, not to mention that they did not have the habit of reporting accounts on a regular and periodic basis. “And the Higher Education institutions efficient and effective management for which they were responsible was called into question”. On the other side, these educational institutions’ managers’ lack of management knowledge led to the trend to import management models from abroad, without an analysis of the local reality. And the same trend is verified within the country itself, in which policies and theories applied in the country’s capital are imposed in the various provinces, without a study being carried out on the locality reality, as they are different realities, with economic and social dynamics completely different, leading to such policies failure.

“Every public Higher Education institution manager appointed by the supervisory body, wanting it or not, was and had to be affiliated with the ruling party, and therefore any activity or project developed in the supposedly autonomous and independent academy, was actually dependent on the will and interest of actors outside the academic community itself” (Manager and teacher). That is, they were always subordinated to the interests of higher bodies.

Currently, “educational institution managers are elected by the academic community, which shows a great step taken toward the true academic and scientific freedom of Angolan Higher Education institutions” (teacher). Therefore, the goal of the election is to obtain leaders who have greater ability to lead an institution responsible for the country’s development, through policy implementation that provides greater quality in the teaching process, from high quality staff recruitment, and quality facilities and equipment, and mainly, high-quality graduate students supply to the job market, which is able to face global challenges. “Although there is an “however,”: educational institutions are totally dependent on the State Budget for their survival, and as a rule, managers end up submitting to the wishes of higher bodies for their own survival¹. That is, few talk about what is really wrong to guarantee a bigger slice of the pie” (teacher). Which ends up indicating a “masked” academic democracy.

For any educational institution’s success, it is essential that the leader knows how to efficiently manage it. This leads to the need to have as a leader someone who knows how to correctly interpret the school concept and the basic needs for its functioning, identify the connection need of the education subsystem structures, strategic planning need, strong professionalization and specialization in management practices need, transparency and rigor need in the institutional funds’ management, and regular accountability.

3.2.2 Major flaws. The most remarkable

The investment lack in higher education is completely visible. “The Higher Education institutions in Angola operate, mostly, in borrowed and unsuitable buildings” (managers, teachers, and administrative officials). And this applies not only to public higher education institutions but also to private ones.

Although there are currently around 81 higher education institutions in the country, 26 of which are public and 55 private (see Tables 3 and 4 in appendix), “we hardly find a single institution that has been conceived, designed and built as an educational institution in the true sense of the word, with classrooms in conditions and in sufficient number, labs, amphitheaters, libraries, computer rooms, offices for teachers and the administrative part of the institution itself, among others” (managers). “Some projects conceived and designed at the level of higher education end up dying on paper and advertising campaigns for a better, quality education and a promising future for Angolan youth” (teacher).

Academic region	Higher Education Institutions	Year of creation	Location
I	Bengo Pedagogical School	2009	Bengo
	Higher Institute of Arts	2015	Luanda
	Higher Institute of Communication Sciences	2009	Luanda
	Higher Institute of Education Sciences	2009	Luanda
	Higher Institute of Physical Education and Sport	2015	Luanda
	Superior Institution of Social Work	2009	Luanda
	Higher Institute of Information and Communication Technology	2014	Luanda
	Military Technical Higher Institute	2007	Luanda
	Agostinho Neto University	1962	Luanda and Bengo
II	Polytechnic Higher Institute of Cuanza Sul	2009	Sumbe
	Katyavala Buila University	2009	Benguela and Cuanza Sul
III	University Eleven of November	2009	Cabinda and Zaire
IV	Malange Polytechnic Higher School	2009	Malange
	Malange Higher Institute of Agri-Food Technology	2015	Malange
	Malange Polytechnic Higher Institute	2009	Malange
	Lueji A Nkonde University	2009	Malange, Lunda Sul and Lunda Norte
V	Bié Pedagogical Higher School	2009	Bié
	Higher Institute of Education Sciences - Huambo	2009	Huambo
	José Eduardo dos Santos University	2009	Huambo, Bié and Moxico
VI	Higher Institute of Education Sciences	2009	Huíla
	Mandume Ya Ndemufayo University	2009	Huíla and Namibe
	Namibe University	2016	Namib
VII	Cuanza Norte Pedagogical Higher School	2009	Cuanza North
	Higher Institute of Education Sciences	2009	Uíge
	Kimpa Vita University	2009	Uíge, Cuanza Norte
VIII	Cuito Cuanavale University	2014	Cunene and Cuando Cubango

Table 3.

