Demand for places fuels expansion in public, private sectors
The Angolan government has been pushing ahead with efforts to expand the country’s higher education services, with initiatives progressing this year in its public and private sectors.
These include the opening of a new private university in October 2021, government plans to build a new university hospital in 2022 and major expansions being completed at two public universities.
Angolan President João Lourenço has promised to increase higher education spending and has subsequently allocated 141.4 billion Angolan kwanza (about US$268 million), 24% more than in 2021, to the ministry of higher education, science, technology and innovation in its 2022 budget.
Lourenço said in his state of the nation address to the National Assembly at the end of 2021 that, despite the challenges facing the country, including COVID-19, his government was targeting “improving the quality of education”.
A new private university in Cuito
This came as he inaugurated, in October 2021, a new private International University of Cuanza (UNIC, in the Portuguese acronym), in Cuito, central Angola.
The university is working to expand its capacity to 5,000 students soon, which the government is currently capping at 2,200 students.
Its Rector, João Canoquena, told University World News the university currently has fewer than 2,000 students studying for 10 degrees, including bachelor courses in engineering, health sciences, social and human sciences and education, with the aim of producing graduates able to develop the university’s home province of Bié.
Its long-term plans would see student numbers rise to 12,000 in what Canoquena said was a “very ambitious project”. Read More...
