THE PORTUGUESE EDUCATION

SYSTEM THE SYSTEM TODAY AND PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION Bureau for European Affairs and International Relations

Title The Portuguese Education System: The System Today and Plans for the Future

Publisher

The Ministry of Education Bureau for European Affairs and International Relations

Co-ordination

Maria Eduarda Boal

Contributors Hamilton Costa

Lídia Soares Nobre Maria de Fátima Serrano

Editor

Maria Emília Catela

Translation The British Council

Word Processing

Maria Manuela Carvalho da Silva

Cover Judite Cília

Typesetting

Ministry of Education

2nd Edition December 1999

Legal deposit num. 146 284/00 ISBN 972-97526-7-2

2

CONTENTS Introduction 1. POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL BACKGROUND 2. THE EDUCATION SYSTEM: STRUCTURE AND ORGANISATION 2.1. Pre-school education 2.2. Basic education 2.3. Secondary education 2.4. Higher education 2.5. Special education system 2.5.1. Special education 2.5.2. Vocational training 2.5.3. Adult education 2.5.4. Distance learning 2.5.5. Portuguese language teaching abroad 2.6. Extra-muros education 3. DESCRIPTION OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM 3.1. Pre-school education 3.2. School education 3.2.1. Basic education 3.2.2. Secondary education 3.2.3. Higher education 3.3. Extra-muros education 4. TEACHING AND OTHER STAFF 4.1. Teaching staff 4.1.1. Terms of employment 4.1.2. Teacher training 4.2. Other staff: terms of employment and training 5. ADMINISTRATION OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM 5.1. General administration 5.2. Schools and developing autonomy 5.2.1. Schools (excluding higher education) 5.2.2. Higher education institutions 6. FINANCING EDUCATION

3

7. INFRASTRUCTURES AND EQUIPMENT 7.1. State education sector (excluding higher education) 7.1.1. School buildings and equipment 7.1.2. Text books 7.1.3. School libraries 7.2. Higher education 8. EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION AND RESEARCH 8.1. Educational information 8.2. Educational research 8.3. Funding for educational research 9. PORTUGUESE CO-OPERATION IN EDUCATION 9.1. European Union 9.2. Multilateral co-operation 9.2.1. Multilateral organisations 9.3. Bilateral co-operation 9.3.1. Co-operation with Portuguese speaking countries in Africa 10. CENTRAL PRIORITIES AND STRATEGY THRUST RELEVANT LEGISLATION ANNEXES 1. Quantitative data 2. Qualitative data 3. List of countries with which Portugal has Cultural Agreements

4

INTRODUCTORY NOTE This Office has in recent years prepared two documents for submission to international organisations for the purpose of a comparative study of the education systems of member-states. The first of these, “Developing Education — Portuguese National Report” (1996), was presented to the 45th Session of the UNESCO International Education Conference and the second, “Description of the Education System” (1997), was prepared for the Education Systems Programme of the Organisation of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture (OIS). These two surveys differ in their form and emphasis and represent two complementary overviews of the Portuguese education system. This document was prepared for the 2nd Conference of Education Ministers of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPSP) held in November 1998 in Brazil, in accordance with the decision, taken at the 1st Conference held in Lisbon, for the seven member countries to present to each other a picture of their educational situation, so as to open the way for debate and definition of areas of co-operation. In the absence of any guidelines on the structure of the report, we have decided to present our description of the education system on the basis of the two documents referred to above, summarising and updating the information as necessary, drawing attention to changes underway and the current priorities and strategies for education and training. As with the other two reports, our aim is to serve all those seeking a general description of the Portuguese education system and of the policies currently being implemented. European Affairs and International Relations Office The Director

5

1. POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURA BACKGROUND �� Geographical context Portugal lies within its long-established boundaries on the continent of Europe (occupying a long coastal strip in south-western Iberia), and its territory also includes the archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, in the Atlantic Ocean. The country has a total area of 91,985 km2. Portugal has a population density of 108 inhabitants/km2 (see Table 1, Annex 1). A breakdown of population by age reveals a gradually ageing population, due in part to a falling birth rate and also to a gradual increase in life expectancy. Estimates therefore point to slow annual growth in the resident Portuguese population. �� Political context In the nineteen seventies Portugal underwent a series of major political, social and economic changes, with the 1974 revolution marking the end of the dictatorship and colonial regime. This restored to the citizens of Portugal their fundamental rights and liberties, which are now enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Portugal and reflected in the democratic institutions now in place. In 1986 Portugal became a member of the European Economic Community (EEC), now the European Union (EU), and has since achieved steady improvements in the economic and social spheres, making it today a modern developed society. In accordance with the Constitutional Law, “the Republic of Portugal is a democratic Legal State, based on the sovereignty of the people, freedom of democratic expression and political organisation, respect for and guaranteed enforcement of fundamental rights and liberties, and the separation and interdependence of powers, with a view to achieving an economic, social and cultural democracy and the development of participative democracy.” In terms of international relations, Portugal is governed by the principles of the independence of nation states, respect for human rights and the rights of peoples, equality between States, the peaceful resolution of international conflicts, non-interference in the internal affairs of other States and co-operation with all other peoples in the pursuit of the emancipation of mankind and human progress. The provisions and principles of general international law are enshrined in Portuguese legislation. �� Socio-economic performance The 1974 revolution, followed by membership of the European Union just over a decade later, led to a wide array of structural reforms, including increased flexibility in the labour market, opening up the economy to greater competition and expansion of the

6

education and training system. As a result of the new political situation, the eighties saw the creation of strong economic ties with other countries, especially in the form of foreign investment. This was carried further in the nineties with full integration in the European Common Market. Growth in GDP in the order of 3.3% (see Table 2, Annex 1) and financial stability have enabled Portugal to be one of the founding members of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), and to adopt the European Single Currency, the Euro. �� Executive and legislative bodies Portugal is a unitary state and is governed, in terms of organisation and administration, by the principle of autonomy for the island regions (the archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira) and the principles of subsidiarity, the autonomy of local authorities and democratic decentralisation of public administration. The principle of the separation and interdependence of the organs of sovereignty is one of the main features of the legal system enshrined in the Portuguese Constitution. These organs of sovereignty are the President of the Republic, the Assembly of the Republic, the Government and the Courts. Rules on the appointment, composition, powers and workings of these organs are defined in the Constitutional Law. The President of the Republic represents the Republic of Portugal, guarantees the independence of the nation, the unity of the State and the proper working of democratic institutions, and is at the same time the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. The president is elected for a five-year term by the citizens of Portugal by universal, direct and secret suffrage; he is advised by the Council of State, over which he presides. The Assembly of the Republic represents all Portuguese citizens. It comprises a minimum of one hundred and eighty and a maximum of two hundred and thirty deputies elected by separate constituencies for a four-year term. It is the main legislative body, and also has policy-making powers, together with powers to oversee the Government and the administration of the country. The Government is drawn from the Assembly of the Republic and appointed by the President of the Republic. It is broadly responsible for defining and implementing policy and directs the work of the administrative authorities. The Government comprises the Prime Minister, Ministers, Secretaries of State and Sub-Secretaries of State and exercises political, legislative and administrative powers. It is politically accountable to the President of the Republic and the Assembly of the Republic. The Courts are sovereign bodies responsible for administrating justice on behalf of the people. In the words of the Constitution, they “defend the rights and interests of the citizens as protected in law, repress violation of the democratic state of law and settle conflicts of public and private interests”. The courts are independent and subject only to the law, their decisions are applicable to all public and private persons and bodies and prevail over those of any other authorities.

7

�� The Autonomous Regions: political and administrative status The archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira enjoy regional political and administrative autonomy, as enshrined in the Constitution, with their own governmental bodies, the State retaining full sovereign rights. The State is represented in these regions by a Minister of the Republic. Each of the two autonomous regions has a regional legislative assembly and a regional government. �� Local authorities The democratic institutions of the State include local government bodies, elected on a representative basis for each district. These bodies pursue the interests of the local population, and have their own assets and funding. The local authorities look after the shared and specific interests of the local population; they administer public property and other property under their jurisdiction, and develop regional infrastructures. Mainland Portugal is divided into parishes, municipalities and administrative regions, whilst the Azores and Madeira are divided into parishes and municipalities. There are various types of local government bodies. Local authorities have an assembly with powers to adopt resolutions and a collegiate executive council. Parishes have a parish council (with powers to adopt resolutions) and the parish board (the collegiate executive body). Municipalities are governed by a municipal council (with powers to adopt resolutions) and a municipal authority (the collegiate executive body). The bodies representing administrative regions are the regional assembly (with powers to adopt resolutions) and the regional board (the collegiate executive board). The administrative regions created by law are responsible for running public services and for co-ordinating the supporting the work of municipalities, whilst respecting their autonomy. They also prepare regional planning documents and take part in the preparation of national planning documents. �� Religion The Portuguese Constitution enshrines the inviolable freedom of belief, religion and worship, and also the separation between the State and the different religious communities. The Basic Education Law guarantees both the freedom to learn and teach and also the freedom to be taught any religion practised by the respective faith community. Catholic Religion and Morality lessons are given in Portuguese schools (excluding higher education) by the Roman Catholic Church, on the basis of the Concordata signed between the Portuguese State and the Holy See. However, there is legislation which extends this principle to other faiths, so that they may all be deemed to enjoy equality of opportunity and treatment under the law.

8

�� Language The official language of Portugal is Portuguese. Portugal has the highest level of linguistic uniformity in Western Europe, as Portuguese is spoken throughout the country, including in the Azores and Madeira. In the Miranda do Douro region in the North-west of the country, Portuguese co-exists with another language, Mirandês, recently recognised as an official language. Because of Portugal’s long history and complex cultural development, the Portuguese-speaking world is reckoned to number between 170 and 210 million people, with two established varieties of the language. This makes Portuguese the eighth most spoken language in the world (the third most spoken western language, after English and Spanish). It is the official language of seven countries: Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and São Tomé e Príncipe. It is also one of the official languages of Macao, a Chinese territory under Portuguese administration until 1999, alongside Mandarin. It is also one of the official languages of the European Union and, as a result of the Mercosul agreements, to which Brazil is party, it is to be taught as a foreign language in the other countries covered by the accords. The Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPSP) was founded in 1996, bringing together the countries in which Portuguese is the official language, with the aim of promoting and disseminating the Portuguese language and encouraging cultural exchanges between member countries. �� Cultural rights and duties Under the Portuguese Constitution, all citizens have the right to education and culture, and also the right, defined as fundamental, to learn and to educate and to set up private schools. The State therefore seeks to ensure that education is democratic and that the education given in schools and through other means contributes to equality of opportunity, to overcoming economic, social and cultural inequality, to individual personal development and to a spirit of tolerance, mutual understanding, solidarity and responsibility, to social progress and democratic participation in public life. The State also seeks to promote democracy in the arts, providing the means and encouragement for all citizens to enjoy cultural activities, both as artists and audience, in collaboration with the media, cultural associations and foundations, arts and leisure organisations, heritage and conservation associations, residents’ associations and other cultural bodies. Finally, the State also encourages and supports scientific research and creativity and technological innovation, with a view to ensuring liberty and autonomy, increased competitiveness and links between scientific institutions and industry.

9

2. THE EDUCATION SYSTEM: STRUCTURE AND ORGANISATION The education system may be defined as the means and resources whereby the right to education is effectively enjoyed. It consists of a number of organised structures and activities, promoted and administered by a variety of institutions and other bodies (public and private organisations and co-operatives). The main principles governing the work of the education system reflect the constitutional right to education and the State’s duty to promote democracy in education, as the guarantor of equality of opportunity in terms of both access to education and academic success and of the other conditions required to ensure that education contributes to individual personal development, to social progress and to democratic participation in public life. Respect for the freedom to learn and to teach is guaranteed, and the State may not take it on itself to institute educational or cultural programmes which conform to any particular philosophical, aesthetic, political, ideological or religious systems of belief. The Basic Educational Law, approved by the Assembly of the Republic in 1986 (Law no. 46/86, of 14 October, subsequently amended in respect of certain clauses by Law no. 115/97, of 19 September) establishes the basic framework for organising and structuring the work of the current education system. This law established minimum schooling of nine years, with a minimum school leaving age of 15. In accordance with this law, the education system comprises: — pre-school education, where the teaching/learning objectives complement the home learning process and are to be achieved in close co-operation with the family. — academic education, which consists of a sequence of three stages, basic, secondary and higher education, each with its own specific aims, characteristics and forms of organisation. Academic education also includes special courses and leisure/recreational activities. — extra-muros education, which includes literacy and basic educational activities, continuing cultural and scientific education, initial vocational training, vocational retraining and further training. These aims are pursued through a combination of formal and informal initiatives. 2.1. Pre-school education Pre-school education is today defined as the first stage in basic education, viewed as part of the lifelong education process. It should encourage the balanced growth and development of the child, with a view to full integration in society as an independent, free and socially responsible person. Pre-school education is aimed at children aged between three and five years and is provided at public, private and co-operative nursery schools which offer educational activities and support for the family, especially in the form of socio-educational activities.

10

Attendance is optional, in acknowledgement of the fact that the family has the natural and constitutional right to a central role in the process of infant education. 2.2. Basic education Basic education is universal, compulsory and free, with a duration of nine years. Children aged six to fifteen are required by law to attend, which they may do at state schools or in private or co-operative schools. The basic education system is divided into three cycles, organised as follows: — 1st cycle, with a duration of four school years, providing a rounded education, with students taught by a single teacher (who may however be assisted by others in specialist areas). — 2nd cycle, with a duration of two school years, in which the learning process is organised into interdisciplinary areas (basic level), mostly with one teacher for each area. — 3rd cycle, lasting three school years, organised around a unified curriculum, including a variety of vocational areas, with one teacher for each subject or group of subjects. 2.3. Secondary education Secondary education courses have a duration of three years (corresponding to the 10th, 11th and 12th grades), and is open to students who have obtained the basic education diploma. Attendance is optional. Students are aged between fifteen and seventeen. There is a variety of secondary education options available to students, who may choose between courses aimed primarily at those seeking to enter the job market (technology courses) and others for those hoping to continue on to higher education (general courses). All courses contain a technical, technological and vocational element, as well as Portuguese language and culture, in accordance with the general thrust of the course, and students are able to cross from one course to another. The curriculum is divided into subjects, with one teacher, in principle, for each subject. 2.4. Higher education Higher education comprises university education and polytechnic education, organised along different lines. Most students in higher education are aged between eighteen and twenty five. However, people aged 25 or over may apply for place in higher education even if they do not possess the necessary secondary education or equivalent qualification, or a higher education qualification, provided they prove they have the necessary skills and knowledge. There are limits on the number of students admitted to higher education (numerus clausus).

11

University education can lead to the following degrees: bacharelato (first degree course, normally 3 years’ duration), licenciatura (normally 4 years’ duration), masters’ degrees and doctorates. Polytechnic education can lead to a bachalerato or a licenciatura. 2.5. Special education system The following special forms of education are available within the school system: 2.5.1. Special education The aim of special education is the socio-educational rehabilitation and integration of individuals with specific educational needs, due to physical or mental handicaps. It consists of adapting the learning and teaching environment and system for students attending basic or secondary education; in cases where the extent of the student’s handicap so requires, he or she may be taught at a special institution. Whenever possible, students are integrated into mainstream schools, with adaptations to the curriculum and studies depending on the type and degree of the student’s handicap. Special supervision is provided, with the help of specialist teaching staff; assessment is also geared to take the student’s difficulties into account. 2.5.2. Vocational training As a complement to the process of preparation for working life which begins during the basic education system, vocational training is offered in order to introduce students to the world of work, and to equip them with vocational knowledge and skills. Vocational training is open to students who have completed their compulsory schooling, to those who have failed to complete it by the normal age limit and to those in employment seeking further training or retraining. Courses are designed, in terms of institutions and teaching methods, to be sufficiently flexible in order to cater for students with different educational and vocational backgrounds. The vocational colleges are the prime examples of work in this area. The courses and modules on offer are taught in a variety of contexts: some are given at basic and secondary education establishments, others through protocol agreements with companies and local authorities, with financial aid available for public and private institutions and schemes. Community schemes and services are encouraged, and specific institutions for vocational training can also be created. 2.5.3. Adult education Adult education is offered in order to enable individuals to attend basic and secondary education courses as part of their lifelong educational process. It is open to those who have either passed the normal age for attending these courses or to those who missed the

12

opportunity to enter the normal education system. The prime aim is to eliminate illiteracy. These courses are open to anyone aged fifteen or more (for basic education courses) or eighteen or more (for secondary courses). Students work towards the same qualifications and certificates as their counterparts in the mainstream system, although the conditions for access and the way their studies are organised are distinct and designed to suit their age range, their accrued life experience and their respective academic competence. 2.5.4. Distance learning Distance learning, using multimedia and new information technologies represents a way of complementing mainstream education and also an alternative to normal schooling. Distance learning methods have been used for adult education courses, employing written and audio-visual teaching materials and regular correspondence between students and the educational establishment responsible. It has been of particular importance in teaching training, both for in-service training and for equipping existing teaching staff with the additional qualifications now required for the profession; distance learning techniques have also played a part in extra-muros educational schemes. The main distance learning institution is the Universidade Aberta (Open University). An alternative course to the 2nd cycle of basic education has also been developed using distance learning techniques. This has been implemented in areas where access to the schools is difficult for geographical reasons and in areas where the student population is small and lacks the normal state or private provision. 2.5.5. Portuguese language teaching abroad Portuguese language teaching abroad is organised in order to disseminate and promote the study of Portuguese language and culture. This takes a variety of forms, which can consist of including Portuguese in the school curriculum (primary and secondary) in other countries, and of additional classes. It also includes creating and maintaining lectureships in Portuguese in foreign universities, under the guidance of Portuguese teachers. The State supports initiatives to set up Portuguese schools in other Portuguese-speaking countries and for Portuguese ex-patriate communities, and also initiatives taken by Portuguese associations and foreign organisations (both state and private) which seek to disseminate and teach Portuguese language and culture.

