School Leadership
2.1. Leadership standards and roles
2.2. Selection and working conditions
2.3. Leadership preparation and training
3. Teachers, parents and students
3.1. School management committees and boards
4.1. Autonomy of school leaders
4.2. Assessment and accountability of school leaders
4.3. Teacher assessment by school leaders
1. Terminology
Law n. º 17/16 on the Foundations of the Education and Teaching System (2016) uses the term director, but does not define it.
The Plano Nacional de Desenvolvimiento da Educaçao “Educar-Angola 2030” uses the terms manager and director when referring to school leaders.
The Presidential Decree 93/2 uses the term Coordinator for middle school leaderships.
The Institutions of the General Education Subsystem now abbreviated as ISEG, are defined as “educational establishments created for the provision of public, public-private and private services, endowed with legal personality and capacity and administrative autonomy, under the terms of this Diploma”. ISEGs can refer to various school types: primary schools, combined primary and secondary schools (including primary and I and II cycle secondary education), and secondary schools (Secondary Cycle I schools, or both I and II cycle secondary schools).
2. School principals
2.1. Leadership standards and roles
Competency standards and leadership frameworks and guidelines
Leadership roles and competencies are outlined in the current management regulations of public institutions. Presidential Decree No. 162/23 (2023), establishes the legal framework for the organization and school management of Primary and Secondary Education ISEGs.
Roles
Setting expectations/objectives: The Executive Bodies, including the management body, among others, have operational functions for preparing, conducting, executing, and controlling the fulfillment of ISEG's plans and programs.
Developing teaching and learning: Information was not found.
Promoting collaboration: Law n. º 17/16 on the Foundations of the Education and Teaching System (2016) states that education professionals rely on the collaboration of partners, including families and the community.
Presidential Decree 162/23 (2023) states that each school's internal regulations, to be approved by the provincial education offices and/or secretariat, stipulate the specific forms of participation of teaching and non-teaching staff, parents, and guardians.
Supporting staff development: Information was not found.
Acting in accordance with the ethical principles of the profession: Article 95 of Law n. º 17/16 on the Foundations of the Education and Teaching System (2016) states that teaching agents are required to be of good repute and moral and civic integrity.
Presidential Decree No. 162/23 (2023) states that the Disciplinary Committee ensures the disciplinary conduct of teaching staff.
Others: Many directors often need to teach a class. Presidential Decree No. 16/11 states that “directors and deputy directors of schools in primary education, must teach a class, whenever the school has up to six classrooms.” For other establishments, directors and deputy directors must teach one or two classes in the subject of their specialty.
2.2. Selection and working conditions
Degree requirements and prior teaching experience
Directors of Children's Centers and elementary schools must be permanent staff with a degree in Education Sciences, five years of teaching experience, and proficiency in Portuguese. Directors and Pedagogical Sub-Directors of School Complexes and Colleges must also meet these qualifications. The Director and/or Deputy Director must have specific training in their respective institutions' fields.
Exceptionally, Directors of Children's Centers and Heads of Primary Schools and Colleges can be teachers with a Secondary Pedagogical Education course and 10 years of teaching experience.
Appointment decision
The Management positions of Children's Centers, Primary Schools are appointed on a commission basis by the Municipal Administrator, upon the recommendation of the Municipal Director of Education, for a term of five years, with the option to renew once.
The heads of School Complexes up to the 1st Cycle, School Complexes up to the 2nd Cycle, Colleges, and Lyceums are appointed on a service commission by the Provincial Governor, upon the recommendation of the Provincial Director of Education, for a term of five years, with the option to renew once.
Employment equity measures
No information was found.
Working conditions
According to Presidential Decree No. 162/23, management bodies include a mandatory Director and optionally, according to the number of classrooms, a Pedagogical Deputy Director, and an Administrative Deputy Director. Primary schools with up to seven classrooms are managed by a Director. Those with more than seven classrooms have a Director and a Pedagogical Deputy Director. Secondary schools and complexes are managed by a Director, with one Pedagogical and one Administrative Deputy Director. Primary schools with over twelve classrooms in multiple shifts have a Director and two Deputy Directors, one Administrative and one Pedagogical.
