The Polytechnic School Viana
In 1996, a Vocational School was established in Viana, Luanda, and its courses were recognized by the National Institute of Employment and Vocational Training. At the beginning of 2010, the school moved to new buildings with greatly improved facilities in Zango II, an area of Luanda where poor families from slum areas of the city were being re-housed. In 2012, the EPP program was introduced. EPP Viana is one of the three ADPP polytechnics in Luanda. The school is located in the district of Zango, in Viana Municipality
75 students graduated at the beginning of 2020, bringing the total number of graduates from EPP Viana to 338, 170 of whom are female.
All activities came to halt with the declaration of a state of emergency in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Schools were closed and the teachers at EPP Viana/Zango began preparing for distance learning. Participation in phase 2 of ADPP’s STEM project, funded by Esso/Block15, was also affected by the closure of schools, but will resume as soon as they open.
Covid-19 response
All the students returned to their homes when schools closed and all the teachers continued working in trios and according to the classes that they taught to promote distance learning. They kept in touch with their students via WhatsApp and Facebook groups established by the director, and weekly telephone calls. 97% of the students were accounted for during the state of emergency, completing study assignments and collaborating in the resolution of tasks. The parents brought the exercise books to the school for correction every Wednesday and the teachers supplied new tasks on a weekly basis.
While awaiting official instruction from the relevant authorities, EPP Viana/Zango continued distance learning and began preparing for the “new normal” at the school. On resumption of classes, the school will progressively receive and instruct 8th and 9th Grade students in the Covid-19 preventive measures being adopted, after which it will be the turn of 7th Grade. It is anticipated that this will happen in later in 2020. All the programmes will be readjusted to adapt to the new conditions and to the foreshortened academic year. The school will collaborate closely with the students, parents and authorities in all phases, and be ready in the event of a new state of emergency being declared.
