Speech delivered by the Regional Secretary for Education and Cultural Affairs - Communication

Secretaria Regional da Educação e dos Assuntos Culturais

Full text of the speech delivered today by the Regional Secretary for Education and Cultural Affairs in Horta during the discussion of the Plan and Budget for 2023:

"It has become more than evident, since the XIII Government of the Azores took office, the investment and its continuous increase in the area of Education. For 2023, we plan an increase of more than two million Euros compared to the previous year.

Comparing this plan with the last plan drawn up and implemented by the previous government, there is an evolution of more than nine million Euros. We will invest 47% more in Education than the previous government. Practically the double.

Once again, the largest share of the Plan is once again focused on School Welfare, with an increase of 22% compared to the previous year. Due to rising prices, we have decided to set a higher amount of aid in this area of the plan. In a year that is expected to be financially demanding, we have decided to increase the Government's effort, so as not to increase the effort level of families. In fact, the effort of families in 2023 will be lower, starting with free textbooks. Until this Government took office, only two school grades had access to free textbooks. With the first plan and budget of the XIII Government of the Azores, all students attending elementary school now have free access to school manuals.

With the introduction of the dematerialisation project for school textbooks and the corresponding investment in the Plan, all students in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th and 9th grades will have free access to school textbooks by 2023. This means that in two-thirds of the compulsory schooling period, access to textbooks will be universal and free from next year, in addition to the continuation of the loan system.

This measure will be extended to all students throughout the Region. This commitment is a relevant mechanism to promote equal access to information and study, not only by providing textbooks to all, but also by ensuring individual technological tools and equipment, also free of charge. They will complement high-quality work and study, which was previously only possible for students who could afford them.

The number of technological equipment will continue to grow in our schools. The Plan for next year foresees an increase in the Digital Schools project by about 17%. This Government of the Azores continues to invest in the introduction of new measures aimed at educational differentiation. This is also the Plan and Budget that continues the fight against precariousness and promotes professional development. Our action has already made it possible for more than a thousand workers to join the public education staff in the Region.

Fifty days after this Government took office, the Regional Secretariat for Education had already presented a proposal to amend the Regulation on the Teaching Application procedures, limiting the successive hiring of teachers on a fixed-term basis. If we had not done so, we would be in an absolutely chaotic situation and faced with a shortage of teachers. Since the introduction of this amendment, which the Socialist Party voted against, we have managed to secure the employment of 429 teachers who had fallen victim to unacceptable situations of precariousness. That is why we have managed, at the beginning of this school year, to ensure that 99% of the teaching needs of schools were met.

Even with the declining number of students in regional schools, there are more teachers working in the Azores, and there are also more workers in the Region's schools.

In September 2019, the year before the pandemic, and whose management was under the sole responsibility of the previous government, there were 1,911 education assistants in schools.Today, with the changes in the criteria for the placement of education assistants in schools as well as with the creation of multidisciplinary teams and the placement of more senior staff, we have 2,390 education assistants in Azorean schools. This represents an increase of around 500 workers compared to the last year of socialist governance when there were 3,000 more students.

It should be noted that the work carried out by this Government in combating the precariousness that also existed among education workers, made it possible to place 582 workers in the regional education staff.

The commitment of this Government to combat precariousness also extends to Cultural Affairs. We have increased the Budget by one million Euros. We clearly believe that cultural sector workers should have a career with dignity and be placed in the Region's permanent staff, thus reducing situations of unacceptable precariousness. We are analysing the needs and the organisation of our libraries and museums, fighting for more efficient management mechanisms and the stability of their workers.

The most significant actions on our islands, namely RJAAC (Legal Support Scheme for Cultural Activities) aimed at cultural agents, SOREFIL, a support programme for Philharmonic Bands, and the recovery of whaling boats, are the actions specifically safeguarded in next year's plan.

With the Legal Support Scheme for Cultural Activities, we are planning for 2023 support amounting to 850 thousand Euros. In 2019, under the previous government, 174 thousand Euros less had been paid than what we propose for 2023.  

As for the support programme for recreational and philharmonic societies, we have planned for 2023 to almost double the amount paid in 2019.

As regards the acquisition, recovery and conservation of facilities for cultural entities, we have allocated 100 thousand Euros, corresponding to an increase of 87% compared to what was actually paid in 2019.

A rearrangement was made so that we have an increase of 77 thousand Euros compared to last year for cultural dissemination activities and an increase of 33% for the improvement of external services.

The rearrangements that were made for investments with Azorean Culture do not withdraw support to cultural agents; rather they protect them, being a true investment in Culture. But the greatest investment that can be made in Culture is the one that results from democratization, simplification and transparency in the access and adequacy of support to cultural activities and agents. We are reviewing, in a broad debate, the basic laws that are structural to the sector, a long-standing demand of the cultural agents.In this spirit, we manage cultural affairs, working as a catalyst for Culture. Culture belongs to the Azoreans."