Higher Education Public Institutions

Source: 2016 Statistical Yearbook of the Ministry of Higher Education.

Academic region	Higher education institutions	Year of creation	Location
I	Technical Higher School of Sports Sciences	2017	Luanda
	Higher Institute of Angola	2012	Luanda
	Higher Institute of Administration and Finance	2017	Luanda
	Higher Institute of Business and HumanIties Sciences	2012	Luanda
	Higher Institute of Social Sciences and International Relations	2007	Luanda
	Superior Polytechnic InstituteDawn of Youth	2012	Luanda
	Instituto Superior Polytécnico Atlantis	2012	Luanda
	Superior Polytechnic Institute of Science and Technology	2012	Luanda
	Kangojo Polytechnic Institute	2011	Luanda
	Higher Polytechnic Institute of Technologies and Sciences	2011	Luanda
	Deolinda Rodrigues Polytechnic Higher Institute	2012	Luanda
	Polytechnic Higher Institute of Cazenga	2011	Luanda
	International Polytechnic Higher Institute of Angola	2012	Luanda
	Intercontinental Polytechnic Higher Institute of Luanda	2017	Luanda
	Kalandula Polytechnic Institute	2012	Luanda
	Katangoji Polytechnic Institute	2012	Luanda
	Metropolitan Polytechnic Higher Institute of Angola	2011	Luanda
	Instituto Superior Técnico de Angola	2007	Luanda
	Zango Polytechnic Higher Institute	2012	Luanda
	Tocoist Polytechnic Institute	2016	Luanda
	Catholic University of Angola	19921	Luanda
	University of Belas	2007	Luanda
	Gregory Semedo University	2007	Luanda
	Independent University of Angola	2005	Luanda
	Jean Piaget University of Angola	2001	Luanda
	Lusíada University of Angola	2002	Luanda
	Metodist University of Angola	2007	Luanda
	Oscar Ribas University	2007	Luanda
	Private University of Angola	2007	Luanda
	Technical University of Angola	2007	Luanda
II	Catholic Polytechnic Higher Institute of Benguela	2012	Benguela
	Benguela Polytechnic Higher Institute	2011	Benguela
	Polytechnic Higher Institute of Porto Amboim	2012	Cuanza-Sul
	Libolo Polytechnic Higher Institute	2017	Cuanza-Sul
	Jean Piaget Polytechnic Higher Institute of Benguela	2012	Benguela
	Lusíada Higher Polytechnic Institute of Benguela	2012	Benguela
	Wonder Polytechnic Higher Institute	2012	Benguela
III	Cabinda Polytechnic Higher Institute	2012	Cabinda
	Lusíada Higher Polytechnic Institute of Cabinda	2012	Cabinda
IV	Lusíada Polytechnic Higher Institute of Lunda Sul	2012	Lunda South
	Cardinal Alexandre do Nascimento Polytechnic Higher Institute	2017	Malange
V	Higher Polytechnic Institute of Humanity and Technologys Ekuiki-II	2011	Huambo
	Caála Polytechnic Higher Institute	2017	Huambo
	Catholic Polytechnic Higher Institute of Huambo	2018	Huambo
	Lusíada Higher Polytechnic Institute of Huambo	2012	Huambo
	Higher Polytechnic Institute Sol Nascente	2012	Huambo
	Private Polytechnic Higher Institute of Luena	2017	Moxico
	Walinga Polytechnic Institute	2017	Moxico
VI	Polytechnic Higher Institute of Tundavala	2011	Huíla
	Gregório Semedo Polytechnic Higher Institute	2011	Huíla
	Synodal Polytechnic Institute	2017	Huíla
	Evangelical Polytechnic Higher Institute of Lubango	2017	Huíla
	Independent Polytechnic Higher Institute	2011	Huíla
VII	Private Polytechnic Higher Institute of Uíge	2017	Uíge
VIII	Private Polytechnic Higher Institute of Menongue	2017	When Cubango

Table 4.

Higher Education Private Institutions.