13

2.6 Extra-muros education The aim of extra-muros education is to enable all individual citizens to develop their knowledge and potential, in a way which complements their academic education or fills the gap left by their failure, for any reason, to attend normal schooling. These activities are designed to contribute to the lifelong all-round education of the population. Extra-muros activities can be organised as community schemes run by educational establishments or else as open systems using the media and appropriate technology. These activities can be organised directly by the State or else by private, local authority or other organisations with State support.

14

FIGURE 1. THE EDUCATION SYSTEM — DIAGRAM

15

3. DESCRIPTION OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM 3.1. Pre-school education The objectives of pre-school education are, in brief, to stimulate the capacities of each child and to facilitate its development, to contribute to its emotional stability, to encourage it to observe and understand the natural world and human society, to help in its moral development, to encourage integration in different social groups, to develop expressive and communication skills, to encourage hygienic and healthy habits and to detect early signs of dysfunctions, handicaps or special gifts, directing the child to special institutions or specialists whenever necessary. �� Expansion of pre-school education It is the Government’s objective to increase pre-school provision to around 20% and thereby cater for more than 45,000 children in this age group. Two major pieces of legislation were published with this aim in 1997: the Pre-school Education Outline Law (Law no. 5/97, of 10 February) and the Expansion and Development Programme for Pre-school Education (Decree-Law no. 147/97, of 11 June). The new legislation defined pre-school education as the first phase in basic education, viewed in the context of continuing lifelong education, and established that it would be provided by creating a network of special schools, in which public and private schools would work together and be considered as a valuable social resource, defining at the same time the general principles of pre-school education, the rules for the organisation of these schools, the requirements they must meet and the financial aid available for developing the system nation-wide. Complementary legislation drafted jointly by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Employment and Solidarity has defined the pedagogical and technical requirements for the creation and running of pre-school institutions and set up a source of low-interest state loans. The legislation also established the rules for allocating financial incentives and support for the construction and renovation of pre-school institutions. Support for the expansion and development of the pre-school system includes pedagogical support, financial aid (for infrastructures, equipment, running costs and training) and welfare support for families. This support is allocated on a priority basis to areas where there is a lack of pre-school facilities, where the academic failure rate is high and urban areas with a high population density. The State is responsible for setting up a public pre-school system, supporting initiatives in this area from other sectors of society, allocating special support to disadvantaged areas and guaranteeing equal opportunities. Most state pre-school institutions are run by the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Employment and Solidarity (when needed on social grounds). The combined public and private systems add up to a coverage rate of 54.6% of the population aged between 3 and 5, corresponding to 74,000 children in the first year and 104,000 in the second (see Table 3, Annex 1).

16

�� Curricular guidelines The curriculum and the teaching methods used in pre-school education should be appropriate to the socio-economic setting, in the spirit of “inclusive education”, i.e. seeking to reach all children, accepting their differences, supporting the learning process and responding to individual needs. This means that the programme chosen by the nursery teacher should seek to meet the general aims of pre-school education and also take into account the organisation of the educational environment, the need to take children forward from what they already know, the educational aims and specific subject areas: personal and social education, expression/communication and learning about the world. Personal and social education is regarded as a theme running through the whole of pre-school education, while learning about the world covers different forms of expression and mathematics. There is a rule that each pre-school class should have a minimum of twenty and a maximum of twenty five children, except in areas with low population density, where smaller classes may be authorised or other forms of education organised. These alternatives include peripatetic pre-school education and community pre-school education. �� School year and teachers The dates of the school terms and holidays are decided by the board of studies for each pre-school institution prior to the academic year, after consulting the local authorities, parents and guardians. Timetables are also fixed in this way, allowing ample time for each type of educational activity, and also for community work and family support, taking the local families’ needs into accounts. Meals should be served during the school day when required. Classes are taught and supervised by nursery teachers with the appropriate qualifications; these teachers are also responsible for other social and educational activities undertaken by the class. The pre-school system run by the Ministry of Education has a ratio of 25 children per teacher (1995/96 figures). �� Welfare support A policy of equal opportunities means that all families should enjoy the same chances in access to pre-school education, independent of their incomes and regardless of whether the school is public or private. The State is therefore responsible for ensuring this, by providing the educational components of the pre-school programme free of charge. Families pay fees for other activities in accordance with the income. Other welfare services are offered, including school health services and psychological and guidance services.

17

3.2. School education 3.2.1. Basic education The general aims in basic education reflect the following pedagogical concerns: — to create a setting propitious for overall and harmonious personal development, by allowing students gradually to discover their interests, aptitudes and capacities, so that they can grow and develop both as individuals and as members of society. — to develop values, attitudes and behaviour which contribute to the development of democratically aware and active citizens. — to facilitate the acquisition and mastery of the knowledge, tools, skills, capacities, attitudes and values needed to make an informed choice about further educational options or employment opportunities. The specific aims for the 1st cycle are to develop spoken language, to start and gradually develop reading and writing, basic arithmetical notions and calculations, the physical and social environment, art, drama, music and movement. The specific aims for the 2nd cycle are education in the humanities and arts, physical education and sports, science and technology, moral and civic education, preparing students to assimilate and critically interpret information, so as to allow them to acquire working methods and tools, and the knowledge needed to continue their education. The specific aims for the 3rd cycle are to acquire a systematic grasp of modern culture in all its different aspects, including the humanities, literature, arts, physical education and sports, science and technology, such as is needed for employment or for continuing in education, together with academic and career counselling to help students make an informed choice as to future studies or employment. • Methodology and subjects In keeping with the principles enshrined in the Basic Education System Law relating to the full and harmonious personal development of individuals, the education of free citizens and the full personal realisation of each student, the methods used in the basic education programmes are designed to enable the student to take an active and conscious part in his or her own learning and to harness his or her interests, experiences and knowledge so as to develop attitudes and skills which allow them to investigate and process information autonomously, also leaving room for personal creativity and inventive skills. These principles also involve creating a good school/community relationship, so that students can use what they learn to transform their social environment. Given that educational activities are learner-centred, teachers act increasingly as the facilitators of learning situations, proposing activities which take the students’ own experiences as the starting point, inculcating a taste for learning and developing a spirit of curiosity and creativity.

18

In accordance with Decree-Law no. 286/89, of 29 August, the school curriculum in basic education was reformed, as from the academic year of 1989/90, and is now organised on the following principles: — priority is given to the teaching and learning of the mother tongue, as an active element in all components of the curriculum. — priority is given to personal and social education, especially through study of a subject with the name Personal and Social Development. — an interdisciplinary approach to syllabus design, in order to create links between knowledge and skills acquired in different subjects and in school activities. — the teaching of the foreign language as from the 1st cycle, so as to organise language teaching/learning on a structured and sequential basis. — organisation of complementary curricular activities, so as to use the students’ free time in a creative and educational way. — adoption of an assessment system designed to promote academic success for all students, depending on their individual pace and progress. The curriculum is organised in three cycles, each cycle filling out and complementing the previous cycle, in order to provide a solid all-round education. This means that links between different subjects are created vertically (between cycles) and horizontally (between different components) (see Tables 1, 2 and 3, Annex 2). A consultation process has been underway during the last year with a view to revising the curriculum and the assessment system in both basic and secondary education, with the aim of defining core learning standards and skills to be attained by the end of each cycle and educational level. • Complementary activities School activities are part of the curriculum but not part of any particular subject; they are compulsory and are organised by the School Board or Board of Studies. Their aim is to carry the learning process further through multidisciplinary activities and projects, to raise students’ awareness of the environment in which the school is located and to develop the spirit of initiative, organisation, independence and solidarity. These activities consist in practice of projects which fit in with the school’s annual plan. Taking part in the projects are students, teachers, parents and guardians and other people in the community involved in education. Students’ performance in these activities is reflected in their assessment for the subjects or subject areas covered by the project. Extra-curricular activities are organised by the school and are optional for students. These take the form of recreational and cultural activities, primarily outside normal school hours. There is normally a range of activities on offer, including cultural activities, community work, sports, arts and technology projects and other schemes designed to help integrate students into their local, regional and national communities. In the subject area Personal and Social Training students can choose between Personal and Social Development, currently being piloted, Catholic Moral and Religious Education, or else a corresponding subject for other faiths, when offered by the school.

19

• Students: entrance requirements Children who reach six years of age by 15 September each academic year enter the 1st cycle of basic education. Children who reach their sixth birthday between 16 September and 31 December and those who reach their fifth birthday before the beginning of the school year may also register for the 1st cycle, if their parents or guardians so wish, provided they show signs of early development. These children can only be accepted if there are places available at the school, and no changes to the organisation of the school are allowed in order to accommodate them. Places are assigned on a priority basis to older children. The 2nd cycle is open to children who have successfully completed the 1st cycle of basic education and with a minimum age of nine years. Children must be re-registered with the school they attend during the previous academic year. The 3rd cycle is open to children who have successfully completed the 2nd cycle or who have qualifications deemed as equivalent. Children must be re-registered with the school they attend during the previous academic year. According to figures for 1995/96, 1,208,420 students were registered in the three cycles of basic education, 91.4% of them in the state sector (see Table 4, Annex 1). The academic success rate for basic education varies for each cycle, falling slightly over the course of the nine years, from 100% in the 1st cycle, to 84% in the 3rd cycle (see Table 5, Annex 1). • School year The starting and finishing dates for school activities for students, and dates for holidays and national examinations are fixed each year by the Ministry of Education. Each individual school is responsible for fixing the dates of the school year, assessment meetings, publication of marks, school examinations and registration periods. The school years generally begins in the third week of September, and ends in the second fortnight of June. Holidays are given at the end of October, at Christmas, Carnival and Easter. The school year is divided into three terms, which end at Christmas, at Easter and in June, followed by student assessments. The school week comprises 25 hours for the 1st cycle and 31 hours for the 2nd and 3rd cycles. Individual schools are responsible for designing weekly timetables in accordance with these general rules. Timetables for the 1st cycle are managed flexibly, organised by individual teachers in view of the characteristics of the children in the class and the timetables agreed by the School Board. Schools may decide to allocate normal timetables (morning and afternoon) to children in all three cycles, or else decide to run a shift system in which some children attend in the morning and others in the afternoon, depending on the demand for classrooms.

20

• Assessment and certificates The purpose of learner assessment is to collate information and to make it possible to take decisions as to the capacities and needs of individual students; it also ensures that the aims of compulsory education are attained and is a guarantee of academic success. Assessment serves to control educational practice and is conducted on a systematic and continuing basis. Assessment involves team work on the part of teachers, especially in the Form Board; students also participate in the process, together with parents and guardians and other education officers, including psychology and guidance counsellors and special education staff. Various forms of assessment are used in basic education, and together they are designed to contribute to the students’ academic success and the quality of the system as a whole. Most assessment in the basic education system is continuous, and aims to provide qualitative and descriptive information on different learning areas and to gauge attainment of curricular aims, so that intermediate aims can be established and new methods and other measures can be adopted when required. Final assessments consist of an overall evaluation of the student’s developing knowledge and skills, capacities and attitudes. These assessments are made in relation to nationally fixed minimum standards defined for basic education and each cycle, as well as the aims established in each individual school. Final assessments are made at the end of each term and at the end of each school year. At the end of the 3rd cycle students sit a written test set by the school in each final subject for the cycle, except Physical Education, Personal and Social Development and Catholic Moral and Religious Education (and the equivalents for other faiths). The tests deal with the subject matter taught in the syllabus for each subject and on knowledge and skills developed in the academic year in question. In the 1st cycle final assessments are given in the form of a written report, whereas for the 2nd and 3rd cycles marks are given on a scale of 1 to 5, accompanied by a written report reflecting the information collected through continuous assessment. At the end of each year and cycle, students are either passed or failed, those failing being required to repeat the year, and those passing moving on to the next stage. When in the view of the School Board (1st cycle) or the Form Board (2nd and 3rd cycles) a student is in danger, at the end of the second term, of having to repeat the year, the student is required to undergo a special assessment test, leading to a recovery plan, the outcome of which is assessed at the end of the year. Students are only required to repeat the year as an exceptional measure and when they are found to fall far short of attaining the standards required, and after all other possibilities have been exhausted. Students are failed if they obtain a mark of less than 3 in more than 3 subjects in years other than the final years of each cycle, and in more than 2 subjects in the final year of each cycle, when Portuguese and Mathematics are also included. Students who repeat the year have either to repeat all parts of the

21

curriculum or else to follow a special study plan covering only the subjects or subjects areas where they are a long way behind. Students can also obtain equivalent qualifications to those provided by the mainstream education system by opting for adult education classes, also administered by the Department of Basic Education. Special assessment consists of a multi- and inter-disciplinary evaluation process conducted by teachers and other education officers in cases where a personalised study programme might help the student to academic success. These assessments can be conducted at any point during the academic year. Standards assessments are conducted in order to assess the quality of the education and learning process and to enhance standards, without having any effect on the subsequent careers of individual students. The tests are prepared by the Ministry of Education, and may be set at any point during the academic year. There are also external assessments for students attending private or co-operative schools following their own programmes or without pedagogical independence status, and also for children taught by private tutors or at home. These consist of national examinations for the end of the 2nd and 3rd cycles, which students are required to sit if they wish to continue their education. Students who pass in the final assessment at the end of the 3rd cycle are awarded the basic education diploma. Students who attend school up to the minimum school leaving age but fail to pass in this final assessment are awarded a certificate of compulsory education. These students may apply to sit a final examination, set by individual schools, in order to obtain the diploma. These examinations are taken in the first half of September, and special support is offered to help students prepare. • Educational counselling and auxiliary services The Basic Education system Law lays down the principle of fair and effective equality of opportunity in access to education and educational success, especially in relation to basic education. Each school has a Psychology and Counselling Service (PCS). This department provides educational counselling, psychological and pedagogical help for students, parents and teachers, in order to help with educational activities and to foster the development of interpersonal relationships. These services are provided by psychologists or specially trained teachers whose intervention is compulsory in the following situations: in special assessments, helping students who drop out of school or with irregular attendance, in providing careers guidance for 9th grade students and in adopting educational support measures. Schools are also required to organise, monitor and assess educational support measures to help ensure that all students are successful learners, in keeping with their own individual pace. These measures consist of a set of strategies and activities designed and

22

conducted in the school or the outside environment, both within and outside the curriculum. Educational support can take the following forms: different approaches to particular student groups within the same class and with the same curriculum, temporary streaming, alternative use of teaching facilities and students’ time, alternative curricula, private study rooms, specific programmes designed by teachers, interdisciplinary programmes (2nd and 3rd cycles), student self-help groups, tutoring programmes to help develop learning strategies and to monitor progress, recreational activities, including activities to make up for the lack of teachers or complementary curricular activities, and catch-up programmes at the beginning of the school year. Alternative curricula, in particular, enable students to learn in specific areas, through use of an individual study plan. Schools are allowed up to 7% of total teaching time for curriculum subjects in which to implement these measures. In special situations, principally when schools are located in areas with sever socio-economic or cultural problems, areas where there is a high proportion of students on special education schemes and in schools where multicultural integration is an issue, schools have been grouped together, as part of a pilot scheme running since 1996/97, in Priority Educational Action Areas (PEAA), where medium and long term projects involving the community as a whole are implemented in order to combat educational failure and social exclusion. • Physical education and sports The aims of basic education as established in the Basic Education System Law also include physical development and motor skills, as an integral part of the general education of young people and as a means of approaching other areas of knowledge. Schools are therefore required to possess specific indoor and outdoor facilities for physical education and sports. They are also required to organise School Sports Clubs, in order to complement curricular activities. The purpose of School Sports Clubs is to organise special classes or groups for each sport, age range and sex; each group is organised and supervised by a teacher. School sports include internal competitions and matches/competitions with other schools. Students involved in high level competition are allowed a measure of flexibility in their education, depending on the needs of their particular sport. • School welfare schemes The welfare support and complementary educational activities provided under the school welfare system include general and restricted schemes. General schemes are those offered to all students, namely in the form of meals, school transport and accommodation schemes. Restricted schemes are those offered solely to students from low-income families, and include the provision of books and school materials, as well as direct financial benefits. Welfare support and complementary educational activities therefore take the form of meals and nutrition programmes, school transport, student accommodation, school insurance and welfare activities. These services are organised

23

and provided by public and private educational establishments, except for transport, which is organised and subsidised by municipal councils. The meals and nutrition programme includes the daily provision of free milk, educational activities in the field of nutritional health and the provision of subsidised or free meals in school canteens or cafeteria. School meals are required to provide students with a balanced nutritional intake, appropriate to the needs of the school population. Students in basic education who live in areas where the schools are more than walking distance away and where there is no suitable public transport are provided with an appropriate system of school buses. In order to ensure that students attend compulsory minimum schooling and to help students obliged to leave their families during the school term, accommodation is offered in hostels at a moderate price, taking the size of the family into account. Accident prevention schemes and school insurance also help to improve students’ welfare, complementing the work of the national health service. Accident prevention schemes include educational activities at schools as part of the curriculum, design to help prevent any harm to students. The school insurance scheme means that students are entitled to financial help in the event of suffering an accident at school. The Health Awareness and Action Programme also contributes to keeping the population of school age healthy. The Social Welfare Programme exists in order to allocate direct financial benefits to students from needy families. It consists of help with or full payment of the costs of food, books and other school materials, extra-curricular activities, placement with foster families and exemption from fees. 3.2.2. Secondary education The aims of secondary education are to build on the knowledge and skills acquired in basic education and at the same time to prepare young people for further studies or for entering the labour market. The secondary curriculum seeks to meet the three main objectives established for secondary education in the Portuguese Constitution: — to facilitate consolidation and enhancement of students’ personal autonomy, enabling them to attain self-realisation and healthy social relations. — to consolidate, extend and master the knowledge, skills and working methods needed as the basis of a humanistic, artistic, scientific and technical culture, and to help students define their own interests and motivation in relation to educational and vocational options, from the perspective of a lifelong educational process. — to foster values and practical attitudes which will prepare young people for consciously playing their role in society.

