Sofia Ribeiro contradicts pessimistic expexctations and highlights progress in national exam results and early school dropout - Communication

Secretaria Regional da Educação, Cultura e Desporto

The Regional Secretary for Education, Culture and Sport, Sofia Ribeiro, regrets the haste of the President of PS/Açores, Francisco César, who is more interested in reporting problems than in pointing out solutions and presenting reliable data.

"Francisco César should know the true nature of the Region's structural problems and recognise his party's responsibility for the appalling choices made in education by socialist governments during their 24 years in power," she said.

It is also regrettable that the leader of PS undervalues, with total disrespect for the educational community, the good results achieved in the national exams and tests, a year when Azorean students achieved better averages than national students in general in 10 subjects, especially in Portuguese and Maths A, due to their representativeness.

It is also important to note the lowest-ever rate of early school dropout, which stood at 27% in the Socialist era and now at 21.7% this year.

While there were 88 vacancies left unfilled following the first phase of the teaching application, 460 duly qualified teachers are available in the same subjects, who can be placed in later phases.

"This is a process that we will continue to monitor to increase the possibilities for schools’ needs to be met by duly qualified teachers who were not placed in the first phase," she said.

Among these, there were six vacancies for Corvo and 22 for Flores that were launched for the applications now taking place, with 92 candidates submitting their applications.

The shortage of teachers is a concern for the Azorean Government, which from the outset has developed a series of initiatives to make the profession more attractive

Unlike the socialist governments, which put an end to paid professional traineeships, the coalition Government restored a model according to which teachers, in the final year of their initial training, now receive a salary and their hours of service are credited for the length of service. 

At the same time, students enrolled in teaching degree programmes were awarded scholarships to support their tuition fees in the teaching areas with the greatest shortage. This government also implemented support to offset the extra costs of traineeships in the Region, encouraging students from other parts of the country to begin their careers in the Azores.

As a result of these policies, this academic year there will be 57 master's students carrying out their training in Azorean schools.

In addition, far-reaching changes have been made to the Teaching Career Statute in the Azores, with the full recovery of inter-career time, the introduction of fair working hours for preschool and elementary school teachers and the end of situations where teachers were penalised more than other public administration workers in terms of working conditions.

"If the socialist government had not disregarded maternity, paternity and sick leave rights, especially in Flores and Corvo, we certainly would not be facing the current shortage of teachers," says the Regional Secretary.

Sofia Ribeiro recalled that the Government granted rights to hired teachers who were previously prevented from enjoying their labour rights under equal conditions regarding holidays, leave and time off, especially on these two islands.

As far as the school calendar is concerned, it should be noted that this Government respects the decision-making autonomy of school establishments, which manage their calendar considering the different realities regarding transport, a key issue for the Flores and Corvo communities.

The school calendar rules for this academic year were unanimously approved by the Coordinating Council of the Regional Education System at its May meeting. Schools have the possibility of beginning classes between September 9 and 11 and "they can also manage the end of classes differently in each term, as long as they respect a common limit for each education level."