¹

The authorization for the creation of the Catholic University of Angola was given in 1992 through Decree No. 38-A/92 of 7 August, and was formalized in October 1997 through decree of 29 October 1997. The teaching activities began on 22 February 1999 (see www.ucan.edu).

Source: Legal Framework of Private Higher Education Institutions (2018).

On the other hand, investment directed to the education sector remains insignificant, far below the average for SADC countries [4]. This author said that the fear of investing in higher education was the result of the morbid fear that a greater investment would provoke political instability, given that the quality of the course given in institutions in Angola was not a priority, as some government positions did not reflect the interest for the academic community, but rather the interest of specific groups that, from higher education institutions, sought to extend their influence and control for purposes outside the organization itself. Since higher education produces externalities in the value form for a society that benefits from an educated workforce, consumers, and citizens, not only those that are directly linked to the teaching-learning process but everything in general [10], it is important that the government invests seriously in education, especially in higher education.

“Until the present day (September 2022), the country does not have a single scientific journal”. Even though the Supervisory Ministry created a technical group in June 2021 (Order no 106/2021), responsible for promoting and implementing actions inherent to the creation of a network of scientific journals with the support of UNESCO and the scientific journals network from Latin America, Caribbean, Spain, and Portugal; no results have yet been seen (project continues on paper). And therefore, not even the little research done is taken into account, it is not valued. “There is not a single institution that takes into account the studies results carried out by us” (students). Angola has always participated in the ideas, innovation, and new products fair, in Nuremberg, Germany, and received several awards for the presented projects. As an example, we have the projects (teacher and students):

• “Anti-Skip Class”, which is an electronic timesheet book created by the Instituto Superior de Tecnologia de Informação de Comunicação (ISUTIC);

• Strategy for the prevention of snake bites in Angola and another project on studies of venoms and envenomations caused by snakes in Angola, presented by the Center for Information on Medicines and Toxicology (CIMETOX) in Malange, of the Lueji A’Nkonde University. It is an antivenom that is applied against snake bites, and potential investors were looking for its large-scale production. And the project’s first phase had already received an award at the same fair in a previous edition; “Palanquinha”, an app that allows users to know Angola’s historical and touristic spots;

• “Obstacle detection system and airplane ascent in an emergency situation” presented by Hélder Silva, a system that signals the obstacle and warns the crew that there is an imminent collision. If the crew does not act during the next five minutes of warning, the system takes control of the aircraft by raising the device and only returns the command to the pilots when each one enters their respective code;

• “From garbage to luxury,” a project that allows garbage recycling and transformation into products such as paste, glasses, and slippers;

• “Vorex One,” a device that transforms wind energy into electrical energy, resulting from the movement of vehicles on roads with high road traffic;

• Etc.

“These inventors, mostly students accompanied by their teachers, are usually the ones selected at the fair that takes place internally to represent the country at an international level. It should be noted that the Instituto Médio Politécnico da Humpata in the city of Lubango, province of Huíla has also presented several innovative projects, among which we highlight, for example, the car developed by a teacher and his students that works with a battery charged with sunlight. These are just examples of projects that, even after being presented internationally, end up abandoned in a room at the winning educational institution. There is no support from the local business community, much less the government itself. And that, this support lack in the product of students and their teachers, the investment lack, not only creates demotivation for them (teachers and students), but also does not help in the development and recognition of the country itself”.

“Educational institutions in Angola are totally dependent on the State Budget”. There are almost no university extension projects that involve communities and that can bring additional income to educational institutions [9]. Currently, any extra income made by educational institutions in Angola ends up being reflected in the State’s accounts (Finances Ministry), as it has become mandatory to pay any fee through a RUPE (single reference for payment to the state) generated by the Finance Ministry locally.

The educational institutions’ courses and curricula in Angola are totally out of place and unstructured. The country’s labor market needs are not adequate. On the other hand, the subjects presented in the different courses are excessively theoretical and lack updates. “It is possible to find today, in Angolan higher education institutions, courses with curricular plans designed more than 20 years ago and which have never undergone any updates”. They remain the same: onerous, extensive, excessively theoretical, decontextualized, and without general pedagogical guidelines.