24

• Options in secondary education Students who have completed the 9th grade and wish to continue in education can choose between a variety of options in both the mainstream school system and the special education sector. The range of courses on offer in both the normal school system and the special education sector can be divided into two main groups, in accordance with their ultimate aims: — predominantly employment-oriented courses (PEOC): technology courses in the mainstream secondary sector, technical courses in the adult education system, courses at vocational colleges working in the vocational education system and special arts courses. — predominantly study-oriented courses (PSOC): general courses in the mainstream secondary sector, the general courses offered by the adult education system and special arts courses. • Methodological guidelines and curriculum content in the

mainstream secondary sector In accordance with the Basic Education System Law and the specific legislation for each level of education, the secondary curriculum has the following main aims: — to give priority to the teaching of Portuguese. — to design the curriculum from an interdisciplinary perspective. — to present assessment as an ongoing process designed to enhance students’ self-confidence. — to enhance educational support systems and transdisciplinary teaching. — to encourage local initiatives, by leaving a degree of freedom in the choice and design of multidisciplinary projects and allowing schools to co-operate with other community institutions. — to organise the different elements of the curriculum — humanities, arts, science, technology, physical education and sports — so as to provide students with a rounded education and to equip them for employment and for further or higher education. Since 1986 the secondary system has been reformed with the express aim of creating a sequential and articulated system, in which two main options are offered within the mainstream educational sector: — predominantly study-oriented courses (PSOC) or general courses — with a duration of three years and designed to build on the knowledge and skills acquired in basic education and to prepare young people for higher education. — predominantly employment-oriented courses (PEOC) or technology courses — with a duration of three years and designed to prepare young people for the world of work. A degree of flexibility is permitted, and students who complete technology courses may also go on to higher education. The two types of courses offered in the mainstream secondary system — general courses and technology courses — are divided into four main subject areas:

25

Group 1: Science Group 2: Arts Group 3: Economic and Social Sciences Group 4: Humanities There is one general course and a number of technology courses for each group, making a total of four general courses and eleven technology courses (five technology courses for group 1 and two technology courses for each of the other groups) (See Table 3.1). Table 3.1. Subject Groups and Courses in the Mainstream Secondary

System

The secondary curriculum is organised, like that for basic education, in accordance with Decree-Law no. 286/89, of 29 August. It comprises three main elements, which are found in all mainstream secondary courses: general education, specific and technical subjects, and technological or artistic training. There is also a compulsory interdisciplinary subject area (School Activities), as well as optional extra-curricular activities (see Table 4, Annex 2). The general education component is common to all courses and is compulsory for all students. In the general course this component is allocated (minimum and maximum weekly figures) 12/15 hours in the 10th and 11th grades and 6/9 hours in the 12th grade. In technology courses, general education is allocated 12/13 hours in the 10th and 11th grades and 6/9 hours in the 12th grade.

26

The specific subjects component in each course comprises a variable number of subjects, depending on the group and the particular course. In the general course specific subjects are allocated (minimum and maximum weekly figures) 10/16 hours in the 10th and 11th grades and 14/20 hours in the 12th grade. In technology courses, they are given 7/8 hours in the 10th and 11th grades and 7/9 hours in the 12th grade. There is a technical training component in all secondary courses, the nature of which depends on the type of course (general or technology courses), the subject group, the options offered by the school and the students’ interests. In the general course technical training is allocated (minimum and maximum weekly figures) 6 hours in the 10th and 11th grades and 3 hours in the 12th grade. In technology courses, it is given 10/11 hours in the 10th and 11th grades and 15/17 hours in the 12th grade. The secondary curriculum is currently under review as part of an assessment of the secondary system as a whole. This is taking the form of a nation-wide consultation process, with a view to producing a national curriculum clearly focussed on the acquisition of basic transversal skills in all courses and sectors, with the possibility of greater diversity so as to provide technological and technical training designed to enhance the employability of school leavers. • Complementary curricular activities In addition to the general and specific subjects and to technical, technological and vocational training, the curriculum also includes space for School Activities which belong to no specific subject area but are intended, as with the equivalent activities in basic education, to provide students with personal and social education, through participation in multidisciplinary activities and projects which help to develop a spirit of initiative, organisational habits and personal autonomy, and also to forge links between the school and the local community. Schools also organise optional extra-curricular activities or a recreational and cultural nature, so as to make creative and educational use of students’ free time. Technology courses can also include specific activities organised by the school. Examples of these might be: seminars during the course, work experience during the course, and end-of-course work experience placements. • Students: entrance requirements All general and technology courses are open to students who have successfully completed their basic education (9th grade) or the equivalent, regardless of the vocational area chosen or the type of course. Students must be aged 14 or over. In the academic year of 95/96, the academic success rate for secondary education was 56.5% of students aged between 15 and 17, and more than 90% of secondary education students were registered in the state sector (se Table 6, Annex 1).

27

• School year and timetables As for basic education, the main parameters of the school year are fixed each year by the Minister of Education. The exact starting and finishing dates for the school year, and the dates for assessment meetings, publication of marks, school examinations and registration periods are fixed by each individual school. Weekly timetables for secondary courses vary between a minimum of 28 and a maximum of 3 teaching periods per week in the 10th and 11th grades and of 30 teaching periods per week in the 12th grade. • Assessment The aim of student learning assessment in secondary education is to measure the degree to which the overall aims for secondary courses are being attained, and also to gauge performance in students’ respective courses and subjects, by evaluating the knowledge and skills acquired and taking into account the values and attitudes developed by the students. As in the basic education system, various forms of assessment are employed: continuous assessment, final assessment, standards assessment, special assessment and external assessment, organised on similar lines, and with similar aims, to the corresponding system in the basic education sector. Continuous assessment consists of a systematic and ongoing process of collecting and processing data relating to the various fields of learning involved. The assessment is conducted by the teacher for each subject, in liaison with the counselling services and educational support services; each Form Director is responsible for ensuring that the students’ assessment reflects their full, all-round performance. The purpose of this form of assessment is to inform students, parents and guardians, teachers and other persons involved in the education process of the progress and the quality of the education process; the assessments are given in the form of a written description, and should contribute to the fixing of intermediate targets to help students on the way to success, to the adoption of different teaching methods and educational support measures and should help students to redefine their academic options. At the beginning of the 10th grade, the school authorities may, on the suggestion of the Board of Studies, decide to set diagnostic tests in any subject, in order to decide on catch-up measures in accordance with the outcome of the tests. Unlike in basic education, final assessments are given on a scale of 0 to 20 for each subject, in accordance with the rules set out below. Final marks for each subject are based in part on a final written test taken at the end of the 10th and 11th grades. Similar tests are also set at the end of the 12th grade, but only for practical and applied subjects, where no national examination is set. Students pass in subjects which they conclude in the 10th and 11th grades and in 12th grade subjects not subject to national examinations when they obtain a mark of 10 or

28

more in the respective final assessment. Students move on to the next grade when they have obtained a mark of 10 or more in all subjects, or in all save two, provided that they score no less than 8 in the latter, and for a maximum of two consecutive years. External final assessments consist of compulsory examinations set by the Ministry of Education and are designed to ensure that the marks given in secondary education are fair, allowing students to conclude their secondary education with a definitive final mark. Students sit final examinations in the general and specific subjects taken in the 12th grade, except for Physical Education and Personal and Social Development or Catholic Moral and Religious Education (or the equivalent for other faiths). Final marks for subjects in which national examinations are set correspond to the weighted average of the marks obtained by the students in internal assessments during the years in which the subject is taken and of the mark obtained in the final examination. • Certificates Students who complete secondary education are awarded a secondary education certificate which specifies the course completed and the final mark. The certificate is issued by the administrative or management body of the institution where the student completed the course. Students who complete technology or arts courses are awarded the secondary education certificate and also a vocational qualification certificate corresponding to level III in the European Union classification. This certificate qualifies them for certain professional activities. • Educational support and counselling As in the basic education system, students with particular learning difficulties may, if they so wish, benefit from special help, provided their attendance is regular and they have not cancelled their registration. This help can consist of additional and diversified teaching support over the course of the year or an intensive and diversified teaching support programme, offered after the end of the third term. In accordance with the relevant legislation, students in secondary education are provided with educational and careers counselling by the Psychology and Counselling Services (PCS) which have been set up in for individual schools or for groups of schools. These services are run by permanent staff comprising psychologists, teachers with special training in educational and careers counselling (counselling officers) and social workers. These departments work in the field of psycho-pedagogical support for all members of the school community (students, teachers, parents and guardians, auxiliary staff, etc.). They also seek to develop relationships within the educational community and to offer educational and vocational guidance.

29

• School welfare schemes Social welfare schemes are also organised in secondary education, taking the form of positive discrimination designed to offset the social and educational disadvantages suffered by students from underprivileged backgrounds. Social welfare services include a wide range of measures, including meals and nutrition programmes, with school canteens and cafeteria, school transport, accommodation in student hostels, school insurance and welfare schemes. New legislation has recently introduced scholarships for students from poor backgrounds wishing to go through secondary education. These take the form of an annual payment designed to help with the costs of attending secondary education. • Other secondary education courses In addition to the general and technology courses, the secondary system also offers vocational courses, adult education courses and arts courses (see Table 7, Annex 1). Vocational courses represent a special form of schooling offered as an alternative to the mainstream system. The vocational colleges, created in 1989, are designed to train intermediate technicians and are private institutions (set up local authorities, industrial associations, etc.), although the State has also, on a subsidiary basis, set up vocational colleges to provide courses in areas not covered by the existing system. The colleges are all, however, subject to the pedagogical, academic and organisational supervision by the Minister of Education. Vocational courses are aimed at young people and seek, as a matter of priority, to respond to local and regional needs. The courses have a duration of three academic years, organised in the form of modules of variable duration which can be combined to create individual courses; the modules are organised according to successive academic and vocational qualification levels. The curriculum for vocational courses includes a socio-cultural education component, common to all courses, a scientific education component, common to all courses in the same subject area and technical, practical, artistic and technological training components, depending on the particular course and occupying no more than 50% of the total timetable for the course. The courses also involve a compulsory work experience period, directly connected to practical activities in the respective vocational area and in contact with the socio-economic environment (whenever possible in the form of work experience placements). Courses are organised into the following subject areas: administration, services and commerce, agro-food, environment and natural resources, performance arts, graphic arts, civil construction, design and technical drawing, electricity and electronics, hotel, catering and tourism, information, communication and documentation, information technology, personal and social services, machine tools, cultural heritage and artistic work, chemistry, textiles, clothes and footwear.

30

Students who successfully complete a vocational course are awarded a level III vocational qualification (in accordance with European Union standards). Students graduating from vocational colleges may go on to higher education, as determined by law. The adult education system is designed to offer a second chance to attend basic and secondary education for those of above normal school age. The system offers greater flexibility and a broader range of curricular, methodological and assessment options than the mainstream system. The state sector represents the bulk of adult education initiatives (see Table 7, Annex I). The curriculum for adult education courses comprises three components: a general education components, taken by all students, a scientific education component and a technical training component. Students can choose between the following options: — for those seeking a secondary education certificate and a level III vocational qualification, the general education component is complemented by two subjects from the scientific education component (depending on the technical course chosen) and by the corresponding technical training component. — for those seeking only the secondary education certificate, the general education component is complemented by a minimum of four subjects from the scientific education component. As for the technology courses,11 different technical courses are offered in the adult education system: mechanical construction design, electrical engineering, accounting, secretarial services, information technology, community arts, civil construction, media design, media, arts and crafts and chemistry. Although special arts courses are not organised as a separate system, they are in fact regulated by legislation which establishes a distinction between general artistic education aimed at the school population as a whole and vocational arts education, aimed only at such students as display the potential for embarking and progressing on a course of professionally oriented artistic studies. These course are offered in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd cycles of the basic education system and in secondary and higher education, in special institutions. Students attend these courses either on an articulated or integrated basis or else on a supplementary basis. Students on these courses who successfully complete their secondary education are awarded certificates allowing them to gain employment in their respective area or to go on to higher education. Special arts courses are offered in dance, music and the visual arts. 3.2.3. Higher education Student numbers in higher education in Portugal have expanded significantly in recent years; the system comprises both university education and polytechnic education (see Tables 8 and 9, Annex 1). University education is designed to give students with a solid scientific and cultural grounding and provide them with the technical training needed to exercise their

31

respective professions or to engage in cultural activities, encouraging the development of their capacity for conceptual thought, innovation and critical analysis. The courses are offered in universities and independent university institutions. Polytechnic education is designed to give students a sold cultural and technical training at higher education level, to develop their capacity for innovation and critical analysis and to equip them with the theoretical and practical knowledge of their technical field, with a view to entering a profession. These courses are offered at specialist higher education establishments, generally grouped together in polytechnic institutes. Mobility between university and polytechnic education is guaranteed by the principle of mutual recognition of standards of training and skills acquired. • University education University courses are currently offered at the following institutions: The state university system, governed by the Autonomy of Universities Law (Law no. 108/88, of 24 September) and by Decree-Law no. 170/96, of 19 September. The courses are given at universities, organised into faculties, institutes and other units (such as departments, courses or projects) and in other independent institutions. These institutions are created by the Government through special legislation. The private or co-operative university system, with courses given in universities or independent institutions, governed by the Private and Co-operative Higher Education Statute. Under this statute, the approval of the Ministry of Education is required for the creation, organisation and running of private sector higher education establishments. When an educational institution is recognised as serving the public interest it is integrated into the national education system, giving it the concomitant legal rights and faculties, and at the same time the State’s role in controlling the quality of the education offered is defined, together with the possibility of financial aid. The Portuguese Catholic University, created with its own statutes under article XX of the Concordata between Portugal and the Holy See of 7 May 1940, was officially recognised in 1971. It is subject to the provisions of Decree-Law no. 128/90 of 17 April. The Catholic University if free to create faculties, higher education institutes, departments, research centres and other organisational units, notifying the Ministry of Education of all such developments. • Courses, Curricula and Degrees Higher education courses are offered in the following range of areas: Education Sciences, Teacher Training, Visual Arts, Architecture, Social Sciences, A anthropology, Psychology, Sociology, Management, Economics, Law, Exact and Natural Sciences, Mathematics, Information Technology, Medicine, Engineering and Technology, Architecture, Agriculture, Media Studies, Musicology, Physical Education, Social Services, Military Studies, Arts and Humanities (including Theology).

32

In accordance with Article 13 of Law no. 115/97, of 19 September, which amended the Basic Education System Law, university courses lead the following degrees: bacharelato (first degree), licenciatura (full first degree), master’s and doctorate. As well as academic degrees and titles, university institutions may also confer honorary titles, certificates and diplomas of attendance, certificates of recognised learning or qualifications, certificates recognising the qualifications awarded by similar institutions, in Portugal or abroad, as well as honorary doctorates to distinguished persons from Portugal or abroad. A licenciatura represents recognition of a solid scientific, technical and cultural grounding, permitting the holder to extend his knowledge and specialise in a particular area and to exercise his profession appropriately. Some licenciatura courses are still organised in the traditional way into academic semesters and years, with a curriculum consisting of a number of theoretical and theoretical-practical subjects, seminars and trial placements, but most courses are now organised using a system of credit units. As well as allowing for interdisciplinary courses, created by combining subjects taught in different scientific areas, this system allows individual institutions greater scope for fixing the content of courses. It also facilitates an ongoing process of curriculum review, as the curriculum can be revised each year. Depending on the type of course, conferences, seminars, work experience and study trips may be incorporated into the curriculum. In courses which use the credit system, students are required each year to enrol for subjects which correspond to no less than 12 and no more than 25 credit units. Academic degrees are conferred when the students has obtained pass marks for the compulsory and optional scientific subject areas required by the curriculum and obtained the total number of credit units required by the course regulations. This total is set to reflect the scientific and pedagogical standard required as a guarantee of adequate education/training. Master’s degrees represent acknowledgement of in-depth knowledge of an area of study and practical research capacity. Master’s courses consist of two components: the curricular component, organised using the credit unit system, and a dissertation especially written for this purpose, subject to discussion and approval. In order to complete the curricular component successfully, students on these courses are required to accrue a minimum number of credit units as fixed for their particular speciality. Master’s courses have a maximum duration of four semesters. A doctorate presupposes that the candidate has made an innovative and original contribution to the progress of learning, at a high cultural level in a given area and that he or she possesses the capacity to carry out independent scientific work; doctorates are therefore awarded with reference to the branch of learning in which the candidate is examined. These subject areas are approved by the relevant educational authority. Candidates are required to undergo tests in a group of related disciplines taught at university institutions and for which licenciatura courses are offered; a dissertation must also be presented and defended. The dissertation is normally prepared under the supervision of a teacher at the university at which the candidate seeks to obtain his doctorate, although the supervisor may also be a member of staff at an educational or

33

research institution duly recognised by the university. When justified by the circumstances, students may also prepare their dissertations independently. Depending on the subject area chosen, the university examination boards should also decide to set additional tests relating to topics, studies or research projects undertaken by the candidate in related disciplinary areas. • Polytechnic education In accordance with Law no. 54/90, of 5 September, which approves the status and autonomy of polytechnic higher education establishments, polytechnic institutes are higher education institutions comprising two or more higher education establishments with the overall aim of pursuing the aims of polytechnic education in the same region and which come together in order to co-ordinate their respective education policies and in order to optimise their resources. In addition to higher education establishments, polytechnic institutes may include other organisation which pursue the same aims. Higher education establishments or colleges provide cultural and technical education preparing students for highly qualified professions and contributing to the development of their local regions. These colleges are legally independent and enjoy academic, pedagogical, administrative and financial autonomy. The public polytechnic sector is answerable solely to the Ministry of Education, and provides courses in specialist colleges with a variety of different titles, depending on the particular interests of the regions where they are located. Individual colleges can be grouped together in larger units, or Polytechnic Institutes, which are responsible for co-ordinating their activities and managing the group as a whole, in order to make rational use of the available resources. Polytechnic education lays greater emphasis on vocational training than the corresponding university courses, and is designed to help students gain swifter access to employment in specific fields, such as agriculture, teacher training, nursing, technology and management, music, dance, theatre and film, media, accounting and administration and engineering. Some polytechnic colleges are run jointly by the Ministry of Education and other ministries. These colleges are not members of larger institutes, and pursue a general plan which seeks to respond to urgent regional needs in the socio-economic and cultural fields. Private and co-operative polytechnic education is offered by higher education colleges and institutes, as in the public sector. These courses can also be offered in higher education colleges which are not integrated in polytechnic institutes.

