HISTORY

During the colonial period, on October 6, 1963, the University of Luanda was inaugurated. Given the insistence and strong desire of the Ministry of Overseas Territories at the time, it was decided to establish, in the then Sá da Bandeira, the School of Pedagogical Sciences, as the nucleus for the future development of the University in this part of Angola.

The idea was realized with the creation of the Faculty of Letters, which offered, up to the bachelor’s degree level, courses in History, Romance Languages, Geography and, up to the licentiate degree, the course in Geographic Engineering.

Not feeling satisfied, the city demanded, through the voice of Mr. José Figueiredo Fernandes, then President of the Municipal Council of Sá da Bandeira, in February 1974, the creation of a Higher Normal School of Educational Sciences.

In order to materialize the intentions related to the operation of the Pedagogy course in the then Sá da Bandeira, and given the need to promote pedagogical training at a higher level, a pedagogical aggregation course was created in the aforementioned Faculty of Letters where, evidently, Educational Sciences emerged as a component linked to the training of personnel destined for teaching.

Due to historical constraints and institutional imperatives, this experience was short-lived, due to the closure of the aforementioned Faculty of Letters, but it must be said in all fairness that this constituted, in fact, the most concrete manifestation of the old aspirations in this field.

However, it is important to note that all this activity, aimed at the development of Educational Sciences, did not come to an end with national independence. At its 1st Congress, the MPLA issued a resolution directing the creation of the Higher Institute of Educational Sciences. This action was materialized in 1980, after the Faculty of Letters was dissolved in 1979.

And through various means and consequences, the Higher Institute of Educational Sciences ISCED-Lubango began operating as an Organic Unit attached to the University Center of Lubango of this University, until April 2009.

In 2009, by virtue of Decree No. 7/09, of May 12, of the Council of Ministers, which established the reorganization of the network of higher education institutions and the restructuring of Agostinho Neto University (UAN), ISCED-Lubango was declared an autonomous higher education institution, linked to the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology – MESCT, included in the VI Academic Region, and adopted the name ISCED-Huíla.