Education Policy in Angola and the Guarantee of the Right to Education

Abstract

This qualitative article on education policy in Angola and the guarantee of the right to education seeks to analyse the relationship between Angolan education policy and the guarantee of pupils’ right to education, based on the perceptions of primary school teachers. It reflects on global summits, focusing on the patterns of political commitments established on the basis of an assessment of the shortcomings in education and teaching systems. The growing global consensus on the need for all children to complete primary education overlooks the right to education, which risks becoming, in its entirety, a commercialised service. As this is a descriptive case study, the research adopts a qualitative approach, supported by a review of the literature. The results demonstrated that providing quality education to pupils who complete secondary education increases the likelihood of escaping poverty. It is hoped that, as a result of this study, the Ministry of Education will, in practice, fulfil the core of its governmental obligations regarding primary and secondary education, whilst strictly adhering to the principles of free, compulsory and high-quality education. It is concluded that the denial of the right to a quality education leads to exclusion from the formal labour market and the consequent reliance on the informal sector. Furthermore, it seems impossible to remedy the existing imbalance in life opportunities without full recognition of the right to a quality education.