34

• Courses, Curricula and Degrees In accordance with Law no. 115/97, of 19 September, which amended the Basic Education System Law, polytechnic courses lead to the academic degrees of bacharelato and licenciatura. At present, polytechnic courses are organised into curricular units with a duration of one year or one semester, comprising theoretical, practical and theoretical-practical classes. These seek to provide a solid cultural and technical grounding, through theoretical and practical scientific teaching designed to prepare students for professional life. Course leading to bacharelato degrees have a normal duration of three years, are designed to train professionals to a higher educational standard, preparing them to enter the employment market in the following range of fields: agriculture, management, technology, media, social sciences, hotel and catering, tourism, the arts, culture and basic education (although courses in these last categories are currently being reviewed and re-organised, as explained in chapter 4). Teacher training courses for the basic education system have a duration of four years. Students can choose between options corresponding to the current categories of teachers for the 2nd cycle of basic education. These courses lead to an official teaching qualification and a licenciatura degree in education. In accordance with Decree-Law no. 115/97, of 19 September, the Government will in the near future define the requirements to be met by higher education colleges in order to run initial training courses for teachers in the 3rd cycle of basic education, in order to ensure that teachers attain the appropriate academic standard. Recent legislation (Ministerial Order [Portaria] no. 413-A/98, of 17 July) has created and established the regulations for two-step licenciatura courses in polytechnic colleges. These courses are organised in two stages, the first leading to a bacharelato degree, and the second to a licenciatura. The first stage of the course lasts six semesters, and the second has a duration of two to four academic semesters. The curriculum comprises a series of units, some lasting a year, others one semester. A fixed number of hours per week is allocated to each unit, depending on the type of teaching approach used: theoretical, theoretical-practical, practical, seminar or work experience placement. The hours allotted to individual units may also be expressed in a total figure for the year or semester, depending on the duration of the unit. A plan of studies is approved for each course, indicating the curricular units per year and/or semester, together with the options and additional study areas offered, if any. Students who obtain a pass mark in all curricular units for the plan of studies established for the 1st stage of the course are awarded a bacharelato, and are subsequently awarded a licenciatura when they successfully complete the units in the second stage. The subject area stated on their certificates corresponds to the official designation adopted in the course regulations. In the past there have been specialised higher education courses (SHEC), but these are now being phased out. With a duration of two to four semesters, they lead to a specialist

35

higher education diploma (SHED), corresponding, for professional and academic purposes, to a licenciatura degree. • Entrance requirements for university and polytechnic courses The Government has powers to decide, by decree-law, the entrance and matriculation requirements, in keeping with a number of basic principles: access is granted on a democratic basis, on objective criteria, in accordance with universally applicable rules and through a nation-wide application process. The higher education establishments themselves are responsible for the process of assessing applicants’ ability to follow courses and of selecting and classifying applicants accepted for each course and institution. Access to each higher education course and institution is subject to a maximum intake (numerus clausus), fixed each year by the relevant authorities; the State has the duty, under the Basic Education System Law, to ensure that restrictions on the overall higher education intake are gradually removed. The application process in Portugal can take the following forms: national competitive process, local competitive process, special competitive process and special process. • Entrance requirements for specialist post-graduate courses Applicants for master’s courses must hold a licenciatura, with a minimum mark of 14/20. In exceptional cases, the academic authorities of the relevant higher education establishment may decide to accept students with a lower mark, on the basis of their curriculum vitae. Applicants for doctorate courses must hold a licenciatura with a minimum mark of 16/20, or else a master’s degree. Applications may also be accepted from individuals with a scientific, academic and professional record which demonstrates their capacity to work for a doctorate, in which case the academic authorities at the university in question may decide to accept them on the basis of their curriculum vitae. • Welfare services for students In accordance with Law no. 113/97, of 16 September, which sets the ground rules for financing the state higher education sector, the State is required to work towards assuring the existence of welfare services which facilitate access to higher education and academic success on the part of higher education students, applying positive discrimination in relation to students from needy backgrounds and students studying away from home. These services ensure that no student is excluded from higher education on economic grounds. In practice, the State grants direct and indirect financial aid, managed on a flexible and decentralised basis.

36

Direct aid can take the form of student grants and emergency aid. Indirect welfare services can take the form of access to meals and accommodation, health care services, support for cultural and sporting activities and access to other forms of educational support. Special help is also provided for disabled students. Recent legislation has created a system of competitive scholarships for students in higher education, like those offered to secondary school students. A Student Welfare Board has been created in every higher education establishment in order to administer these services. Under the internal regulations of each institution, these boards are granted administrative and financial autonomy which they exercise through their own offices and departments. 3.3. Extra-muros education Extra-muros education comprises a range of educational and cultural activities outside the school system. These activities are organised on a systematic, sequential or alternating basis and may be undertaken on the initiative of either public or private organisations; they can also be co-ordinated with adult education or school activities. • General aims The aims of extra-muros education are as follows: — to develop or update knowledge and skills, through activities substituting or complementing the work of the school system. — to combat illiteracy, including functional illiteracy. — to provide creative and educational use of leisure time. Extra-muros education courses seek specifically to promote literacy, to update skills and knowledge, to provide cultural and civic education and to train people for employment. • Curriculum Three types of extra-muros courses are offered: courses leading to qualifications recognised as equivalent to academic qualifications, courses with their own programmes, leading to qualifications recognised as equivalent to units, subjects or levels offered in adult education, and courses organised in conjunction with the adult education system, leading to the same qualifications. The curriculum for each course is organised in a form appropriate to the knowledge, interests and needs of each group of students, and may take the form of project work. Course dates and timetables should be fixed to fit in with the working hours and pace of the students, and to make use of day-release time. Courses are structured, organised and taught in such a way as to be flexible and in keeping with the specific principles of adult education.

37

Mobility between extra-muros education and adult education is guaranteed by the existence of parallel programmes. In cases where extra-muros courses are given in conjunction with subjects and areas taught in the adult education system, the courses are organised and certificates awarded in accordance with the legal rules for the respective cycle. • Entrance requirements Extra-muros courses are open to all individuals above school-leaving age. Entrance requirements and the student profile are defined on a case-by-case basis by the organisers of extra-muros initiatives, depending on the nature and aims of the course in question. • Learner assessment Learners are assessed on a continuous and qualitative basis. Training staff are required to draw up individual reports for each area, indicating the progress made and difficulties encountered by each trainee, and their relative success in attaining the aims established. Trainees are then either passed or failed. • Certificates Extra-muros education is not designed to lead to academic qualifications. However, knowledge and skills acquired may be recognised and credited as equivalent to units or levels in the adult education system. Certificates are therefore issued at the end of each course, stating the name of the course, the training programme, assessment results, and equivalence to academic qualifications or vocational qualification level, when appropriate. • Training staff Training and other staff working on extra-muros schemes are recruited by the organisers using criteria which guarantee the quality of the training and the pedagogical quality of the course, in any of the forms established for working in adult education.

38

4. TEACHING AND OTHER STAFF 4.1. Teaching staff 4.1.1. Terms of employment • Number of teachers in the different sectors of the education system Table 4.1 gives a statistical breakdown of the teaching staff in the public and private sectors of the Portuguese education system, in terms of levels and type of education, and showing the total number of permanent staff. Table 4.1. Teaching staff in the public and private sectors of the Portuguese

education system, by educational level (1995/96)

Sources: Forecasting and Planning Department

Department of Secondary Education Department of Higher Education

In the academic year of 1995/96, there was a total of 189,114 teachers in the different levels of the public and private sectors of the Portuguese education system. This figures includes both teachers actually working and others released from teaching duties and considered for legal purposes as the equivalent to scholarship holders. As can be seen in the table, the different sub-systems within the Portuguese education system have widely differing teacher numbers, in accordance with their respective state of development. The pre-school sub-system had in 1995/96 a total of 6,811 nursery teachers, most of them employed in the state sector, while the basic education and secondary education sub-systems had a total of 145,732 teachers, also mostly employed

39

in the state sector. The state higher education system, including both universities and polytechnic institutions, had a total of 20,099 teachers. • Terms of employment: hours and related rules The hours worked and the timetables assigned to teaching staff in the Portuguese education system vary in accordance with the specific context in which they are employed. Given that teachers in different parts of the public and private sectors of the education system are treated differently, their hours, timetables and other rules will be best described by dealing separately with each area. As a general rule, teachers in the state sector (excluding higher education) have a timetable of 35 hours, divided into contact and non-contact time; the proportion of non-contact time depends on the level. Teachers in the pre-school and basic education (1st cycle) systems have a maximum of 25 hours contact time per week, whilst their colleagues in basic education (2nd and 3rd cycles) and secondary education have a maximum of 22. Teachers who work exclusively in secondary education have a maximum of 20 contact hours per week. Contact hours may be reduced on two main grounds. Firstly, contact hours are reduced for teachers as from 40 years of age, in accordance with the law. This applies to all sub-systems except for teachers employed as one-to-one tutors. Secondly, contact hours may also be reduced, in some cases to zero, for teachers suffering from invalidity, in all educational sub-systems. Evening hours, defined as teaching time after 19.00 hours, are counted as one and a half time. In private sector education (excluding higher education), teachers may work at more than one school, on the condition their total timetable is no more than 33 hours. In public sector higher education (universities and polytechnic colleges), teachers have a total weekly timetable of 35 hours, comprising contact time, preparation and student guidance. All full-time teachers are required to give between six and nine hours of classes or seminars (six to twelve hours in polytechnic colleges). Permanent teaching staff may only be employed on a full-time basis, whilst guest lecturers, assistant teachers and readers may work part time. Staff in any of these categories may opt to work on an exclusivity basis. • Terms of employment: careers and pay In order to enhance the social and professional standing of teaching staff, and thereby to improve the quality of the education provided, the different career routes existing in the Portuguese education system are designed to give teachers a sense of progress in their professional life. The rules for each career system establish their respective tasks, their rights and duties, the career structure and the procedures for promotion, as well as the terms of employment and remuneration.

40

Given that the terms of employment for teachers represent the legal rules governing their working life, it is only natural that the degree of complexity of the subjects/levels taught and the different contexts in which they teach should have resulted in different terms reflecting the real situation in each individual sector of the state education system. Teachers are therefore employed in accordance with either the Career Regulations for Nursery Teachers and Teachers in Basic and Secondary Education (Decree-Law no. 139-A/90, of 28 April, amended by Decree-Law no. 1/98, of 2 January), the Career Regulations for University Teachers (Decree-Law no. 448/79, of 13 November, ratified with amendments by Law no. 19/80, of 16 July, and subsequently further amended) or by the Career Regulations for Polytechnic Higher Education Teachers (Decree-Law no. 185/81, of 1 July). Whilst the legal rules on the rights and duties of teachers in private and co-operative educational establishments are not actually codified in any specific set of regulations for teaching staff, the general legislation referring to the different levels of private and co-operative sector education contains a number of pertinent provisions. Teachers in non-higher education establishments have their rights and duties enshrined in Decree-Law no. 553/80, of 21 November (Private and Co-operative Education Statute). Higher education teaching staff have their careers regulated in Decree-Law no. 16/94, of 22 January (Private and Co-operative Higher Education Statute). The importance attached to teachers is reflected in their career structures and pay, which now serve as a clear symbol of the consolidation of the education system and of the credibility of their role in society. A career structure which allows for a gradual process of promotion has been an important factor in generating a sense of cohesion amongst the different professional classes in the education system. A single career structure, organised ion the form of an ascending scale, has been created for state sector teachers (excluding higher education), who constitute a specific professionals category. For nursery teachers and teachers in the 1st cycle of basic education who hold bacharelato or equivalent qualifications, who start work after undergoing teacher training, the career consists of nine scales, with new teachers starting on scale 1. For other teachers, the career structure, with a minimum duration of 29 years, consists of eight scales (from scale 3 to scale 10), for teachers with a licenciatura, or of nine scales (from scale 1 to scale 9), for teachers with a bacharelato qualification. Teachers are recruited for the state education sector (excluding higher education) through national competitive selection processes, in which they must demonstrate that they fulfil the necessary conditions for employment in the public sector (they must have Portuguese nationality, or other EU nationality, the relevant academic qualifications, they must have completed their military or civic service, there must be no legal impediment to their employment, etc.). But teachers are not definitively contracted and appointed until they have the vocational qualifications required by law. However, the career structure for teachers now allows professionals to make rapid progress up through the hierarchy, reaching the top posts without having to remain too long in intermediate positions. This has been achieved thanks to innovations to the promotion process: teachers are no longer promoted merely on the basis of length of

41

service, but also in recognition of their performance and in view of their participation in training activities. The second component in the effort to enhance the social standing of the teaching profession is pay. Teachers in the state sector (excluding higher education) are subject to a salary scale in which academic qualifications (bacharelato or licenciatura) are a more important factor than the posts occupied in the course of their careers. State sector higher education teachers have a professional career structure consisting of successive categories. Teaching staff begin as “assistants” and, after following through the normal stages of their career, end their career as “lecturers”. The career structures for university and polytechnic teaching staff are distinct; for the former, staff being their careers as “trainee assistants” and may rise eventually to a professorship, the top category, whilst polytechnic staff start their careers as “assistants”, the top post being that of “lecturer/co-ordinator”. Teaching staff are appointed to different posts in the hierarchy through competitive application processes, in which they must provide documentary evidence of meting the requirements established respectively, for university staff in articles 36 to 52 of the Career Regulations for University Teachers (Decree-Law no. 448/79, referred to above) and for polytechnic staff in the Career Regulations for Polytechnic Higher Education Teachers (Decree-Law no. 185/81, also referred to above). Teaching staff in higher education may apply for promotion through competitive application processes and public examinations. In the university system, most staff are appointed through competitive application processes, although public examinations are organised for “assistants” (doctoral examinations) and “trainee assistants” (examinations in pedagogical skills and academic capacity, as an alternative to taking a master’s degree). In the polytechnic system, most posts are filled through a combination of a competitive application process and public examinations. The salaries of teaching staff in the state higher education system in Portugal depend on whether or not they have exclusive contracts and their respective position on the hierarchical scale. There are therefore different salary scales for university teachers and polytechnic teachers. Although very similar to the career structure of state sector higher education teaching staff, the career structure for staff in the private and co-operative sector has a number of distinct features. Firstly, although the same categories of teaching staff are used, two different forms of contract are allowed – definitive appointments and fixed-term contracts. And secondly, salary levels are fixed by the individual establishment where the teacher is employed. 4.1.2. Teacher training In any education system, teacher training is a crucial factor in the success of implementing and consolidating educational reforms, inasmuch as it involves teachers in the process of change and assures the quality of the education provided, by renewing course content and teaching methods.