3.2.3 Confidence lack in lecturers and students

Debates about the teacher’s quality lack in Angolan educational institutions are constant. These were and continue to be pointed out as teachers without the desired quality to teach in higher education, in addition to being few, forcing them to become multipurpose: the teachers lack in Angolan educational institutions forces the few teachers to teach a large number of subjects, and in many cases, subjects outside their comfort area.

“There are cases, for example, in which a history teacher is forced to teach mathematics or geometry, even without the necessary basic knowledge. And the problems that arise there are dragged into higher education” (teacher). “Our teachers are excessively theoretical, making the classes of no interest to the student, many do not have the pedagogical component, they are not capable of revolutionizing their knowledge”.

One of the biggest problems observed in relation to this issue is the fact that most Angolan teachers have only a degree. Some higher education institutions have already offered master’s courses, in most cases with the participation of foreign institutions and teachers. Not with the desired variety but an acceptable number can already be considered. But at the doctoral and postdoctoral levels, it is practically non-existent. “The government has invested heavily in training staff abroad. Monthly, the Angolan government spends about 2,200,712.69 USD for the payment of supplementary scholarships for students who are in abroad”². However, some of these students end up not returning to the country, evading the current situation in which they live. “Many teachers who go on training abroad with a government scholarship, at a given moment, are forced to give up their training due to the difficulties they encounter along the way:

• Some postgraduate scholarship holders benefited from a 2-year scholarship for training of more than 3 years. Being totally dependent on help sent by family members who, at a given time, with the difficulty of obtaining foreign exchange, were forced to return without completing the course. In addition, constant delays in the payment of subsidies by the institute responsible for the scholarship holders, made them either enter the job market in the country where they are, or give up their training returning to the country.

“On the other hand, not all teachers are privileged to benefit from a scholarship. Some who want to progress in their teaching career seek to train with their own resources, and with the difficulties encountered, many end up in the situation exposed above”.

Many teachers choose to teach abroad, because it is considered that every professional trained outside the country has a greater capacity to respond to the challenges faced by the country, ending up totally undervaluing the teachers who have trained in the country. It should be noted that the teachers themselves are partly to blame for this situation, since many of them, because they feel unmotivated and undervalued, end up adopting unworthy teaching behaviors, further devaluing their own teaching and sinking their own image. These teachers, both university and basic education, are unhappy because they do not feel valued, they argue that they have the lowest salaries on the market, and currently, with the exchange rate practiced in the Angolan market, the salary of a university teacher, assistant professor category is equivalent to 600 euros, and the living cost in Angola is very high.

Teachers are also identified as uninterested in scientific research and accommodate themselves to the positions in which they find themselves. These justify themselves by the lack of incentives, research subsidies (or insignificant), and works research, followed by work conditions lack, and incentives lack for the teaching-learning process, which in no way motivates the teaching activity. In response, the government decreed on June 7 (Presidential Decree n° 128/22, June 7th 2022), a new research subsidy, of 22% of the university professor’s base salary, as a way of encouraging scientific research, although being little compared to the subsidies from other sectors of activity, teachers face it as a valid initiative for change, appreciation, and improvement of the teaching process.

On the other hand, students are indicated as not having an adequate profile compared to the entry profile required in the different courses. Who will be to blame? How are the different course curricula taught by higher education institutions designed? On what basis? Who makes them? Generally, higher education candidates are admitted to the competition for access to the various courses available at the institutions depending on the training they have in basic education. For example, a student who has studied economics and management has the right profile for the economics faculty and other institutions that lecture courses such as economics, management, accounting, etc.; students who have studied biology or chemistry have a profile for biological sciences and medicine. Therefore, to say that students do not present the appropriate profile for entry into the educational institution is an error of the institution that allows it and not of the student.

Angolan students are accused of not having reading habits [4], which, in a way, ends up having a great influence on their learning low level. The lack of public and/or private libraries reflects the reading habit, not to mention that students are mostly low-income. On the other hand, some students enter a higher education institution with the idea of obtaining only a diploma that attests to their higher education in a certain area, considering it as a passport to the job market, in which the quantitative part, diploma grade, ends up having much more weight. In part, this is due to the traditional and mechanical method that teachers are used to teaching in their classes, and above all the social and economic situation in the country, in which more value is given to those who have a rich diploma. Many lecturers force their students to replicate the content they provide during classes, thus discouraging interest in learning, as they end up feeling that they have no opinion of their own.

