Applications for masters' scholarships open - Communication

Secretaria Regional da Educação e dos Assuntos Culturais

The period for the submission of applications for scholarships for the attendance of teaching master's degree programmes is already open.

According to the Regional Secretary for Education, Sofia Ribeiro, the 60 scholarships now created "aim to address the shortage of teaching staff in Azorean schools."

The joint order of the Regional Secretaries for Education and for Vocational Training and Employment has already been published in the Official Journal. It defines the maximum number of scholarships, per teaching area, for Azorean students attending teaching master's degree programmes. 

Sofia Ribeiro explained that the criterion for the definition of vacancies per teaching area took into consideration "the assessment of fixed-term contracts signed in the previous school year under the Public Employment Exchange of the Autonomous Region of the Azores.

These teaching areas include Portuguese/English and Visual Arts and Technological Training, both at middle school level, as well as Portuguese, English, Portuguese Sign Language, History, Physics and Chemistry, Biology and Geology, Computer Science and Piano teaching.

As the Secretary for Education emphasised, Biology and Geology and IT" are considered priority areas" in the granting of scholarships, "with 10 and 25 scholarships being allocated to these areas, respectively."

"The remaining 35 scholarships, up to a maximum of 60, will be distributed among the remaining areas," she said.

Applications are made through a request. According to the government official, applicants are also required to "submit a document proving enrolment in the master's degree programme, a document containing the applicant's mark and a secondary school completion certificate that should also state the name of the respective school."

In turn, the Regional Secretary for Youth, Vocational Training and Employment stressed the importance of this support under the policies aimed at improving the qualifications and professional development of Azoreans.

"The granting of these scholarships is another example of the work carried out by the Regional Government to improve the qualifications of Azoreans in this specific case of professionals in the education sector. This investment will certainly have a positive impact on the social and economic development of the Region," stressed Maria João Carreiro.

The granting of scholarships follows the approval of a proposal by the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores that was submitted by the coalition parties (PSD, CDS-PP and PPM) in September 2021.  

It should be noted that the government official mentioned, last week, that 99% of the teaching needs of schools had been fulfilled, with 45 more teachers working in regional schools than in the previous school year.