42

In seeking to describe the teacher training system, it is necessary to take into account two factors which limit the effectiveness of training activities and their influence over the system as a whole. Firstly, at any given moment, the training system only covers teachers in the pre-school, basic and secondary education systems, there being no formal vocational training with a psycho-pedagogical component for higher education teaching staff. Secondly, any training provided today will necessarily interact with previous training systems, the effects of which are felt in the way the teaching profession conducts its work. The current teacher training system must therefore be viewed in the context of these two limitations. The system as it exists today was established in Decree-Law no. 344/89, of 11 October, and represents the logical corollary of the application of the Basic Education System Law. Teacher training seeks to give a consistent response to the teaching profession ’s need to develop new vocational skills appropriate to the different levels of education in which individual teachers work. This results in new training objectives, new structures for training and new curricula for transmitting the scientific and pedagogical knowledge required. The teacher training system therefore consists of three types of training: initial training, specialist training and continuing training. Each one of these has a distinct role to play in the system: initial training leads to a basic teaching qualification, specialist training seeks to qualify teachers for specific tasks of educational activities and continuing training is designed to update, enhance and retrain teaching staff, and to encourage them to help innovate and improve the quality of education. • Initial training: training colleges and curricula With the publication of the Basic Education System Law, the Ministry of Education has sought to ensure that teachers wishing to enter the profession have to possess a specific teacher training qualification. This created the need for different course and qualification variants for teachers taking up posts at different educational levels with their respective curricula. Initial teacher training is designed precisely to respond to this type of problem, by organising courses in specialist teacher training institutions with curricula appropriate to the different professional qualification levels required. Prior to the amendment of the Basic Education System Law, teacher training courses were given in specific training units in universities or in special teacher training colleges, depending on the educational level at which teachers intend to work. In general terms, nursery teachers and teachers in the basic education system (1st and 2nd cycles) are trained in teacher training colleges, whilst courses for teachers intending to work in the 3rd cycle of basic education and in secondary education are given exclusively in universities. The curriculum for all teacher training courses follows the same structure, consisting basically of a scientific/academic component, an educational sciences component and a teaching skills component. The duration of courses varies, as does the relative importance within the course of the scientific/academic component, depending on the educational level for which teachers are being trained. Courses for nursery school teachers and basic education teachers (1st cycle) have a duration of three years and lead

43

to a bacharelato. In these courses the scientific/academic component represents 60% of the total timetable, whereas in courses for 2nd cycle basic education teachers, which last four years, this component takes up 70% of the timetable. In the courses for 3rd cycle basic education teachers and secondary school teachers, which have a duration of 5 to 6 years and in which trainees obtain a licenciatura in their respective subject areas, the scientific/academic component represents 70% to 80% of the total timetable. This new initial training system has represented a real step forward in the wider context of teacher training. As the new system was gradually implemented, concentrating essentially on creating an integrated curriculum (scientific/academic, psycho-pedagogical and practical areas), displacing traditional concepts of teacher training (programmes organised as a sequence of training components), it has eventually resulted in a more coherent and systematic education system, reflected in stronger training institutions. The initial training system described above has, however, recently been revised by Law no. 115/97, of 19 September. The new law has made a number of significant changes in relation to bother training institutions and the academic qualifications required of teachers outside the higher education system. Under the revised system, nursery school teachers and teachers for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd cycles of basic education can be trained in teacher training colleges, provided that the colleges meet a number of legal requirements, whilst secondary school teachers can only be trained in universities. Moreover, all initial teacher training courses now lead to licenciaturas and have a normal duration of four years, which may be extended by a maximum of four semesters. Although initial training is centred on an integrated curriculum, the route open to most teachers seeking a professional qualification consists of one of the alternatives now offered by the Ministry of Education for teachers on provisional appointments. The most important of these is in-service training, in effect a form of initial training provided during the teacher’s working hours, without involving any lengthy interruptions to his normal duties. In-service training, which is regulated by Decree-Law no. 287/88 of 19 August and Decree-Law no. 345/89, of 11 October, is organised by higher education institutions in close collaboration with the schools to which the teachers belong. It seeks to offer vocational training equivalent to that provided in initial training institutions for the respective educational level. Courses consist of a two-year curriculum which includes two sequential components — Education Sciences and Teaching Skills — leading to a special professional qualification for this type of training. In order to raise the standard of teaching in the state education system and also in the private and co-operative sectors, the Ministry of Education has offered special incentives to encourage teachers to enrol for in-service training. All in-services trainees enjoy a reduction in contact time of 4 to 6 hours a week, depending on the training system used (distance learning or conventional training). In addition to this, graduate teachers with at least six years satisfactory and effective service prior to enrolling are exempted from the project component (year 2 of the in-service training scheme).

44

• Continuing training: content, assessment and qualifications Continuing training is formally defined as training which teachers undergo after their initial training; the specific aims are to promote the personal and professional development of teachers. Continuing training also responds to the needs created by scientific and technological developments and the changes these have generated in contemporary culture; these initiatives help to retrain teachers, on an ongoing basis, adjusting their teaching skills to new demands and enabling them to transmit learning with all the necessary rigour. The importance of continuing training as a means of updating skills and knowledge is reflected in the fact that special legislation has been passed governing the system — Decree-Law no. 249,92, of 9 November, subsequently amended (Law 60/93, of 20 August, and Decree-Law no. 274/94, of 28 October). This legislation regulates all major aspects of the continuing training system, laying down the training content, the rights and duties of trainees, the training organisations, the type of assessment and certificates awarded and the organisations responsible for planning and controlling the system. In order to implement the system, qualified trainers are needed, together with an institutional network to work in close co-operation with the relevant persons and organisations in executing national and regional plans for continuing training. Higher education institutions, training centres run by schools associations, and the colleges and training centres run by teachers’ associations are the main players in this network and together provide all the training required of this type, in a structured way, employing trainers with different levels of qualification, specified in the legislation referred to above. The aims of continuing training initiatives are selected from areas such as academic subjects, education sciences, pedagogical research, personal training and professional ethics, and information technology. The initiatives seek to update the teachers’ skills and knowledge and to train them in the teaching, research, training and communication skills they use in transmitting learning and know-how. Continuing training initiatives for teachers take a number of different forms and structures and the curriculum contents are organised in accordance with the training level. Training schemes generally take the form of courses, modules, higher education subjects, seminars, training workshops, teaching practice, projects or study circles, and in terms of length, depth and complexity initiatives can be classified as initial training, further training and specialisation, with a duration respectively of 30, 22 and 15 hours. Certificates are awarded for all continuing training activities, in accordance with the relevant law, stating that the teacher has attended the course or other activities, and giving an objective assessment of his or her performance. These certificates can help the teacher to obtain promotion and are also relevant to their professional record. In order to ensure that continuing training is in practice available to teachers, the State has established training as a right, ensuring that all teachers have access, on equal terms, to professional realisation and allowing them to plan and take part in team work. Teachers are therefore able to attend compulsory continuing training initiatives free of charge and also benefit from a reduction in teaching hours, in accordance with the legal

45

regulations. With a view to their careers, teachers may choose the training initiatives which best fit in with their plans for professional and personal development, and a credit system ensures that all training activities in which they participate count towards their promotion chances. As well as allowing teachers to realise their personal and professional aspirations as individuals, continuing training activities also offer them a chance to take part in group work, by collectively participating in various stages of the planning process. Teachers can contribute to the training plan at the centre to which their school belongs and play an active role by working on project teams or joining study circles. Teachers’ rights to training, as established by the State, are counterbalanced by the corresponding duty to take part in continuing training schemes organised under national and regional programmes earmarked as priorities in relation to the needs generated by the reform of the education system, and by the fees payable for participation in optional training initiatives. Assessment of teachers on continuing training schemes is geared to two major concerns. Firstly, to gauge the degree to which training activities achieve the aims defined in continuing training programmes, in which task both trainees and training staff participate. And secondly, to guarantee the quality and coherence of the retraining process: trainees are assessed individually, using any of the written assessment forms created for this purpose. Given that continuing training is conducted on nation-wide basis, involving complex training aims and highly technical operations and procedures, a national co-ordinating body is required in order to plan, accredit, credit, monitor and assess the different initiatives undertaken over time up and down the country. These are the main responsibilities of the Continuing Training Co-ordinating Board, which brings together the main institutional actors in the system and seeks to involve them in the running and planning of a coherent training system, by matching training needs to initiatives undertaken by different training organisations. 4.2. Non-teaching staff: terms of employment and training The personnel needed in order to run an education system includes both the teachers, who undertake academic duties, and a wide range of other workers, qualified in different professions, whose role it is to carry out the technical, administrative, back-up and manual tasks needed for the running of educational institutions, thereby contributing to the technical and academic success of the school system. Table 11 in Annex 1 shows the different professional categories of the staff currently employed in nursery schools, basic and secondary education school, higher education institutions and the central offices of the Ministry of Education. The figures show that in all sectors administrative and auxiliary staff represent by far the largest categories, followed by manual workers and technical staff.

46

Although the staff of the Ministry of Education and educational establishments are employed on a range of different contracts, most workers are full-time and permanent public employees appointed to their respective institutions. This lends a certain degree of stability to the organisation of these institutions, as public employees are, by definition, representatives of the administrative authorities, in permanent positions and members of the staff at their respective establishment, as well as participating in the administration of the State and enjoying the protection of collective contracts established in law. As public sector employees non-teaching staff are subject to the general terms of employment established for state organisations, and are paid in accordance with official salary scales for their category and position. In order to respond to the challenges of technological change in contemporary society, the Government has created a vocational training system for public sector employees, with specific aims, training organisations and types of training (Decree-Law no. 50/98, of 11 March). The training which is provided by the central departments of the Ministry of Education and by the trades unions is therefore considered as both the right and the duty of employees, and can help to adjust the working practice of non-teaching staff to the changing circumstances in which they called on to act. 5. ADMINISTRATION OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM The education system comprises two distinct sectors. The first of these consists of the individual schools and institutions, which represent the main raison d’être of the system, and the second comprises the organisational structures of the Ministry of Education, whose task is to define national education policy. 5.1. General Administration In the words of the Organisational Law regulating the Ministry of Education, its overall task is to promote the development and modernisation of the education system, strengthening the link between education and research, science, technology and culture, contributing to innovation in the education system, to preserve and disseminate the Portuguese language and to promote the development of an integrated sports policy.” Under the political leadership of the Minister and three Secretaries of State (the Secretary of State for the Administration of Education, the Secretary of State for Higher Education and the Secretary of State for Education and Innovation), the Ministry of Education is equipped with a series of offices and departments (see Figure 1, Annex 2) through which it pursues these objectives. These offices and departments are located throughout Portugal, in accordance with their responsibilities and level of decision-making powers, and divided into central, regional and local offices and authorities. Decision-making powers are decentralised wherever possible, in accordance with the aims and objectives of the management cycle.

47

The central offices of the Ministry of Education are primarily responsible for policy making, co-ordination, information services, research, planning, programming and assessment with regard to the different education sub-systems, European affairs and international relations, financial and human resources, curricular development and organisational change, sport and school welfare programmes, and their work and decisions apply to the education system as a whole. There are various advisory bodies (the National Education Board, the National Board for Welfare in Higher Education, the Board of Director-Generals, the Co-ordinating Board for Private and Co-operative Education, the Board for Co-operation between Higher Education and Industry and the National Higher Education Assessment Board) whose main role is to advise the minister whenever he consults them. There are also a number of different programmes with specific aims. These include notably the Education for All Programme, designed to ensure that all young people complete their compulsory education, and the Co-ordination Office for Multicultural-Intercultural Education, responsible for promoting education designed to inculcate values such as togetherness, tolerance, dialogue and solidarity between peoples, ethnic groups and cultures. Since 1995 a number of working parties have been set up in order to look into innovative approaches to education policy matters, with a view to implementation in the system. The most important of these are the Working Part for the Accreditation of teacher Training and the Working Party for the Development of Adult Education and Training. The Regional Education Offices (North, Centre, Lisbon, Alentejo and Algarve) of the Ministry of Education serve to decentralise the State’s decision-making powers, and carry on the ministry’s work at regional level. The Regional Education Offices are responsible primarily for organising and administering education establishments and school education (all sectors except higher education). They co-ordinate, monitor and provide support services in the following areas: technical and pedagogical matters, human and material resources, welfare schemes and school sports. They are also responsible for co-ordination and liaison between different levels of the education system, implementing the policy guidelines laid down at national level. The Regional Education Offices also take part in assessing educational needs, gathering information about the system and, under the guidance of the Higher Education Department, co-ordinating the application process for places in higher education. A total of 21 Education Area Centres, at municipal or inter-municipal level and answerable to the Regional Education Offices, are responsible for implementing and promoting policy in all areas under their jurisdiction, principally by managing schools offering the 1st cycle of the basic education system. At local level, municipalities are also responsible for liaison between the education system and the community. They have special responsibility for facilities and equipment, auxiliary staff and welfare schemes for pre-school education, the 1st cycle

48

of basic education and programmes for offering the 2nd cycle of the basic education system through distance learning using audio-visual technology. In the islands (Azores and Madeira, which are separate autonomous regions) the regional organisational structure is different. Education policy is the responsibility of the Regional Education Departments, which are organs of the regional governments with specific powers in this area, although the Minister of Education remains responsible for co-ordinating education policy as a whole. Whilst the intermediate authorities are responsible primarily for organising and running schools, implementing at local level the policy defined by the central authorities, the Regional Inspection Offices, which cover the same regions as the Regional Education Offices, are in turn responsible at local level for carrying out the work of the General Education Inspectorate. This consists of overseeing the technical-pedagogical work and the administration, finance and assets of educational establishments at different levels of the education system. 5.2. Schools and developing autonomy Despite the autonomy enjoyed by individual schools, colleges and higher education institutions, the ideals they pursue are the same. The management authorities responsible for the running of each institution seek primarily to promote the quality of the education and research work conducted, thereby providing a context of institutional stability in which the teaching-learning process can flourish. 5.2.1. Schools (excluding higher education) The administrative autonomy enjoyed by schools has been extended in recent years. The first steps in this direction were taken by Decree-Law no. 769-A/76, of 23 October, establishing a model which was subsequently adjusted by Decree-Law no. 172/91, of 10 May. The current rules are laid down in Decree-Law no. 115/A/98, of 4 May. The new rules on the autonomous administration of schools, set out in Decree-Law no. 115-a/98, of 4 May, have only recently come into effect and will be implemented as from the academic year of 1998/99. These management rules will therefore in the coming years be applied jointly with those established in Decree-Law no. 769-A/76, of 23 October (which have applied since 1975 to schools offering the 2nd and 3rd cycles of basic education and to secondary schools not required to adopt the management model established in Decree-Law no. 172/91, of 10 May) and in Decree-Law no. 172/91, of 10 May (which came into effect from the academic year of 1992/93, in 48 schools and school areas, as a pedagogical pilot scheme). In accordance with the management model established by Decree-Law no. 172/91, of 10 May, each school is managed and administered by a School Board or Education Area Board, an Executive Director, a Board of Studies, an Administrative Board and a Unit Co-ordinator, for schools belonging to Education Areas. The School Board has a leadership and decision-making role, while the Executive Director is responsible for administering and managing the school’s cultural, pedagogical, administrative and

49

financial affairs. The Board of Studies, which co-ordinates and directs educational activities, assists the administrative and management authorities in pedagogical, didactic and cultural matters, and in relation to educational guidance for students and training for teaching and non-teaching staff. The Administrative Board is responsible for ensuring that the school’s administrative and financial affairs area managed in accordance with the law. The Board of Studies is supported in its duties by a number of other professionals and departments (the Curriculum Department, the Form Boards, the Form Directors, the Form Directors Annual Co-ordinator, the Facilities and Equipment Director, the Training Department and the Psychology and Counselling Services) which assist it in its work. Under the model created by Decree-Law no. 769-A/76, of 23 October, schools are basically managed by a Management Board, a Board of Studies and an Administrative Board. The Management Board is a collegiate body which directs the affairs of the school, manages teaching and non-teaching staff and oversees disciplinary matters. The Board of Studies directs and co-ordinates pedagogical affairs, and is assisted by other boards of groups, sub-groups, years and forms. The Administrative Board ensures that the school’s administrative and financial affairs are conducted in due accordance with the law. Finally, under the new rules of school autonomy created by Decree-Law no. 115-A/98, of 4 May, schools are run on the general principles of democracy and participation, the primacy of pedagogical criteria, the representative nature of the school administrative and management bodies, the responsibility of the State and other participants in the education process, the stability and efficient of school management, and the transparency of administrative decision-making. Schools are organised on the basis of an educational project (a document establishing educational guidelines and priorities for a three-year period), the internal regulations, governing the running of the school, and the annual plan of activities (defining aims, programmes of activities and the respective organisation, and resources, in keeping with the guidelines contained in the educational project). It is natural therefore that the administrative and management bodies established by law should have specific powers in the fields of pedagogical-didactic management, logistics and financial affairs. Schools therefore need a management and organisational structure in which the individual responsibilities of the different actors in the educational process (teachers, students, non-teaching staff, parents and guardians and local authority representatives) are clearly defined, and which establishes democratic procedures involving participation by all the relevant parties. These needs have to be reflected in the composition and powers of the different administrative and management bodies. Schools are therefore administered and managed by an Assembly, an Executive Board or Director, a Board of Studies and an Administrative Board. The Assembly establishes the guidelines for the school’s activities and is responsible for their implementation, approving the educational project, the internal regulations and the autonomy agreement. The Executive (Executive Board or Director) is responsible for the administering and managing the school’s pedagogical, cultural, administrative and financial affairs; it also

50

drafts the basic documents referred to above, institutes the rules for the running of the school and prepares other documents required for democratic management procedures, such as the annual plan of activities, approving the definitive version, and the draft budget. The Board of Studies co-ordinates and directs pedagogical and educational activities, student guidance and monitoring and initial and continuing training for teaching and non-teaching staff. The Administrative Board, for its part, oversees the administrative and financial affairs of the school, managing human, material and financial resources, with special responsibilities for approving the annual budget and the management report and accounts and for authorising expenditure. The educational guidance services and the other special educational support services help to implement and carry through management policy. The educational guidance services co-ordinate curricular questions, organise form activities and co-ordinate years, cycles and courses, whilst the Psychology and Counselling Services and the Educational Support Unit seek to offer individual help and vocational guidance so that students can integrate fully into the school. One of the most innovative features of Decree-Law no. 115-A/98, of 4 May, is that the autonomy of individual schools is considered as an ongoing process which may be furthered through an autonomy agreement, through access to skills in the fields of flexible curriculum management, management of timetables which include teaching and administrative duties, educational management and guidance, the adoption by the school of its own rules on timetables, terms, form composition and classroom use, creating a stable permanent staff, participation in the selection of non-teaching staff, budget management and execution, the possibility of self-financing and management of the respective revenues, acquisition of goods and services and carrying out building work, within limits to be established, association with other schools and partnerships with local organisations and services. 5.2.2. Higher education institutions Different management models exist for state higher education institutions (centralised and decentralised models, depending on the make-up of the organisation), which enjoy statutory autonomy. Universities (Law no. 108/88, of 24 September) and Polytechnic Institutes (Law no. 54/90, of 5 September) have fully independent powers to manage their scientific, pedagogical, administrative, financial and disciplinary affairs and their own assets. The organisational structures of universities and polytechnics have their own distinct terminology – universities are governed by an Assembly, a Senate, a Rector and an Administrative Board, whilst polytechnics have a President, a General Board and an Administrative Board – but the division of powers and responsibilities is in practice roughly the same. The Rector/President directs and oversees the management of academic, administrative and financial affairs, the Senate/General Board creates organisational units and drafts the plan of activities, whilst the Administrative Board is responsible for administrative and financial management.