The salaries of Directors are defined in Presidential Decree 302/18 (2018) and depend on the level of the institution they are in charge of (primary or secondary) and the number of students. For example, a director of less than 500 pupils in secondary education receives 301.005kz (341USD) compared to 263.379kz (298USD) for an equivalent position in a primary education institution. The salary ranges of directors within the same level of institution are set by schools with less than 500 students, between 500 and 1500 students, and more than 1500 students.
2.3. Leadership preparation and training
Pre-service training
Teacher training in Angola focuses on preschool, primary, and secondary education, provided at secondary and higher education levels. The key distinction is that higher education qualifies teachers for the 2nd Cycle of Secondary Education, while secondary education qualifies for the 1st Cycle only. Training is offered through integrated and sequential models (latter developed in 2020 and also known as pedagogical aggregation), lasting 3,600 to 4,800 hours or 1,800 hours, respectively. The Instituto Nacional de Formação de Quadros da Educação (INFQE), a public institution, oversees non-university teacher training and distance learning but does not supervise 2nd Cycle Secondary Education teacher training. Additionally, it is responsible for monitoring distance learning under the supervision of the Ministerial Department in charge of Education.
The 2018 National Training and Management Program for Teaching Staff and the “Educar-Angola 2030” plan established that starting in 2027, initial training for educators should transition from secondary level training to higher education institutions. This change will ensure that future educators have a minimum of undergraduate training.
The main difference between the teacher position and management positions is that Directors of Children's Centers, elementary schools, and School Complexes must be permanent staff with a degree in Education Sciences, five years of teaching experience, proficiency in Portuguese, and specific training in their institution's field. There is no pre-service training specific to school leadership.
Induction and in-service training
Law n. º 17/16 (2016) calls for the training of teachers with solid scientific and pedagogical knowledge. Continuing teacher training is predominantly provided by Teacher Training Centers or other educational institutions. The National Programme for Training and Management of Teaching Staff, aims to provide school managers with the opportunity to develop and improve their professional skills in education and teaching. The Plano Nacional de Desenvolvimiento da Educaçao “Educar-Angola 2030” also specifically calls for continuous training action for directors such as disseminating good practices in the field of organization and management.
3. Teachers, parents and students
3.1. School management committees and boards
Presidential Decree No. 16/11 categorizes “board of directors; pedagogical coordination; commission of parents and guardians; and the psycho-pedagogical office” as management support bodies.
Presidential Decree No. 162/23 (2023) states that ISEG may have management bodies, support bodies, and executive bodies.
The Support Bodies assist and aid in their respective areas of expertise and services within the Institution, ensuring the fulfillment of assigned tasks and performing activities specific to their nature. The operations of the Support Bodies are governed by specific regulations that have yet to be approved and/or defined by the Head of the Ministerial Department responsible for the Education Sector.
The Executive Bodies handle the operational tasks of preparing, conducting, executing, and controlling the fulfillment of ISEG's plans and programs.
The Management Bodies define the roles and conditions for the Director, the Pedagogical Deputy Director, and the Administrative Deputy Director.
According to Executive Decree No. 118/24, a General Assembly is made up of the School Board and all the parents and guardians of a school.
3.2. Middle leaders
The 2013-2020 National Staff Training Plan mentions the development of training for middle managers in the areas of school administration and organization.
Presidential Decree 93/21 (2021) states that middle leaders holding management and leadership positions are required to have specialized in their respective subject, course, or area of coordination. They should also have received a positive performance evaluation within the past five years.
Those holding management and leadership positions in Children's Centers and Primary Schools are appointed by the Municipal Director of Education for a renewable five year term. The ones in Colleges and School Complexes are appointed by the Director of the Provincial Education Office for a renewable five year term. Subject Coordinators are appointed if there are at least three teachers of the same subject. Class Coordinators are appointed by Headteachers, without compensation, with a reduced workload of two hours.