In many cases, Angolan students are identified as not able to develop their own ideas and defend theories and are considered students with weak argumentation skills. The Angolan education system leads us to this conclusion. The teachers themselves do not believe in their students and, therefore, in what they teach to their students, giving no credit to them [11], said that professionals who have completed higher education abroad are more capable of responding to the needs and challenges faced by the country. This just reflects other countries’ different teaching dynamics. Our teachers are excessively theoretical, most of them inexperienced in the job market, they are lecturers who limit students’ learning by forcing them to reproduce everything they see in the classroom, and when they try to do something different they are soon stopped by structural conditions lack, which goes from adequate infrastructure lack and didactic and pedagogical material lack, among others. One aspect that is important to mention is the fact that many teachers search for additional jobs in which they give their soul to keep it, leaving teaching only as a guarantee in case they lose the other job. And the result is reflected in their failure to comply with the class plans, leaving students dependent on the teacher’s goodwill to finish their training or not.

Students have little power to influence the education system [12], and in the case of Angola, we venture to say that they have no voice, as their opinions regarding academic issues are never taken into account, being forced to consume only what has transmitted to them and nothing else. This, in a way, associated with other problems already mentioned here (lack of libraries, internet, obligation to reproduce knowledge, etc.), ends up limiting them in the search for additional knowledge.

3.2.4 Educational institutions quality assessment system

Quality is of great significance as it enables educational institutions to achieve educational excellence. The quality evaluation in the educational sector is not only reflected in test scores, as well as in the information set, guidelines, and teachings that lecturers transmit to students, but also in the student’s own experience throughout the teaching-learning process, during interaction with nonteaching staff and other components that are part of the institution, since the teaching effectiveness can be measured through the students. In other words, institutions’ teaching quality is generally measured according to the perception that students have about the service offered by the institution in question (academic processes and services, education system, buildings conditions and their surroundings, existing resources, etc.).

“If there is a quality assessment through interviews or surveys, or any other instrument, it is possible to detect flaws that occur throughout the teaching-learning process, and with this, evaluate them and seek solutions in order to improve services that are provided by Higher Education institutions. Being the feedback obtained from students, teachers and other interested parties extremely important”.

Mendes [13] states that higher education institutions’ evaluation is the pillar and the promoter of their quality. In order to define quality in organizational terms, we take into consideration a set of factors that contribute to the higher education institutions functionality, such as student satisfaction, social expectations, educational institutions management and administration, human and financial resources, and existing infrastructure, among others.

The Angolan education system, like others, foresees the educational institutions’ evaluation, which in practice does not happen. There are evaluation process initiatives that end up being diluted and do not produce the expected effect. And studies carried out on the educational institutions’ evaluation are not taken into consideration. This is a pity, because evaluation is a process that should be integrated into the educational institutions’ management cycle and provides for their continuous improvement [14], and it is, therefore, strategic when it is in stake the higher education development and the country itself [13].

“In Angola, there is almost no evaluation process for educational institutions. These do not have the practice of reporting on the evaluation process themselves, who evaluated them and how. In my 12 years of teaching at a Higher Education institution in Angola, I do not remember seeing a single complete assessment of the institution’s teaching-learning process. Generally, Angola’s educational institutions students, especially public institutions, are afraid to make assessments for fear of retaliation by teachers, as many argue that if they evaluate negatively a teacher, they will not be successful in the subject taught by that same teacher. The question that remains is, what strategies have institutions used to overcome this problem? What strategies have institutions used to encourage students to participate in assessments, and be honest in their responses?”

In fact, many institutions do not evaluate the services they provide to the academic community. Not for students, not for teachers, not for society in general. And yet, these are the teaching and learning process’s main elements, whose set of information provided by them is fundamental for the continuous improvement of the quality of the entire process of the institutions and, in general, of the place where they live and the country itself.

A few studies on quality assessment that take place in Angola are always by curious students or teachers who prepare the work with particular objectives and, unfortunately, even present the final results at conferences and other national and/or international platforms, do not take advantage on them. That is, all the information obtained, besides making it public, is useless, because it is not usage to use data from work done by students or teachers, only by referenced institutions.

