ANGOLA – LUANDA (Angola Press Agency) - Angolan deputy minister of Education for Educative Reform, Pinda Simão, said Tuesday in Luanda that HIV and AIDS constitutes an obstacle to the implementation of the "Education for All" programme designed to eradicate illiteracy until 2015.
The government official said so while speaking during a talk on "Challenges to Education for All in Angola", as part of the International Week on Education for All (EFT).
According to Pinda Simão, many teachers who were attending training programmes or already trained in educational reform, died as a result of HIV and AIDS, which led to the recruitment and training of new ones, thus delaying the education process.
"In the field of fight of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and HIV and AIDS the curriculum included aspects related to STD and training for teachers countrywide," Pinda Simão said.
In order to overcome this situation, the Education Ministry (MED) in the period of 2002/2008 drafted a plan aimed to increase the number of lectures, which resulted in a rise by 120 percent.
The International Week of Education for All (EPT) which started on Monday and is due to end on April 27 this year is to tackle as well other such topics as "Government impartiality" and "Protection and development of first infancy".
It also includes a meeting of the EPT inter-ministerial coordination with MED, the Welfare Ministry, the Ministry of Public Administration and Social Security, the Ministry of Family and Women Promotion and the civil society.