51

The main organisational divisions in both systems (faculties and higher education colleges) also have a similar organisational structure. Faculties and higher education colleges are governed by a Board of Directors of Director, responsible for the general management of the institution, an Academic Board, which governs the academic life of the institution, and a Board of Studies which supervises teaching and pedagogical affairs. Higher education institutions enjoy financial autonomy and manage the budget allocated to them by the State. However, before receiving their annual grant, they are required to submit their overall budgetary policy, and the Ministry of Education may exercise its powers of co-ordination and supervision by making changes to financial plans, altering the budget or projects, or authorising investment expenditure. The higher education finance law establishes a system of external audits for state universities designed to create tight controls on spending. For private and co-operative universities a working party ensures that the institutions meet the requirements established in the respective regulations, making adjustments whenever necessary. State and private and co-operative sector higher education institutions are co-ordinated and represented by the Council of Rectors of Portuguese Universities (CRPU), the Co-ordination Council of Polytechnic Institutes (CCPI) and the Portuguese Association of Private Higher Education Institutions (PAPHEI). Private and co-operative higher education institutions, which may be created with the consent of Ministry of Education inspectors, also enjoy autonomous status, as established by Decree-Law no. 16/94, of 22 January. The establishments themselves enjoy pedagogical, cultural and academic autonomy, whilst the respective founding organisations exercise administrative, economic and financial powers. Private and co-operative higher education institutions are required to have the following officers and administrative bodies: a Rector or a President, depending on whether the institution is a university or a polytechnic, a Management Board, an Academic Board and a Board of Studies. These officers and boards are responsible for managing different areas of the institutions, and may involve participation by students and teachers, in order to ensure that the institution functions effectively. When these institutions’ activities fit in with those provided for in the education development plan, the State may grant aid for student welfare, teacher training, investment and research; the use of these funds is always subject to audits.

52

6. FINANCING EDUCATION In accordance with the Basic Education System Law, education is a national priority. This has been reflected by increasing spending by the Ministry of Education in recent years and the proportion of Gross Domestic Product which this represents (see Table 6.1). Table 6.1. Ministry of Education spending, public spending an

gross domestic product (in thousand millions PTE).

Source: Financial Management Office, Ministry of Education

a) Ministry of Finance estimates b) Sate General Account and State Budget c) Non-consolidated spending figures for mainland Portugal

As the education system rests primarily on the work of professionals in various areas, the bulk of Ministry of Education spending relates essentially to staff salaries; these represent an average of 85% of current expenditure (see Table 6.2).

53

Table 6.2. Breakdown of Ministry of Education Spending (in thousand millions PTE)

YEARS

TYPE OF EXPENDITURE

1994

1995

1996

1997

(Estimate)

Current Expenditure - Personnel - Other current expenditure a)

681,7586,5

95,2

747,9635,9 112.0

825,2 694,6 130,6

907,8762,5 145,3

Capital Expenditure b) 47,9 64,3 57,7 66,6

TOTAL 729,6 812,2 882,9 974,4

Source: Financial Management Office, Ministry of Education. a) Includes funds allocated to Educational Welfare and Private and Co-operative Education. b) Includes CAIDP expenditure and capital from the Flexible Management Budget.

The spending contained in the Central Administration Investment and Development Programme (CAIDP) has been directed principally at higher education, rather than at basic and secondary education, where investment has been more or less stable (see Table 6.3).

54

Table 6.3. CAIDP spending in Mainland Portugal (in thousand millions PTE)

YEARS SPENDING AREAS

1994

1995

1996

1997 (Estimate)

Higher Education Basic and Secondary Education Educational Welfare in higher education a) in other areas Facilities(Central and Regional Offices) Others TOTAL

23 805.1 14 272.6 4 412.8 261.9 4 150.9 803.2 95.2 43 388.9

34 013.0 14 469.0 4 733.5 353.8 4 379.7 4 970.9 60.2 58 859.5

32 405.5 13 256.7 3 013.9 298.0 2 715.9 485.7 49.7 49 211.5

37 423.2 15 161.2 3 581.0 431.0 3 150.0 2 021.0 38.6 58 045.0

Source: Financial Management Office of Education a) As from 1996, this figure includes spending relating to the Universities of the Azores and Madeira The Ministry of Education budget covers the cost of financing central and regional offices, public education establishments and educational welfare schemes, together with subsidies for private and co-operative education and vocational colleges (see Table 6.4).

55

Table6.4. Ministry of Education spending: breakdown into sectors in Mainland Portugal (in thousand millions PTE)

Source: Financial Management Office, Ministry of Education

a) Includes only direct Ministry of Education funding. b) As from 1996, includes spending relating to the Universities of the

Azores and Madeira. c) As from 1998, sport, except for school sport, ceased to be the

responsibility of the Ministry of Education. In addition to the Ministry of Education, municipal authorities are also responsible for financing education, bearing certain building, maintenance and equipment costs and some of the running expenses of nursery schools and schools providing the 1st cycle of the basic education system. They are also responsible for running school buses and complementary educational activities and recreational activities. In the Azores and Madeira, the regional governments finance education services and establishments, from their own funds and from funds allocated by the State budget.

56

Basic education in the state system (nine years) is free of charge, whilst in state secondary education the students and their families share some of the expenses with the State, the principal source of funding. In both systems, students may benefit from free text books, school materials, transport, meals and accommodation, when justified by their economic circumstances. The State is primarily responsible for funding higher education, with higher education institutions bring required to find additional funds which complement rather than replace state funding. Students also contribute through payment of a flat fee. In order to ensure equality of access to higher education student welfare schemes exercise positive discrimination so as to help students from needy backgrounds, regardless of the educational establishment they attend (whether public or private, or whether run by the Ministry of Education alone or by more than one ministry). The European Union also contributes to the education system through the Programme for the Development of Education in Portugal (PRODEP), which involves two structural funds: the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF).The main contribution made to the education system by the ESF is through the FOCO Programme, which provides continuing training for teachers and education managers. The Socrates Programme, which promotes co-operation in education, is financed by the European Commission. In the course of PRODEP I (1990-1993) financial resources were channelled to: (1) development of infrastructures, (2) human resources in the education system, (3) vocational education, (4) adult education, (5) higher education and (6) further training. The total investment amounted to 206,979.1 million escudos, with a community contribution of 132,922.9 million escudos, the remainder being raised by central and local authorities, state companies and from other sources. In PRODEP II (1994-1999) the funds have been channelled to (1) infrastructures and equipment for basic, secondary and vocational education, (2) continuing training for teaches and education managers, (3) technology, vocational and artistic training, and adult education, (4) infrastructures for higher education, (5) advanced training in higher education.

57

7. INFRASTRUCTURE AND EQUIPMENT Material resources for education, comprising school buildings, teaching materials and textbooks, represent the essential physical means required in order to achieve the aims of the education system, with a view to enhance quality and innovation in the education sector. 7.1. State education sector (excluding higher education) 7.1.1. School buildings and equipment As a result of frequent changes to the structure of the education system, deriving primarily from the introduction of the Basic Education System Law and the gradual process of introducing pre-school education, there are now many different types of schools and education establishments (not counting the higher education sector). In view of this situation, which can make it difficult to produce statistics and to draft school charters, the Government has recently approved legislation (Decree-Law no. 314/97, of 15 November) revising the classification system for education establishments. Establishments are now given names which reflect the main level of education or teaching which they offer, the different names identifying the levels, cycles and types of education/teaching, as shown in Tables 7.1 and 7.2. Table 7.1 represents the desired trend, differentiating between basic and secondary education buildings and seeking to group together more than one cycle in basic education schools. Table 2, on the other hand, reflects better use of the existing resources.

58

Table 7.1. Type and number of state educational and teaching establishments

Source: Decree-Law no. 314/97, of 15 November

a) Education Statistics 1995/96 b) b) Not indicated in the source

59

Table 7.2. Classification and number of state education establishments a)

Source: Decree-Law no. 314/97, of 15 November

a) Classifications which are gradually being converted to those contained in table 7.1.

b) Education statistics 1995/96 c) Not indicated in Education Statistics 1995/96

Any of the educational or teaching establishments referred to in the above tables can also offer special education or extra-muros education, without having to change their name. School occupancy rates in Portugal still vary widely, despite the efforts made by the central, regional and local authorities to rationalise the school network. Of the 8885 EB1 schools in the country, 548 have less than 5 students, and 1216 have between 5 and 9. These situations are tolerated in order to guarantee access to compulsory education. Albeit to a less dramatic extent, some nursery schools (JI) and basic schools using multimedia (EBM) are also under-occupied. School building programmes have sought to conciliate safety concerns with an effort to provide agreeable surroundings and better material and teaching resources. One of the priorities in this area has been to construct indoor physical education and sports facilities and special areas for using new information and communication technologies, as well as to extend the network of school libraries. Regulations on school buildings have been drafted which make take into consideration the fact that buildings may be used by students with special educational needs, requiring features such as special entrances, permanent classrooms, specially equipped bathrooms and reserved parking spaces.

60

In addition to improvements to existing school buildings, there has been continuous investment in building new schools. As can be seen in Table 7.3, a total of 279 new schools have been built in the last twelve years. Table 7.3. Number of state schools a)

Academic year

Schools

86/87 87/88 88/89 89/90 90/91 91/92 92/93 93/94 94/95 95/96 96/97 97/98

New Schools 46 30 26 19 16 15 14 41 20 49 18 31

Total 861 891 917 936 952 967 981 1022 1042 1091 1109 1140

Source: Regional Education Offices

a) Does not include basic schools, 1st cycle. School equipment consists of furniture and teaching materials. Furniture is studies by Ministry of Education specialists who define the type of furniture needed for the comfort of different age ranges, and for the space available and the activities undertaken. Teaching materials have to be appropriate to each level, and also to each subject or subject area. This work is undertaken by a multi-disciplinary teams who consider the teaching aims and the most appropriate forms of using the materials, i.e. demonstration work, work in small groups and individual use. Specifications are drawn up and systematically revised for each item, allowing the central, regional or local authorities to put out their contracts to tender. 7.1.2. Text books Text books consist of printed teaching materials aimed at students, helping them to develop their capacities and gain the learning required. The Ministry of Education is responsible for notifying the Portuguese Association of Publishers and Booksellers of its programmes, and the members of this association publish the books (students’ and teachers’ books). The board of studies at each school or, in the case of schools offering the 1st cycle of basic education, the pedagogical decision making structure, then selects the texts books they wish to use. Regulations on text books are set out in Decree-Law no. 369/90, of 26 November and Ministerial Order (Portaria) no. 186/91, of 4 March, defining the pricing system, deadlines for adopting books and selection criteria. 7.1.3. School libraries

61

The School Libraries Network Programme was launched during the academic year of 1996/97 in order gradually to develop libraries in different schools, serving as multimedia resources centres where documents in different formats can be consulted and produced. These libraries may be used free of charge and are installed in appropriate facilities; they are run by a combination of teachers, librarians and other specialists. During the first year of the scheme, 88 school libraries were created on the basis of plans prepared by the schools involved, in collaboration with Regional Education Offices and municipal councils. In 1997/98 the results of the previous year were assessed and the scheme was extended, with special help being offered to schools with less than 100 students and mobile library schemes being organised by municipal councils. 7.2. Higher Education The state university system dates back to the founding of the University of Coimbra in the thirteenth century. It now consists of a total of 14 universities in the public sector and one institute, the Higher Institute of Employment and Business Sciences which despite not being part of any university awards the same degrees and qualifications. There are also other institutions run jointly by the Ministry of Education and other ministries (the Military Academy, the Air Force Academy, the Navy Academy and the Higher Police Institute) which award licenciatura degrees. There are currently ten universities in the private and co-operative sector. In addition to these, there is the Catholic University, created under the Concordata between Portugal and the Holy See, and officially recognised since 1977. The Catholic University has its own network, with centres in various parts of the country. The polytechnic education system run exclusively by the Ministry of Education comprises 15 polytechnic institutes, each comprising two or more higher education colleges and also a number of specialist higher education colleges which belong to no polytechnic institute. There is also a network of polytechnic institutes which are run jointly by the Ministry of Education and other ministries, including a total of 28 nursing and health technology colleges and four higher education colleges offering training in conservation and restoration, hotel and catering and nautical studies. There is also a private polytechnic education system with around one hundred institutions offering courses in a variety of areas. Most of these courses are in education, the arts, health and accountancy and administration. 8. EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION AND RESEARCH

62

Information and research are both fundamental to the development of the education system. Education policy therefore seeks to create organisations which can meet the education system’s structural needs, providing data and trends observed in the field. Research and information services need therefore to be pragmatic and are designed primarily, if not exclusively, to help in the decision making process. However, although the State has created special organisations whose main aim is to produce information to be used in planning and assessing the education system, there are also other independent public institutions and private foundations in Portugal which undertake educational research, each offering its own specialist data, in keeping with their own specific interests and activities. Obviously, insofar as the development of learning and technology requires a prompt and complex response, in which the whole scientific community in the field of education need to be involved, the State needs to encourage and stimulate all these different types of institutions, respecting their individual interests and leanings, in order to ensure that its educational information and research policy is implemented in practice. In view of all these circumstances (the complex way in which educational research developed in the past, the importance of this research for decisions on education policy, the stance taken by research institutions in relation to the challenges of contemporary society) there is a need for systematic information on the educational information and research resources available and the organisations responsible for the work, and on the organisations which provide funding for work in this area. 8.1. Educational information Statistical data and assessment reports are produced to help with the management of the education system (planning and assessment). Responsibility for statistical information, consisting of education statistics and indicators, and for assessment of education policies lie with the Assessment, Prospective and Planning Department (Decree-Law no. 47/97, of 25 February), although certain pedagogical and organisational aspects of the education system, specified in the Basic Education System Law, are monitored by the Institute for Innovation in Education (Decree-Law no. 142/93, of 26 April), when they relate more to the system, and by the Educational Assessment Office (Decree-Law no. 229/97, of 30 August) when they relate to assessment of student attainment. 8.2. Educational research Educational research is primarily conducted in the traditional form in universities, consisting essentially of masters’ and doctoral dissertations produced in keeping with the theoretical and methodological practice of established academic disciplines. This research deals with questions such as learner assessment, the teaching of specific subjects, teacher training, school management and academic attainment/under-achievement. This scientific work, which is primarily geared to finding conclusions, is carried out in both the older universities (the Faculties of Psychology and Education Sciences and

63

Departments of Education) where graduates prepare and produce doctoral theses, and at the new universities (the Teacher Training Centres of the Universities of Aveiro and the Minho) and at polytechnic colleges (colleges of education), which lead the field in the production of Masters’ theses. In 1987, the Ministry of Education also founded the Institute for Innovation in Education, whose primary task is to promote research in the field of the curricular and organisational development of the education system (organisational law: Decree-Law no. 142/93, of 26 April). In recent years there has been something of a boom in educational research conducted in schools under the guidance of higher education institutions, which have in some cases taken part directly in the research teams. The leading players in educational research have been teachers in the higher education system, including both educational specialists and specialists in other areas, and, exceptionally, in a very small number of cases, researchers engaged full-time in research into questions of education. Another small group of school teachers have also been working in research in order to improve their knowledge of psycho-pedagogical questions. There are a number of documentation centres and institutions engaged in producing information and education research whose aim is to select and process information on the current state or history of education in Portugal and abroad, so as to preserve the benefits of experience accrued in this field and also to disseminate technically processed information to different sectors of the scientific and pedagogical community and to all those involved in education policy as a whole. At least two of these documentation centres deserve special notice — the IIE (Educational Research Institute) Documentation Centre and the Education Sciences Library of the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences of the University of Lisbon (formerly the Documentation Centre of the Educational Research Centre of the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian). These two centres have led the field in Portugal in terms of bibliographical collections and the specialist processing of materials; they have helped to disseminate information and have served as a point of interaction and communication between researchers who produce information and those who use the information in order to define specific and general education policies. The newly created Educational History Institute, set up under Decree-Law no. 206/98, of 13 July, illustrates the concern which exists to safeguard our historical heritage in the field of education and pursues a broad policy in the fields of archives, museums and architectural heritage, which represent the typical creations of the education system. 8.3. Funding for educational research Funding for scientific research into education is provided by public institutions and private non-profit organisations. The Institute for Innovation in Education and the National Scientific and Technological Research Council are the two public bodies responsible for promoting research, and support efforts in this field by allocating funds to research projects, publications, task forces and scientific meetings, and research