In Angola, in addition to this information lack about the quality of the service provided by educational institutions (both higher and basic education), it is visible the lack of specialized services in inspection, supervision, and evaluation of both higher education and higher education institutions, there is no information regarding the fulfillment of the foreseen objectives. Simões et al [9] said that the institutions and mechanisms for guaranteeing education quality, the National Institute for the Assessment, Accreditation, and Recognition of Higher Education Studies (INAAREES), do not function properly. Currently, despite some improvements in its functioning, the main problems remain. These institutes aim to create quality assurance policies and mechanisms that allow and facilitate the higher education institutions’ evaluation and the entire teaching process, besides recognizing and validating studies carried out at national and international levels.

The verified post-civil war period was accompanied by higher education institutions’ proliferation throughout the country, which was justified by the need to expand education and be able to respond to the higher education needs that the country faced. However, this expansion was not properly accompanied by the quality of teaching and service provision. Many private institutions, for example, ran unauthorized programs, there was no accuracy in recruiting academic and nonacademic staff, and some look at higher education simply as a lucrative business. These are problems constantly pointed out by both educational institutions as well as the supervisory body, but they are still present.

The institutions’ evaluation need and continuous improvement of the entire teaching process had already been identified, projects have been launched, but in the end, for some reason still unknown, the conclusion is not seen. And this works like a cycle, government leaves, and government enters. And perhaps this is one of the Angolan government’s main mistakes.

3.2.5 COVID-19 pandemic resulting Effect. What did we learn?

The pandemic caused by the SARS COVID-19 came to monitor investments made not only in the health sector but also in education and above all in the higher education subsystem. The pandemic led governments to close university campuses and face-to-face classes suspension for a considerable period of time as a measure to prevent the virus contamination spread. Some countries that had the distance learning modality in their school curricula were forced to make it a strategy, intensifying them, with the aim of reducing the pedagogical damage that was felt as a result of the pandemic caused by COVID-19. Other countries, given the uncertainty of an end date for the pandemic, were forced to bet on this modality of distance learning.

Until 2020, the Angolan State did not recognize any studies carried out at distance, both within the country and abroad (Presidential Decree n° 59/20, of 3 March). The emergence of the pandemic was necessary to show the importance of distance and blended learning, leading it to adopt the strategy used by most countries, in order to avoid a catastrophe at the educational level.

The distance learning strategy resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic is the set of sectoral measures taken by different governments in order to continue the curricular studies of students, as well as other regular educational activities when schools and other educational institutions are closed, requiring learning activities to be reviewed, planned and alternative learning program solutions provided with the support of teachers, the educational community in collaboration with students and their families, for these strategies to be successful [15]. Ref. [16] defines distance learning as synonymous with online teaching, e-learning, distance education, correspondence education, external studies, flexible teaching, and massively open online courses. Distance learning is usually provided with the help of technological equipment, digital systems, and various programs and applications, as it is done through videoconferences. And that, in many cases, implied the need to develop digital literacy [17], and high investment in technology, especially in the internet. COVID-19 showed the country (Angola) the need for investment not only in education but also in other basic sectors for the population’s survival. With the exception of the country capital, in other provinces capitals with internet access, as many municipalities do not have access to the internet, it is almost nonfunctional most of the time. Associated with this are the problems of electricity restrictions for the most vulnerable populations.

The Angolan government, after approving distance learning and blended learning (Presidential Decree n° 59/20, of 3 March), forced by the COVID-19 pandemic, tried to develop an electronic platform with several features that would allow the didactic material availability and monitor student learning, in order to reconcile distance and blended learning in the pandemic phase [15]. And as always, it was not functional, since most educational institutions did not have access to it, if not all, with the justification that there is no internet, much less digital means necessary for this purpose. “Classes were given in-person but always considering the security measures imposed by the State, since attempts to take online classes were frustrated by internet lack”.

“Investment, in this case, is not simply related to internet issues but also to the classrooms conditions, buildings and their surroundings, and other services provided by educational institutions” (students and administrative officials). Pandemic also showed, and more importantly, the improvement need in the educational institutions’ hygiene in Angola. Educational institutions have bathrooms, but most of them are unusable, not even for teachers, administrative staff, and especially for students, ranging from the structure itself, which lacks security due to the lack of doors or windows, lack of water in the bathrooms, toilet paper, among others.

