Running ahead of the money

Good morning and welcome to yesterday's newsletter. Edson Macuácua has spent his first two weeks as education minister displaying energy. He has met teachers’ organisations, Finance Minister Carla Loveira, business representatives and other interested parties. Each encounter has been publicised as evidence of a ministry moving with new urgency.

The meetings have a political purpose. Macuácua inherited a damaged relationship with teachers after Samaria Tovela appeared to blame them for the financial hardship caused partly by low salaries and unpaid entitlements. A new minister needed to listen, restore political contact and demonstrate that the government understood the anger within schools.

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Macuácua has also gone beyond general expressions of concern. He has promised to settle the outstanding 2023 overtime payments owed to 29,466 teachers in three instalments by December. Payments arising from 7,076 administrative decisions suspended following the introduction of the Single Salary Scale, including 5,092 concerning teachers, are supposed to begin in November. He and Loveira have agreed to meet monthly to monitor the debts and other education funding needs.

These commitments give teachers something against which to measure him. They also contain the familiar escape clause: payment remains subject to the availability of money.

That is the obstacle Macuácua cannot overcome through meetings or communications. The education ministry can verify lists and propose priorities, but the finance ministry must release the funds. Previous education ministers also discussed teachers’ debts with Finance without securing their complete payment. The arrears from 2024, 2025 and 2026 are still being calculated, with neither a confirmed total nor a timetable for clearing them.