Talatona – Angola government plans to invest more in higher education courses that reflect the real needs of the country, such as agriculture, pisciculture, fishing, arts and humanities to propel the diversification of the economy and rapid development of the country, the minister of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Maria do Rosário Bragança Sambo, said Tuesday.
The minister, who was speaking on "The State of Higher Education in Angola", at the 18th edition of the National Holiday Camp of University Students (Canfeu), said the quality of higher education must be rigorous to obtain excellence.
"We must have a quality assurance system and culture. Without a self-evaluation process, without external evaluation and accreditation of courses, and without evaluation of the performance of higher education teachers, excellence can not be achieved", she said.
The minister stated that as of 2027 higher education lecturers in the country will need to have a similar degree as minimum reuirement to be teachers in this level.
She reiterated the need for regulation in terms of training offers, since currently there are many courses in social areas with poor job offers, which causes many young people to be left out of the labour market.
"Today there is a sharp reduction in engineering, technology, and natural science courses", the minister revealed.
Ms Sambo added that there is a huge worry towards the quality of the courses in Health Sciences.
The minister explained that the government expects to inaugurate the Luanda science centre in 2023, whose aim is to spread scientific knowledge to the population and the commencement for the creation of several science centres in the country.
The minister added that among the projects, a science and technology park is expected to be built, which will bring together companies and the Academia to provide interaction between schoilars and the private sector.
CANFEU is a space for unity, reflection, citizenship, youth dialogue, work, recreation, sports, culture and the exchange and sharing of experiences, which brings together young university students from all over the country and abroad.
