Sofia Ribeiro says people are the Government's top priority - Communication

Secretaria Regional da Educação, Cultura e Desporto

The Regional Secretary for Education, Culture and Sport, Sofia Ribeiro, stressed today that, in the areas under her responsibility, "there is always much to be done" and one "cannot do everything at once." Nevertheless, the priority for 2026 lies in policies for people.

"We propose the consistency and consolidation of the work carried out, which has ensured the evolution and growth of the Region and support for families, also achieved through the job stability of workers in Education, Culture and Sport," she said.

The government official at the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, in Horta, on the first day of debate on the proposals for next year's Plan and Budget.

In the area of education, Sofia Ribeiro began by pointing out that the Azores Education Strategy 2030 "established as a priority the alignment of the Azores' results with those of the rest of the country," a “focus” of governance "reflected in this proposed Budget and Investment Plan."

"A few days ago, we received the results of a study conducted by the Ministry of Education showing that Azorean students had the best results in 9th-grade math since 2012. We are very proud of this result, which reflects the commitment, taken since the beginning of this Government, to investing in educational projects focused on the success of each student," she noted. 

She continued: "We are also proud of our students' results in recent National Exams. In 2025, the Azores scored higher than the national average in eight subjects. The Investment Plan for 2026 does not overlook the historic decline in the early dropout rate from education and training, and continues to focus on closing the gap with the rest of the country. Today, we have the lowest rate ever recorded in the Azores. However, this proposal for investment in education also focuses on direct action for families, and social support continues to be the Plan's largest item of expenditure."

According to her, we are talking about 14 million Euros for Social Welfare in schools

"With the support allocated by this Government to all Azoreans over the last few years, we have managed to reduce the number of students in need of support and increase aid for students with greater difficulties. Since 2020, we have had 10.9% fewer students in schools overall, and 17.4% fewer students benefiting from social welfare. This means that the decrease in the number of students benefiting from social welfare is greater than the demographic decline. However, instead of reducing support for School Social Welfare, we have increased it by 42.8%. As a result, support per student has grown by 60.3% since 2020.

The PSD/CDS-PP/PPM Government has hired more than 900 teachers, even with a decrease of about 4,500 students in schools.

"This was our decision at the beginning of our term, but it has an impact every year," acknowledged Sofia Ribeiro. She added that, for the salaries of the education staff, whether they are teachers or non-teaching workers, and for their necessary and fair progression, the Education Budget has an additional allocation of €10 million compared to 2025."

"Since 2020, about 600 more education workers have been hired by schools, including about 500 operational assistants. In the 2019/2020 school year, the ratio of operational assistants stood at one for every 27 students; today it stands at one for every 21 students. The Education Plan and Budget for 2026 aims to continue to promote these workers and their careers," she added.

In the "Digital Schools" project, there is "a good implementation, also reflected" in the proposed Investment Plan.

"Since the beginning of this project, we have managed to secure an investment of €36.5 million in the Region's school establishments. This represents over 15,000 computers and tablets in schools, over 1,000 interactive panels and over 4,380 new internet points," she announced.

Regarding culture, there is now" more money is actually being paid to cultural agents across the Region," with €1.7 million planned for 2026, and "the new support scheme for cultural activities, created by this Government, has received hundreds of applications."

She added: "It is this new support scheme, and its applications, that this proposed Plan will address. This regulation has already streamlined the analysis of cases. The provisional list of eligible applications has already been published, and this week we will meet with the jury responsible for analysing and assessing applications, immediately beginning the assessment phase. However, the Government's investment in culture cannot be limited to support. It must ensure the vitality of our traditions and heritage, but it must also encourage creativity and production; it must promote knowledge and, effectively, encourage a plural, autonomous and independent culture."

Regarding sport, Sofia Ribeiro stated that in the last sporting season for which data is available, 2023/2024, and throughout 2024, "a new historic high of 24,872 federated athletes was reached, spread across 42 sports."

Moreover,  we have currently processed 100% of travel aid. We have complementary aid from contracts already signed for the current sporting season, thus "supporting the management of the 49 teams participating in annual competitions and in the Azores Football Championship. We are meeting the needs of the respective entities, especially in terms of predictability."

"Both the sports and culture sectors benefit from the very positive effect of this Government's commitment to the 'Azores Fare' and tax reductions, as these automatically reduce the direct costs borne by institutions. This Government not only directly boosts various forms of support, but also indirectly supports these comprehensive measures, which are part of a broader effort to support all Azoreans," concluded the Regional Secretary.

Related press release: Speech by the Regional Secretary for Education, Culture and Sport