64

scholarships, selecting the projects which relate most closely to the educational issues referred to above. Private non-profit organisations, such as the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, the Fundação Luso-Americana para o Desenvolvimento, the Comissão Cultural Luso-Americana, the Fundação Aga Khan, the Fundação Bernard Van Leer and the Fundação Oriente (in the case of educational issues relating to Macao) also have relevant funding policies, giving priority amongst other things to scholarships, support for research project, exchanges between foreign universities and higher education institutions in Portugal. The work of Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian is of particular relevance in the field of research funding, and in the past, when there was something of funding vacuum, played an especially important role. 9. PORTUGUESE CO-OPERATION IN EDUCATION

65

Portuguese co-operation in the field of education depends on the foreign policy guidelines defined by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In recent years this co-operation has extended into all structural areas (co-operation in socio-cultural affairs, and co-operation in technical-economic matters), with a view to creating a coherent policy designed to broaden and enrich human and cultural relations between different countries. As a result of membership of the European Union, the increasing pressure of globalisation on the foreign policy of small countries, and the consequences of this in terms of socio-cultural interdependence, Portugal’s co-operation policy has acquired fresh energy and direction. This chapter deals with European Union co-operation and multilateral and bilateral co-operation. Given the special importance of co-operation with other Portuguese speaking nations, this matter will be examined separately. 9.1. European Union As a member-state of the European Union, with all the attending rights and duties, Portugal is increasingly involved in EU co-operation initiatives. The country collaborates on all programmes, actions and measures instituted by the Union, and is especially active in projects in the field of education. Portugal has been an especially active participant in trans-national projects for educational co-operation under the SOCRATES and TEMPUS II Programmes. The central aim of the SOCRATES Programme, the first phase of which runs from 1995 to 1999, is to improve both the quality and quantity of education offered, bolstering European co-operation and facilitating access to different learning opportunities across the Union. The Programme is divided into 27 actions and is of direct relevance to school education, language skill learning, adult education and open and distance learning schemes. The Programme has, in its first phase, proved highly effective in promoting European co-operation, enhancing student and teacher mobility, both qualitatively and quantitatively, and facilitating exchanges of knowledge at different levels of education and teaching. Portugal has taken part in different sectors of the programme — Higher Education (Erasmus), Basic and Secondary Education (Comenius), Promotion of language skills (Língua), Open and Distance Learning, Adult Education, Sharing of Information and Experience in the field of Education Policies and Systems and Complementary Measures — through different types of arrangements, including institutional contracts, projects, networks, partnerships, trans-national associations, teaching materials, exchange and mobility schemes, and training courses, enriching our relations with other countries participating in the programme, and promoting levels of mutual awareness. In view of the highly significant results of the first phase of the SOCRATES Programme, the European Commission has proposed to the European Parliament and to the Council that it be extended (2000 to 2004), with more succinct aims and a revised

66

structure, in line with a co-ordinated and simplified methodology. Whilst SOCRATES II will seek to strengthen the European dimension of education at all levels, promoting co-operation in all educational sectors and levels, helping to eliminate obstacles to co-operation and encouraging innovation in education in the Community, the streamlined structure, comprising eight actions, will place greater emphasis on the three stages of life-long learning (school, university and other means) and on transversal policies, in the form of language skills, multimedia and the sharing of information. Portugal has also co-operated on a range of different schemes under the TEMPUS II Programme, designed primarily to enhance the quality of higher education in the partner countries, contributing to the development and reform of their institutions, and encouraging exchanges and shared activities. The Portuguese contribution has been significant, especially in view of the technical requirements for participants. The programme consists of three main areas — Joint European Projects, Compact Projects and Individual Mobility Scholarships. Portugal has been more active in the TEMPUS/PHARE sector, covering Central and Eastern European countries than in the TEMPUS/TACIS programme which involves co-operation with the new independent states of the former Soviet Union. Another important aspect of Portuguese co-operation in the European Union is the mutual recognition of qualifications for academic and employment purposes (including the measures introduced by Decree-law no. 289/91, of 10 August, incorporation into internal Portuguese law of Directive 89/48/EEC, of 21 December, on the general system for recognising higher education qualifications). These measures bear witness to the country’s committed work towards the construction of European citizenship with all the rights this entails in terms of freedom of movement and mobility of students and teachers. 9.2. Multilateral co-operation 9.2.1. Multilateral organisations In addition to co-operation within the European Union, Portugal is also active in other international organisations, including both organisations of which it is a member and others in which it has observer status, such as the Organisation of Ibero-American States (OIS), involving both educational and more general cultural co-operation. The prime examples of this work are the United Nations (UN) and, within the UN system, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, in addition to the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the OIS. Portugal has been a member of the United Nations since 1955, and the Ministry of Education is often included in interministerial delegations which represent the country at major world conferences, helping to prepare the National Reports which are sent to the UN. In line with the central thrust of UN policy in recent years — Education for Human Rights and the Eradication of Poverty — Portugal has organised competitions and

67

information and awareness raising campaigns aimed at schools, designed to encourage students’ interests and collaboration in these fields. The main aim of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) is to maintain world peace and security and to strengthen international co-operation, in order to ensure respect for justice, human rights and fundamental liberties, without discrimination on grounds of race, sex, language or religion. Portugal joined UNESCO in 1965, then left it in 1972, only to return as a full member in 1974. The country is represented on a permanent basis at the Paris headquarters and since 1979 there has been a National Commission in Lisbon, run under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As a member-state of UNESCO, Portugal has taken part in the official activities of the Organisation, and attended the General Conference held every two years at which the UNESCO Programme and Budget for the next years are approved. The Ministry of Education has made consistent efforts to keep abreast of UNESCO’s work, taking part in the International Education Conference (Portugal prepared a national report on the education system for the last session) and in meetings, seminars and conferences organised by the different departments of the organisation, including the Bureau International de l’Education (BIE) and the International Education Planning Institute (IEPI) . The Conference for the Recognition of Higher Education Diplomas in the European Region was held in Lisbon in 1997 (resulting in the approval of the Lisbon Convention), and Portugal has also contributed to the Conference on Adult Education, as part of the central theme of life-long education, and the World Higher Education Conference, in October 1998. The Council of Europe, created in 1949, is today the largest European organisation, with 40 member countries. In addition to the organisation’s main objective of ensuring compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights, it is the European Cultural Convention which has generated the most practical measures, having been signed by 47 countries. A Cultural Co-operation Council (CCC), which runs four separate committees (education, higher education, culture and heritage), defines and approves co-operation policy in these fields. Portugal is active on the CCC and all its committees, and has taken part in the major education projects underway. These have included Education for Democratic Citizenship, Twentieth Century History Teaching, European Heritage Classes, Secondary Education Reform, Living Languages and Continuing Teacher Training. Two summits of heads of states and governments and biannual conferences for the relevant ministers (education, culture, heritage) are responsible respectively for defining the main political thrust of the Council’s work and priorities in different areas. In the OECD Portugal takes part as a full member in various organisations dealing with educational affairs: the Education Committees, the Centre for Education Research and Innovation (CERI), the Programme on Educational Building (PEB) and the Institute of Management in Higher Education (IMHE). The purpose of these committees is to analyse policies, trends, measures and successful innovations in these areas, and to issue

68

recommendations. The transformation of life-long learning is one of the priorities of the education ministers involved. Portugal has also taken part in surveys of sectoral policies, including surveys of the first years of higher education, the transition from initial training to working life, nursery education and care and fighting exclusion through adult education, as well as participating in the project on national indicators for the education system, with a view to facilitating comparisons between the systems in different countries. Portugal is a contributor to the overall budget of the OECD and is also one of the countries which provides aid to other countries, through the Development Assistance Committee. It should be stressed that OECD work in the field of education, teaching and training are closely linked to all area areas of government action, such as the economy, employment and social policy. The Community of Portuguese Speaking Nations (CPSN) was created in 1996 and seeks to complement and extend the breadth of co-operation between Portuguese speaking countries. It organises a Conference of Education Ministers which provides a forum for debating the major problems in the field of educational co-operation; this permits in-depth discussion of the topics earmarked by individual countries as priorities for their education systems, and also enables a consensus to be reached around policies and strategies to be implemented in relation to common problems. The First CPSN Conference of Education Ministers was held in Lisbon in 1997, and issued a series of recommendations basically connected with launching the International Institute of the Portuguese Language and aid for the consolidation of higher education. Portugal collaborates with Spain and South American countries through the Organisation of Ibero-American States (OIS), in which it has observer status, taking part in the General Assemblies and the Steering Committee. The Portuguese contribution consists not only of sharing experience and information, but also of practical co-operation on programmes run as part of the OIS plan of activities and on those approved by the summits of heads of states and governments, which meet every year in one of the member countries. The main areas of education on which the members have co-operated have been education management, education for values and interculturalism, comparative study of education systems (Portugal prepared a report on its education system in 1998) and technical and vocational education. Portuguese education managers and specialists at various levels regularly take part in training seminars organised by the OIS. As host of the Heads of State and Governments Summit of the Organisation of Ibero-American States (Oporto, October 1998), Portugal organised a number of ministerial conferences, including that of education ministers, held in Sintra, on 4 July 1998, on the subject of “Globalisation, the Knowledge and Education Society”, resulting in the Sintra Declaration. 9.3. Bilateral co-operation

69

Portugal has signed cultural co-operation agreements with 54 different countries (see Annex 3). Joint commissions are set up by Portugal and these other countries to deal with the fields of education, science, culture, youth and sport and the media, and to prepare practical co-operation programmes, normally with a duration of three years. Bilateral co-operation in education in principle covers all levels of the education system. These programmes, which are always of a reciprocal nature, involve sharing information and documentation on a number of subjects, exchanges of specialists, language teaching and collaboration between higher education institutions. The financial arrangements are also reciprocal — the country which sends personnel covers travel expenses, the country receiving them bears the expenses of their stay. Whenever a scheme has been included in the programme approved by the joint commission it must be implemented when so requested by one of the countries. The schemes are co-ordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Instituto Camões and, in relation to educational affairs, by the European Affairs and International Relations Office. All departments of the Ministry of Education collaborate on preparing bilateral programmes. Activity by these joint commissions was at a very low level for many years, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has recently injected new life into the process, and there has been an average of five or six commission meetings each year. The Ministry of Education has sought to take as active a part as possible, although for obvious reasons it is not always possible to prepare equally coherent joint programmes with all countries. 9.3.1. Co-operation with Portuguese speaking countries in Africa In view of its historical past, Portugal’s international co-operation policy inevitably reflects its former links with certain countries and special attention is given to relations with Portuguese speaking countries in Africa. In institutional and functional terms, co-operation with these countries follows the same pattern as that with other countries with which Portugal has co-operation agreements. There are therefore general and cultural co-operation agreements with each Portuguese-speaking country in Africa (Angola, Brazil, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and São Tomé e Príncipe), covering a wide range of activities, with a view to promoting the Portuguese language, restructuring the management and organisation of education systems, optimising human resources through training (teacher training and trainer training), developing and consolidating the institutional capacity of education and teaching establishments and implementing new technologies used to disseminate learning. Portugal co-operates with other Portuguese-speaking countries in four distinct ways. Firstly, by providing funds to finance programmes approved by joint commissions. Secondly, by means of a system of student scholarships, designed to offer training in key areas of the university system (from first degrees through to doctorates) for students from these countries. Thirdly, Portugal sends out teachers and other specialists every year to provide teaching where it is most needed or to help with organising and managing State services. Finally, by supporting Portuguese schools, or giving pedagogical support to schools abroad which teach Portuguese, to help disseminate Portuguese language and culture and at the same time to help unify culturally

70

heterogeneous areas, by teaching the skills needed to use Portuguese as either an official or practical language. 10. CENTRAL PRIORITIES AND STRATEGY THRUST

71

For contemporary societies to survive the growing pressures of mobility, globalisation and increased competition, governments have to pay special attention to the educational and training qualifications attained by their citizens. In Portugal, education and training are therefore considered as priority areas for public policy. The aim is to achieve change, not in abstract concepts like the “education system”, but in people. This change is brought about through the learning process, with the school seen as the main centre for educational activities, in which a broad range of actors take part in a concerted effort to improve the quality of education and training and at the same time to combat ignorance and social exclusion. In the light of past experience we now know that “major reforms” are not the way forward for the education system, as they can undermine the stability needed for the system to work smoothly. The approach which has been adopted instead is to work in terms of objectives and targets, developing a strategic plan and monitoring and assessing implementation on the ground in the short, medium and long term. This gradual approach to change does not in any way dilute our determination to move ahead, and allows us to identify, understand and extend instances of good practice as we go. This is the working method we have adopted in pursuing the main strategy objective of quality education for all, which will make an essential contribution to the development of the country. This is a broad and ambitious objective, which will require significant structural change as well as the priorities presented to the National Assembly by the Government in March 1998, with the title “Education — Changes for the Future”. The main thrust of this programmes is summarised below. Pre-school education — implementation of the Expansion and Development Programme for pre-school

education which over the various phases of the programme will be available, by the end of the decade, to 90% of children aged 5, 75% of children aged 4 and 60% of children aged 3. This progress will be possible thanks to integration of the state, charitable and private and co-operative sectors, and through the joint work of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Employment and Solidarity.

— the Ministry of Education will have sole responsibility for pedagogical questions,

allowing it to define curriculum guidelines which connect logically with the 1st cycle of basic education.

— the possibility of longer school days, whenever needed by families. Basic and secondary education

72

— ensuring that the three cycles of basic education are tied together in a coherent sequence, with special attention paid to the 1st cycle, which is fundamental for a quality basic education, and forms the foundation for future success in education or in the transition to working life.

— conclusion of the curriculum review currently being conducted with the

participation of the different actors involved. This process has started with identifying the core knowledge and skills to be acquired by the end of each cycle and level, and providing for changes to timetabling and the introduction of new features such as study monitoring.

— the creation of Priority Educational Action Areas (PEAA) and the design of

alternative curricula as a means of combating drop-out rates, inequality and social exclusion.

— permeability between the education and training systems, facilitating the

accreditation of training and the transition to working life, with special emphasis on combating the early drop-out rate, on providing school education for young people in employment who failed to complete their compulsory education and on adult education, all of which will be possible through co-operation between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Employment and Solidarity.

— improving the quality of school life, through investment in better facilities — indoor facilities for physical education and sports, libraries, multimedia resource centres and equipment for using new information and communication technologies (Programa Nónio Século XXI — Programme of Information and Communication Technology in Education) — and in providing artistic education and sports opportunities. Upgrading human resources — investment in continuing and specialist training for teacher and non-teaching staff,

to ensure that educational work is performed as well as possible. — creation of the National Institute of Teacher Training Accreditation, an external and

independent body which will ensure that teacher training is of sufficient quality. — creation of incentives to encourage teachers to stay on in isolated schools, through changes to the teacher placement system, placing greater stress on posts awarded for a number of years. Decentralisation — implementation of the new rules on school autonomy, administration and management, through conclusion of the first autonomy agreements which make the central authorities, the municipal council, the school and other partners jointly responsible for the educational process. Higher education

73

— regulations on access to higher education which give the institutions a greater say in the process of evaluating, selecting and classifying candidates.

— measures designed to allow for an increase in the number of places available in

higher education in general and in strategic areas such as medicine and health technology.

— improving the credibility of assessment in higher education, with the creation of a

National Assessment Board to guarantee a cyclical assessment system, using external audits and also to analyse aspects such as the relevance of and employability offered by qualifications.

— enhancing the status and career prospects of university and polytechnic teachers, by reviewing their contracts and the related regulations, with a view to quality and internationalisation, combined in higher salaries. Portuguese language teaching — creation of Portuguese schools in Macao, Maputo and Luanda, in order to promote and disseminate Portuguese language and culture, as part of a policy of co-operation and support for Portuguese communities abroad. In short, the main priorities for the education sector are centred on principles such as the availability of education for all, with the ultimate aim of lifelong education and training, based on a pluralistic approach, the pursuit of quality and credibility and incentives for a culture of autonomy, rather than of dependence, which clearly promotes innovation. The way forward has to be defined by all those engaged in the education process, with active and responsible citizenship from all those involved. Although short term aims are important, the main emphasis has to be on the medium and long term, and plans should be implemented in progressive stages, with monitoring, assessment and, whenever necessary, the possibility of adjustments. This is the route to gradual but sustained change, in which education is seen as a factor contributing to social cohesion and to national development and progress, through the exercise of active, democratic and responsible citizenship.

