These millions of excluded children and young people represent almost half of the students enrolled for the 2025/2026 school year. Children outside the education system will face greater difficulties breaking cycles of poverty. Data from the 2024 Census, although widely contested, reveal that education indicators among the population aged 5 to 18 have worsened over the past ten years.
Around 4.5 million children and young people in this age group are currently out of the education system — 2.5 million more than in the previous census in 2014. The figures show that education policies — in a sector that repeatedly suffers substantial budget cuts during execution compared to the initially allocated amounts — have not kept pace with population growth.
The population aged 5 to 18 stands at 13.1 million, according to the 2024 Census, meaning that 34% are outside the classroom, a 12-percentage-point increase compared to 2014. The situation is even more severe among children aged 5 to 11.
In this age group, more than 2.4 million children are out of the education system — equivalent to 4 in every 10 — at a stage where schooling is compulsory until the 9th grade, according to the Basic Law of the Education and Teaching System.
Among those aged 12 to 14, with a population of 1.2 million, 27% do not attend school; among those aged 15 to 18, the percentage rises to 37.6%, as this is an age where the labour market increasingly competes with the classroom.
To understand the severity of the problem, the 4.5 million excluded children and young people represent almost half of the 9.7 million students enrolled for the 2025/2026 school year. The number of children outside the system contrasts with efforts to expand the school network and hire teachers over the past decade.
The results may also reflect the low budget execution in the social sector — particularly in education — which had executed only 38% of its planned budget by September. According to Sérgio Calundungo, coordinator of the Political and Social Observatory of Angola (OPSA), these numbers show that the country is jeopardizing its own future.
“We cannot promote Angola as a great and beautiful country while millions of children remain outside the education system. Education is fundamental and must be ensured as a right, not treated as a privilege.” According to UNICEF, children who do not attend school are among the most vulnerable, exposed to risks such as forced marriage, child labour, and recruitment by armed groups. In addition to being deprived of the right to education, they are also denied safety, health, and future opportunities.
“School exclusion also has economic repercussions, with a projected global cost of 10 million USD annually until 2030.”
However, the increase in the population out of school has not translated into a rise in illiteracy. On the contrary, the illiteracy rate fell from 34.4% in 2014 to 27.4% in 2024 among people aged 15 and over. Even so, more than 10 million Angolans in this age group cannot read, in a population of 29.2 million inhabitants.
Source: Expansão
