Women represent 43 percent of students in higher education

 Luanda- At least 137, 600 students, accounted for 43 percent of the total of 320,000, is the number of women enrolled in higher education in the country, said Monday in Luanda the Secretary of State for the Higher Education, Eugénio Silva.

The Secretary of State for Higher Education considered the number significant, especially in some courses in the areas of health and humanities, where women reach 72 percent of enrolled students.

He added that there are still some courses such as Engineering, Technologies and Agrarian Sciences where the female presence is still small, stressing that it is necessary to continue to develop mechanisms to encourage and interest of this group in those areas.

Eugénio Silva was speaking on the sidelines of the round table promoted by the Organisation of Angolan Women (OMA) on "Women, academia and development", which aimed to make known the path and role of women in different areas, when on their own merit occupies more and more prominent places and positions in society.

As for the teaching staff, Eugénio Silva said that the percentage is low, being around 22 percent, due to the lack of strategies that allow attracting more women to teaching and research careers.

"I believe that, like men, the women have skills and should have opportunities. It is important that they become aware that they can occupy different areas with all the merit that assists them," he said.

In turn, Alice de Ceita e Almeida, dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Agostinho Neto University, stressed that many factors contribute to the low participation of women in the teaching and research career, as it is a full-time occupation.

"In our institution, the number of professors does not reach ten and as for the students, there is equality between men and women, especially in the Architecture, Chemical Engineering and computer courses, where female participation is high", she stressed.

Speaking on the theme "Women's path in the Angolan academy since independence", Alice de Ceita said that there is a need for actions that encourage women to focus on teaching and research, with a view to gender equity.

OMA's secretary general, Joana Tomás, said that society and academia must find and establish ways to integrate, recognise and distinguish those who stand out in the dissemination of knowledge.

The round table analysed topics such as "Women's path in the Angolan academy since independence", "Women's representation in academia", "Morale boosting in the teaching process" and "Academic women in Angola's economic development", in a ceremony which took place at the António Agostinho Neto Memorial.