The Regional Secretary for Education and Culture defended today the need to establish a pact of Education at national level in order to guarantee "the commitment of politics and the politicians."
 
"The presence of students, the indispensability of teachers and collaboration of families require the establishment of a pact on Education in order to guarantee the commitment of politics and politicians," said Avelino Meneses. The government official delivered a speech on "The Portuguese Education System" at the International Congress of Education, Psychology and Neuroscience taking place in Vila Franca do Campo.
 
For the Regional Secretary, the "priority of education" has to "bring dignity to the exercise of democracy" so that "it does not become the most predictable of scams, with the government always on one side and the opposition on the other and whenever the government reveals all the progress achieved, the opposition always denies the progress achieved, no matter how obvious it may be."
 
In the face of "this make believe show, the people deserve more, much more," said Avelino Meneses.
 
"After all, the people do not require much, just what they are entitled to: a government working with dedication and the responsible monitoring of the opposition," said the government official.
 
The Regional Secretary for Education and Culture stressed that today's schools "model the societies of the future." In this context, education may become "the most decisive weapon in the improvement of our world, which lacks in resources and even more in qualification."
 
Only education is truly able to put in permanent and regular motion the progress of economy and the progress of society, which are the traditional characteristics and pillars of all democracies," stressed the government official.
 
Hence, Avelino Meneses emphasised the school's role in the training of future professionals and the need for a "quality school" that is built day by day, "based on the premises of hard work and rigour against easy solutions."
 
"Otherwise, the adoption of easy solutions severs the potential of each school in social transformation. This perpetuates inequality and, at most, generates equality in ignorance, which leads to the discouragement of the students and the devaluation of teachers", emphasised the government official.
 
For the Regional Secretary for Education and Culture, "we must reflect on the reform of education with all parties involved in the education system." However, this reflection cannot be based on "improvisation," "unfounded premises "and "authoritarianism." It is important to establish a "pact of education" in order to put an end to what has determined the "change in the evaluation system more than 20 times" for the past 20 years.
 
"If the future we want for education determines the future we want for the country, we must safeguard the education system from collective ideologies, prejudices and personal bickering," said the Regional Secretary.
 
Avelino Meneses remembered that education planning "requires a consensus either in the definition of targets or in the assessment of results," because only then "we will have the necessary time to implement new programmes, manuals and assessment methods."
 
Otherwise, "we will continue wasting our time in a meaningless discussion, artificially divided between the public and private sphere, tests and measurements, either defending a demanding school or a permissive school, a responsible school or a welfare school."
 
In his speech, Avelino Meneses highlighted the right decision taken by the Azorean Government regarding the fact that the National Government has recently backed out of basic education exams and rejected the "creation" of an external evaluation model at regional level.
 
As for school failure, Avelino Meneses expressed his belief that the measures already implemented under ProSucesso- Azores for Education, programme for the promotion of school success, will take effect in the near future.
 
"Fighting school failure requires the improvement of teaching, not so much the lightening of programmes and evaluation criteria, or even the revision of classifications," stressed the government official.
 
Avelino Meneses defended that the resolution of the issues faced by Portuguese and Azorean schools lies in "a simple solution, i.e., turning education into a clear priority