Relevant legislation

74

— Decree-Law no. 769-A/76, of 23 October — Decree-Law no. 448/79, of 13 November — Law no. 19/80, of 16 July (amending D.L. no. 448/79) — Decree-Law no. 553/80, of 21 November — Decree-Law no. 185/81, of 1 July — Law no. 46/86, of 14 October — Law no. 108/88, of 24 September — Decree-Law no. 287/88, of 19 August — Decree-Law no. 26/89, of 21 August — Decree-Law no. 286/89, of 29 August — Decree-Law no. 344/89, of 11 October — Decree-Law no. 345/89, of 11 October (amending D.L. no. 287/88) — Decree-Law no. 35/90, of 25 January — Decree-Law no. 139-A/90, of 28 April — Ministerial Order (Portaria) no. 782/90, of 1 September — Law no. 54/90, of 5 September — Despatch no. 141/ME/90, of 1 September — Despatch no. 142/ME/90, of 1 September — Decree-Law no. 344/90, of 2 November — Decree-Law no. 369/90, of 26 November — Decree-Law no. 74/91, of 9 February — Decree-Law no. 172/91, of 10 May — Decree-Law no. 190/91, of 17 May — Decree-Law no. 289/91, of 10 August — Decree-Law no. 319/91, of 23 August — Ministerial Order (Portaria) no. 423/92, of 22 May — Regulatory Despatch no. 98/A/92, of 20 June — Despatch no. 134/ME/92, of 1 September — Ministerial Order (Portaria) no. 921/92, of 23 September — Decree-Law no. 249/92, of 9 November — Decree-Law no. 70/93, of 10 March — Decree-Law no. 133/93, of 26 April — Decree-Law no. 142/93, of 26 April — Ministerial Order (Portaria) no. 590/93, of 12 June — Despatch no. 178-A/ME/93, of 30 July — Law no. 60/93, of 20 August (amending D.L. no. 249/92) — Decree-Law no. 301/93, of 31 August — Regulatory Despatch no. 338/93, of 21 October — Decree-Law no. 16/94, of 22 January — Regulatory Despatch no. 664-A/94, of 15 September — Decree-Law no. 274/94, of 28 October — Decree-Law no. 28-B/96, of 4 April — Despatch no. 147-B/ME/96, of 1 August — Ministerial Order (Portaria) no. 170/96, of 22 May — Law no. 5/97, of 10 February — Decree-Law no. 47/97, of 25 February — Decree-Law no. 147/97, of 11 June — Decree-Law no. 229/97, of 30 August — Law no. 113/97, of 16 September — Law no. 115/97, of 19 September (amending Law no. 46/86)

75

— Constitutional Law no. 1/97, of 20 September — Decree-Law no. 314/97, of 15 November — Decree-Law no. 1/98, of 2 January (amending D.L. no. 139-A/90) — Decree-Law no. 4/98, of 8 January — Decree-Law no. 50/98, of 11 March — Decree-Law no. 89-A/98, of 7 April — Decree-Law no.115-A/98, of 4 May (amending D. L. no. 172/91) — Decree-Law no. 206/98, of 13 July — Ministerial Order no. 413-A/98, of 17 July

Annex 1

76

Quantitative data Table 1 — Portugal: Demographic data, 1993/96 Table 2 — Economic indicators, 1993/96 Table 3 — Children registered in pre-school education, 1995/96 (Mainland Portugal) Table 4 — Students registered in basic education, 1995/96 (Mainland Portugal) Table 5 — Academic success rate in basic education, 1995/96 (Mainland Portugal) Table 6 — Students registered in secondary education, 1995/96 (Mainland Portugal) Table 7 — Students registered in other forms of secondary education, 1995/96 (Mainland Portugal) Table 8 — Students registered in higher education Table 9 — Students registered in higher education 1995/96 (Mainland Portugal) Table 10 — Students registered in education, by type of establishment and educational level, 1995/96 (Mainland Portugal) Table 11 — Non-teaching staff in public and private teaching establishments and the central offices of the Ministry of Education Table 1. Portugal: demographic data, 1993/96

77

Source: Assessment, Forecasting and Planning Department/Ministry of Education. Table 2. Economic indicators, 1993/96

78

Source: Informação Económica, no. 42, July/September 1997, Forecasting and Planning Department of the Ministry of Works, Planning and Territorial Administration/State Department for Regional Development. Table 3. Children registered in pre-school education 1995/96 (Mainland Portugal)

79

Source: Assessment, Forecasting and Planning Department/Ministry of Education. Table 4. Students registered in basic education 1995/96 (Mainland Portugal)

Source: Assessment, Forecasting and Planning Department/Ministry of Education.

a) Includes only the mainstream teaching system. b) Mainstream reaching system (7th, 8th and 9th grades and evening classes-general courses).

Table 5. Academic success rate in basic education, 1995/96 (Mainland Portugal)

80

Source: Assessment, Forecasting and Planning Department/Ministry of Education.

a) Includes public and private sectors. Table 6. Students registered in secondary education, 1995/96 (Mainland Portugal)

Source: Assessment, Forecasting and Planning Department/Ministry of Education.

a) Includes courses for students seeking to enter higher education12thgrade. b) Includes technical-vocational courses (evening classes).

Table 7. Students registered in other forms of secondary education, 1995/96 (Mainland Portugal)

81

Source: Assessment, Forecasting and Planning Department/Ministry of Education. Table 8. Students registered in higher education

Source: Assessment, Forecasting and Planning Department/Ministry of Education. Table 9. Students registered in higher education, 1995/96 (Mainland Portugal)

82

Source: Assessment, Forecasting and Planning Department/Ministry of Education.

a) Includes the Portuguese Catholic University. Table 10. Students registered in education by type of establishment and educational level, 1995/96 (Mainland Portugal)

Source: Assessment, Forecasting and Planning Department/Ministry of Education.

a) Includes mainstream and adult education. b) Includes mainstream, adult and vocational education (level II). c) Includes mainstream, artistic (visual arts), adult and vocational education (level III) d) Includes the Portuguese Catholic University

Table 11. Non-teaching staff in public and private educational establishments and the central offices of the Ministry of Education

83

Source: Assessment, Forecasting and Planning Department/General Secretarial Services of the Ministry of Education

a) Figures for 1994/95. b) Figures for 1998.

Annex 2

84

Qualitative data Table 1 — Curricula: 1st cycle. Table 2 — Curricula: 2nd cycle. Table 3 — Curricula: 3rd cycle. Table 4 — Curricula: secondary education. Figure 1. Ministry of Education: Organisational Structure. Table 1 — Curricula: 1st cycle

85

Source: Decree-law no. 286/89, 29 August

a) All subject areas are compulsory. b) Currently being piloted.

Table 2 — Curricula: 2nd cycle

86

Source: Decree-law no. 286/89, 29 August.

a) All subject areas are compulsory. b) Currently being piloted.

87

Table 3 — Curricula: 3rd cycle

Source: Decree-Law no. 286/89, of 29 August.

a) Continuation of the foreign language studied in the 2nd cycle. b) Depending on the school’s resources and facilities. c) Currently being piloted. d) To be organised depending on the school’s resources, except for foreign language II which it is compulsory for schools to offer.

88

Table 4 — Curricula: secondary education

Source: Decree-Law no. 286/89, of 29 August.

89

�� Page 135 (Ministry of Education: Organisational Structure) o See attachted document (Mestructure.doc)

90

Annex 3

List of Countries with which Portugal has Cultural Agreements

(cont.)

91

92

PORTUGAL

EDUCATION POLICY GUIDELINES

Educational shortcomings accumulated over the years have made demands on the Portuguese government to introduce qualitative changes and invest heavily in education. To this end, following the revolution on 25 April 1974, a great deal has been done to develop, expand and bring democracy to education. Problems were faced and measures adopted to guarantee access to education to a minimum of nine years of compulsory schooling for all children and adolescents, with a view to eradicating illiteracy, particularly prevalent among the older members of the population. The 1991 census revealed that 12.1% of the population aged 15 or over did not know how to read and write, and a large percentage did not have the essential literacy skills taught in compulsory education.

Aware of this reality and of the fact that education is essential for an open society, based on understanding and information, in which individuals and their qualifications are a decisive factor for development, the government gave priority to education. The approach views education as a long process which, in involving the whole of society, aims at bringing stability to institutions and sharing responsibilities with the main players in education in defining the major guidelines for the future. A series of guiding principles were defined on which educational policy is based:

- Universal approach - in which education is viewed as a right to be guaranteed for all, bearing in mind the needs of personal fulfilment and the objectives of economic and social development;

- Quality and equity - based on the fair distribution of resources, on equality of opportunity, improving social action and life-long learning, in which pre-school education is the first level in this learning process;

2

- Responsibility - which implies the idea of belonging to society, providing a public service, accountability and the full assumption of political responsibilities;

- Participation and negotiation - bearing in mind that educational policies, addressed to all, imply dialogue, on-going negotiation and the active participation of society and citizens;

- The school - seen as the nucleus, diversified in its approach, and the centre and pivotal force in education policies. These should be based on co-ordination, involving the different fields of training, qualification and jobs, following the logic of on-going education;

- Information and communication - in such a way as to increase the visibility of the education system and create the conditions for making the public aware of the importance of education;

With education policy based on these guiding principles the government aims to achieve the following strategic objectives:

- education viewed as a matter for all, a fundamental instrument for development;

- guaranteeing quality basic education for all, on the understanding that it is the start of the process of life-long learning and training;

- enshrining secondary education as the intermediate cycle in the pursuit of studies and the final training cycle;

- modernising, regionalising and decentralising the administration of the education system, recognising schools as the centre of the education process, making them the driving force of a local training system;

- developing processes for strategic information and broadening communication networks;

- promoting adult education and training as an on-going, life-long process;

- promoting the balanced development of higher education;

- improving and adding dignity and responsibility to education professionals.

To this end the Government defined an action programme to involve the different education levels and this is now being implemented:

3

1. To bring quality basic education to all, with pre-school education seen as the first step in the process of preparation and life-long learning, a programme was introduced for the development and expansion of pre-school education to children aged from 3 to 5. Several measures were adopted to define the underlying legal framework for this level of education with a view to making it widespread but sufficiently flexible to meet the specific nature of certain contexts. In 2000, the rate of coverage rose to 71%, from 54.4% in 1995. The Government aims to pursue the plan for expansion and development in pre-school education, and expects by the end of the current term of office (2003) to include all five year olds, and 70 -75% of three and four year olds.

The prime objective for basic education, for which the schooling rate was 100% in the 1999/2000 school year, is to promote the conditions for the success of all pupils, ensuring that compulsory schooling of nine years is achieved. The government aims to provide quality basic education for all, providing different forms of education and training, better co-ordination among the three cycles, attaching more importance to research, experimentation, modern language learning and the use of more modern means of communication and access to information. To this end, a general guiding policy to give structure to the plan was defined, after a public hearing, and in which new curricular structures are a feature. This should be applied in the 1st. and 2nd. cycles in the 2001/2002 school year. The main pillars of this reorganisation are the introduction of three new curricular areas: the project area, monitored study and education for citizenship, as well as the introduction of a second, compulsory foreign language in the 3rd. cycle of basic education. Social exclusion is given greater attention with the application of several measures such as setting up educational areas for priority intervention, defining a legal framework and creating classes for alternative curricula These measures aim to develop different pedagogic approaches, flexible management of curricula, within the framework of a new system of autonomy, administration and management of schools, and provide courses for education and initial vocational training. The qualifications of teaching staff have also been revised and the school network given a new dimension.

4

Learning assessment is also being changed as part of the process of curricular revision. By the end of the present term of office the government aims to guarantee a universal approach to school and vocational guidance measures in the 3rd. cycle of basic education.

2. The government's aim for secondary education is to increase by 20% the schooling rate for adolescents aged between 15 and 18 by the end of 2003. This will raise attendance at this level from 65% to 85%, overcoming failure and early dropout. Following a public hearing, curricular change is also being introduced in this teaching level. The place and aim of this level are being redefined, and its dual nature recognised as an intermediate cycle for pursuing studies, in co-ordination with basic and higher education, and as an end training cycle with a wide range of teaching and training leading to qualification. New curricular structures are envisaged for the 2002/2003 school year, in the 10th. year of schooling, and these will later be extended to the 11th. and 12th. years in the near future. As part of this curricular organisation, a project area has been created in general courses, and a technological project area in technological courses. These are non-disciplinary curricular areas which aim to develop an integrated view of knowledge and the relationship between theory and practice. They will also promote school and vocational guidance and ease the approach to the working world. As in the case of basic education, education for citizenship, improving the use of the Portuguese language and the human dimension of labour are included as trans-disciplinary training, as well as the use of information and communication technologies. A flexible framework is also defined for developing measures to improve the curriculum, and internal assessment schemes are being linked to provisions for external assessment. With a view to training for working life and the relationship between education and training, a new legal framework has been provided for creating, running and funding vocational schools, with vocational training courses introduced not only for adolescents completing compulsory schooling, but also specific education-training schemes for young people who drop out of school before completing compulsory schooling. The new autonomy scheme for schools

5

is also applied to secondary education, as are the measures used in basic education for overcoming failure and school drop-out.

3. The most striking feature of higher education in recent years in Portugal is its expansion. This process has been so fast and significant that there is no other example like it in the OECD countries. The supply rate of higher education (number of places compared to the number of individuals aged 18) rose from 5% in 1970 to 57% in 1997. Between 1987 and 1992, the number of places in higher public education rose by around 40%, and the number of places in private higher education increased 250%. This expansion took place basically in three areas: growth in public university education, creation of public polytechnic education and the development of private institutions. Between 1986 and 1996, the public sector grew by around 110% (74% in university education and 317% in polytechnic). Bearing in mind these facts, the main objectives assumed currently and for the future by the State aim to ensure better teaching for a larger number, in the best conditions, and streamlining, consolidating and ensuring overall the quality of institutions and structures in public higher education, as well as in private and co-operative higher education.

4. The network of on-going adult education was restructured and more training was provided for young people from 15-18 who drop out of school. In 2000, the Agência Nacional de Educação e Formação de Adultos (ANEFA) (National Agency for Adult Education and Training) was created under the auspices of the Ministries of Education, and Labour and Solidarity. The Agency will provide further encouragement for life-long education and training, school and vocational qualifications for working people and the certification of knowledge and skills acquired in formal and informal contexts, as well as improving the employability of adults. Up to 2006, eighty four Centres for the Recognition, Validation and Certification of Skills will be created.

5. On the other hand, the schools hardware and software equipment and the support to new technology projects was expanded in the framework of the Nónio Programme set up in 1996. This programme aims at the

6

widespread production, implementation and use of the information and communication technologies in the education system. Its specific purposes are, as follow, to supply basic and secondary schools with multimedia equipment.

– To give adequate training to teachers;

– To support the development of partner schools projects;

– To dynamise and support the setting up of educational software, exchange and network cooperation.

It is intended to enlarge the hardware and software equipment of the basic and secondary schools connected to Internet and to other communication networks during the year of 2001. With the support of the Ministry of Science and Technology and in cooperation with local authorities, basic schools are already being connected to Internet, as it is the case of secondary schools. In 2001 the connection to all the other 1st cycle schools and teacher training centres will be ensured, thus achieving and making available the information network of the education system at all levels.

Conclusion

In recent years the government has tried to steer towards combating social exclusion. In initiatives such as setting up educational areas for priority intervention, alternative curricula, education and training courses and, in the area of adult education, reorganising the provision of on-going education and the creation of the National Agency for Adult Education and Training, progress has been made in overcoming exclusion factors.

The challenge in coming years will be the objectives of giving more children and adolescents education, ensuring that the nine years of compulsory schooling are completed, combating drop-out and failure and increasing attendance of 15 to 18 year olds in secondary education. Increased schooling rates in the different levels of education and teaching will be linked to a real improvement in

7

qualification levels in future generations, thus investing in the acquisition of the knowledge and skills required for modern societies. The curricular revisions underway at present will reinforce the command of basic skills and the acquisition of across-the-board skills that encourage the link between the different areas of knowledge and understanding. At the same time, a variety of educational schemes will help meet the needs of an increasing variety of school goers. The assessment culture that has been gradually developed throughout the different education levels by fully standardising national examinations in the 12th. year, and by introducing at the start of 2000 assessment tests to determine the performance of pupils in Portuguese and Mathematics in the last years of the 1st., 2nd. and 3rd. cycles of basic education, are of considerable importance in discovering how learning in the key subjects is progressing and in detecting difficulties in the teaching process. The Government will also pay particular attention to measures that will help stabilise the teaching body in schools by adopting an incentives policy of on-going and specialist training for educators and teachers, in close co-ordination with curricular revision for basic and secondary education. In addition, renovating schools and their equipment providing them with the tools essential for acquiring the knowledge and skills required for social development are all priorities. The programme "complete schools" which includes equipping new schools from scratch, providing covered areas for physical education and sport, areas to house libraries, media libraries, resources centres, data processing equipment and the new information and communication technologies, as well as re-qualifying existing schools, will continue to guarantee better environmental and safety conditions to all school users, as well as the teaching resources required for quality education. In 2000-2001, fifty seven new undertakings come into use, and a major investment was made in maintaining existing school premises, equipping schools with computers and in expanding school libraries.

Within this context, in 2001 and following years, the fundamental objectives of investing heavily in quality, decentralisation and autonomy will be adopted, bringing stability to the life of schools, improving the teaching profession, encouraging the whole community to take part and consolidating educational projects. Implementing these objectives will improve learning and thus respond to the challenges of knowledge and innovation.

8

In short, with these guidelines for the future, democratic, knowledge and information society and long life learning will be strengthened, and in it education and training are active factors for quality, high standards, equity and justice in responding to the challenges of competitiveness and development and in meeting the demands of freedom and solidarity.

9

�� Figure 1. Ministry of Education: Organisational Structure

Minister

Central Regional Education Office

Lisbon Regional Education Office

Northern Regional Education Office

Alentejo Regional Education Office

Algarve Regional Education Office

Bureau for European Affairs and International Relations

Secretary of State for Higher Education

Secretary of State for Education

Secretary of State for Educacional

Administration

General Directorate of Higher Education

Department of Basic Education

Department of Secondary Education

Institute for Innovation in Education

Bureau for Educational Assessment

Bureau for School Sports Co-ordination

Social Services

Institute of Educational History

National Institute for the Accreditation of Teacher

Training

General Inspectorate of Education

General Secretarial Department

Publications

General Directorate for Educacional

Administration

Assessment Forecasting and Planning Department

Bureau for Financial Management

National Agency for Adult Education and

Training