The Regional Director for Education and Training announced in Horta on Monday that the Azores will reformulate the regional legislation on affective-sexual education, which has been in force in the archipelago since 2000.
The information was provided by Fabíola Cardoso at the chamber of the Legislative Assembly of the Azores, where the regional phase of the Youth Parliament, counting upon the participation of 36 students representing 18 Azorean Basic Education schools (junior and high school) was held on Monday.
As she explained at the occasion, Azorean schools already have guidelines on the affective-sexual education from preschool to secondary education for 10 years, with “with curricular guidelines and activity proposals to be developed with students.”
However, Fabíola Cardoso said that our schools have a considerable autonomy, therefore each school adjusts “the strategy to implement the affective and sexual education” to its educational project.
The Regional Director also said that the main “novelty” brought by the latest national legislation concerns the establishment of student attendance offices. There are only 10 Azorean schools that have not established them yet.
This represents that “within our autonomy and without the need of regulations, overwhelming majority of our schools have already established these offices on their own initiative,” added the Regional Director.
As she explained, in addition to teachers and schools psychologists, most student attendance offices count on the cooperation of healthcare centres, which provide nurses that, periodically, “go to schools and see students.”
This regional session was attended by students from the Biscoitos, Vila do Topo, Canto da Maia, Roberto Ivens, Angra do Heroísmo, Ribeira Grande and Mouzinho da Silveira Basic Education Schools; the São Jorge Vocational Training School; the Laranjeiras, Antero de Quental, Manuel de Arriaga and Domingos Rebelo Secondary Schools and from the São Roque, Vila Franca do Campo, Velas, Madalena, Graciosa and Flores Basic Education and Secondary Schools.
At the session that was held on Monday, the young “members of parliament,” in addition to discussing the issue of sexual education, will also elect six Azorean representatives that will participate in the Assembly of Republic at the national session of the Youth Parliament to take place on May 24 and 25.
The Youth Parliament programme is an initiative of the Assembly of the Republic addressed at basic education and secondary school students which organises two national sessions at the National Parliament.
This initiative, which is supported by the Regional Directorates for Education and Training and Youth in the Azores, aims to stimulate interest of youngsters for civic and political participation and emphasise the importance of their contribution to solve questions affecting their individual and collective present and future, through the dissemination of their proposals at the political bodies.
Publicising the significance of the parliamentary mandate and the decision-making
Process of the National and Regional Assemblies and encouraging the development of argumentative skills to defend ideas based on the respect of values such as tolerance and the majority's will are other goals of the Youth Parliament.
The regional session of the Youth Parliament addressed at secondary school students will be held at the plenary hall of the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday. This session will be dedicated to centennial of the Republic and will count upon the participation of 15 Azorean schools. The opening session will be attended by the Regional Director for Youth.
Simultaneously to this initiative, the regional phase of the Euroescola project, which will select a school in the country to participate in the international session of the contest, take place on Tuesday evening.
“The fight against poverty and social exclusion” is the theme of this contest in which 12 Azorean students participated, representing four schools.