Maputo, 15 Oct (AIM) – Mozambican President Daniel Chapo has decided to fire Education Minister Samaria Tovele following controversial and offensive remarks she made toward teachers.
During the Education Ministry’s 2nd Coordinating Council, Tovele attributed the financial difficulties faced by teachers to an alleged inability to manage their own earnings.
“Teachers have been facing enormous debts. Our teachers have enormous debts. It’s a matter of having a budget and knowing how to organize yourself within that budget rather than incurring debt that you cannot repay”, she said at the time.
The relationship between Tovele and the teachers has always been sour. The country’s National Association of Teachers (ANAPRO) has been calling for a response to the long-running dispute over the government’s failure to pay teachers for overtime.
ANAPRO even said that it has lost confidence in the government institutions it was negotiating with. The organization claims that all means of dialogue had been tried, without any satisfactory reply to their demands.
For Tovele’s position, the President appointed Édson Macuácua, who until then held the post of Secretary of State for Science and Higher Education. Macuácua also chairs the country’s Technical Commission for the “Inclusive National Dialogue” (COTE).
Chapo also appointed Isaú Menezes as the new Secretary of State for Science and Higher Education. Menezes holds a doctorate in Urban Sociology from the Lisbon University, and served as a member of Mozambique’s parliament from 1995 to 2010. He is also a musician and composer.
(AIM)
Pc/Zt/Am/