Another important aspect to bear in mind for higher education institutions is the need for a health center. There are cases in which students or teachers, for some reason, need to be observed, however, the absence of a school health office or post, responsible for the first aid of students, teachers, and other employees of the institution, does not allow a ready care, often leading to greater damage. Because hospital emergency services in Angola are precarious.

4. Conclusion and recommendation

Higher education institutions will continue to be essential for a country’s social and economic progress, due to their role in research, evaluation, knowledge and information transfer, and the economic development process. This implies that any investment made in education translates into an investment in the country’s development, since education, especially higher education, is responsible for promoting the country’s development and growth, allowing the acceleration of technological diffusion, reducing knowledge gaps and, consequently, poverty, provides an increase in tax revenues, savings, and investment, reduces population growth, improves the country’s health, and makes society more entrepreneurial, civic and democratic. And if Angola really wants to develop, there is a need to think more and more about better investment in the education sector.

The 2018–2022 national development plan presents, as intervention priorities for higher education policy, the improvement of the network of higher education institutions, reflected in the increase in courses and number of graduates, greater postgraduate offers and improvement of the teaching quality, masters and doctors qualification, development of higher education assessment and certification system, promotion of research and development in higher education institutions and research centers in the country, and policies that, to a certain extent, are already being put into practice:

1. The commitment to the training of university lecturers continues, despite the difficulties in sending teachers abroad, due to the exchange rate problems presented by the country, the Angolan government has invested more in internal postgraduate training (masters and doctorate within the country).

2. The attempt to create an international journal continues so that patients and researchers can publish their work locally.

3. Regarding issues related to studies evaluation and certification, it was sent to all public institutions of higher education, the presidential decree project about the regulation of the process of homologation of higher education studies. So, the academic community could participate with suggestions in the creation of the new legal diploma that establishes the technical requirements and criteria that must be observed in the process of homologation of higher education studies.

4. The government has already introduced the subsidy to support pedagogical research and scientific research in an attempt to encourage research in institutions and higher education (Presidential Decree no 128/22).

The elections that took place at the level of higher education institutions are considered to be a good step toward achieving total academic freedom. But this long-awaited academic and scientific freedom largely depends on the character and courage of both managers and teachers at educational institutions. It is necessary for academics to learn to separate academic issues from partisan issues, as most managers are always linked to the ruling party, they are afraid of contradicting their interests and decisions, losing the notion of a true academy. The academic community must not remain silent for fear of reprisals by the party. The academy does not marry politics. And as long as we continue to have managers who believe they are in office to serve the interests of the party, and who have to do so in order to progress both professionally and personally, we will not have an academy in the truest sense of the word.

The evaluation of higher education institutions and the entire teaching-learning process is essential to measure the performance of the educational system, in order to improve their quality. Therefore, it is important that institutions begin to carry out evaluations of their activities and the services they provide to the community, as it will be from these evaluations that they will be able to collect the necessary information to improve the quality of the services provided, through the detection of errors, failures that occurred throughout the teaching-learning process, which must be analyzed and subsequently resolved.

There is a huge need to listen to the entire academic community, to involve everyone (students, teachers, nonteaching workers, entrepreneurs, and civil society) in the teaching and learning process. The information they provide is essential for the process of improving the educational institution. Listening to the business community of the region and the country, in general, is essential so that the courses are created and structured according to the needs of the market, which will provide development for the country itself.

It is true that we have professors who fall short and students who show no interest in developing their intellectual capacities, but we also have many good professors and brilliant students who have developed great projects for which they have not seen any recognition from the government or the business community, and it demotivates them. It is much easier to get recognition outside when we are first recognized at home. Often, recognition comes from abroad, but love for the country brings them back to the house where they end up being abandoned and forgotten. And finally, they are accused of not being good students, let alone good teachers.

OECD report 2018 [18] states that educational institutions are the main ones responsible for the students’ training with new skills that will allow them to face changes, develop and use new technologies, handle several organizations, and succeed in this highly interconnected world.

We emphasize the importance of greater investment in the education sector and recognition of the work done at the academic level. Well, in the end, the country will emerge victorious.