The salaries of middle leaders are defined by Presidential Decree 302/18 (2018) and depend only on the level of the institution they are in charge of (primary or secondary). For example, a coordinator in secondary education receives 301.005kz (341USD) compared to 225.754kz (256USD) for an equivalent position in a primary education institution. The salary ranges of directors within the same level of institution are set by schools with less than 500 students, between 500 and 1500 students, and more than 1500 students. According to Presidential Decree No. 16/11, teachers who hold management and leadership positions may benefit from a reduction in weekly teaching hours.
3.3. Parents
Presidential Decree No. 162/23 (2023) states that upon enrollment, the student, parents, and guardians must take note of the school's Internal Regulations. Their participation in the school community is defined by each internal regulation.
Parents and guardians have the right to be involved in school life. They can collaborate on initiatives to make teaching better and more personal. They can also contribute to activities that encourage learning and student attendance. Furthermore, they can join the "Parents and Guardians Committee" which is regulated by Executive Decree No. 118/24. The decree defines the "Parents and Guardians Committee" as “a body whose purpose is to provide the best collaboration between parents and guardians, students, teachers and the governing body of the respective institution, aiming at the correct training of their children”. The Parents and Guardians Committees are composed of one guardian of each class, and represented by a maximum of 15 members, depending on the number of classes and students.
The "Parents and Guardians Committee" supports curricular and extracurricular activities, assists teachers, engages parents, and defends student interests. They resolve issues, promote discipline and safety, contribute to school management, and enhance student socialization. They also ensure timely enrollment, prepare for the school year, preserve school property, and improve attendance and academic success. The committee maintains facilities, proposes educational activities, establishes partnerships, manages conflicts, advises on behavior, participates in evaluations, and helps develop the School’s Educational Project.
3.4. Students
According to Presidential Decree No. 162/23 (2023), the participation of students in the school community is stipulated through each internal regulation, to be approved by the provincial education offices and/or secretariat. More generally, Presidential Decree 254/19 states that students have rights and duties.
4. Governance
4.1. Autonomy of school leaders
Public Secondary Schools, Public-Private Schools, and Private Schools have pedagogical autonomy, allowing them to create and implement their Educational Projects based on scientific-pedagogical principles set by the Education Ministry. This process involves school administration, management bodies, and the school community, considering national, regional, and local development plans, ensuring balance in the school network, and maintaining harmonization and inter-communicability of the Education Subsystems.
For teachers, it's about distributing their workload flexibly and adjusting it as needed, following approved guidelines. They also organize training sessions for teachers to improve their teaching methods, evaluate their performance, and promote effective teaching methods and assessment techniques.
According to Presidential Decree 93/21 (2021), Directors have the responsibility to manage the school budget as a budgeted unit.
As for the academic curriculum, Presidential Decree 93/21 (2021) states that it is not defined by the Director, but by the Ministry of Education. The proper application of these is guaranteed by the supervision of the Pedagogical Deputy Director.
There is no specific information about the role of the director in the process of recruiting and/or dismissing teachers, only that the management bodies have the task of evaluating and supervising them.
4.2. Assessment and accountability of school leaders
According to Law n. º 17/16 on the Foundations of the Education and Teaching System (2016), the state is responsible for developing, regulating, coordinating, supervising, monitoring, controlling, and evaluating the education and teaching system periodically through a “Pedagogical Supervision”.
The School Council is a representative body that supports and evaluates the school management in achieving the established guidelines and goals. Its purpose is to ensure democratic and transparent management at both central and local levels.
4.3. Teacher assessment by school leaders
Teacher performance evaluation, as defined by Presidential Decree 276/19, involves systematically assessing education services. The Director, typically responsible for evaluating, must have six months of contact with the teacher being assessed. If no Director exists, an experienced senior staff member may be appointed as an evaluator. Per Presidential Decree 93/21 (2021) and Presidential Decree No. 28/22 (2022), the Director also sets quarterly objectives for teachers, monitoring their progress. The Pedagogical Deputy Director aids by supervising lessons, proposing improvements, and addressing teachers' needs, especially for students with special educational requirements.
This profile was reviewed by Dr. Justino Cangue, professor de Graduação e Pós-Graduação/Pesquisador da Universidade Independente
