At Externato Cooperativo da Benedita, in Alcobaça, Mariana Leitão accused Alexandra Leitão of attacking private schools as Secretary of State for Education by reducing public funding for classes.
“This all began in 2016, directly due to the PS Government, specifically Alexandra Leitão, who was the Secretary of State for Education, and who, due to ideological blindness, decided to attack these association contracts established with private or cooperative entities that provide an essential response, often in areas where there is no alternative or the alternative is very far,” remarked Mariana Leitão to journalists during a campaign event in Benedita, Alcobaça, for municipal elections.
“We have submitted a proposal to Parliament to carefully review these association contracts,” argued the IL deputy.
Regarding Externato da Benedita, “the amounts received for these association contract classes range between 80,000 and 88,000 euros, whereas public schools pay 14,000 euros per class.”
“This is an injustice that needs urgent correction; otherwise, these schools may have to close due to lack of sustainability,” added Mariana Leitão.
She accused decisions being made “from Lisbon, without understanding the country’s reality or the schools’ situation.”
“We want to end this ideological blindness and find ways to ensure these schools survive and aren’t forced to close,” emphasized the IL leader, who also criticized the start of the school year.
“We still don’t know the exact reality of the data; the Minister of Education continues to withhold this information,” she stated, adding that the details of how many students lack a teacher for at least one subject remain unknown.
“This is a concern,” she declared, criticizing that public policies are drafted and implemented “without the slightest understanding of reality.”
The IL president argued that Portugal cannot “continuously have students suffer, not getting public school lessons, often going weeks and months without a subject being taught.”
“This is unsustainable and harms the children’s development and learning,” she criticized.
On the subject of teacher shortages, the liberal leader mentioned that the country cannot “grasp the exact numbers” because the “Minister of Education mentioned having records of 120,000 teachers placed, yet there were 129,000 salaries being paid.”
Regarding public schools, Mariana Leitão insisted that the IL continues “to advocate for greater autonomy,” ensuring “schools are pedagogically and in terms of human resources autonomous, able to make the best decisions for their students’ reality.”
“A school in Benedita is very different from a school in Lisbon or elsewhere; therefore, this autonomy is essential to ensure the offer and support meet the students’ needs,” the liberal leader explained.
For Alcobaça’s municipality elections, IL is fielding geologist Sandra Amaro, with Bruno Letra as the head of the list for the Municipal Assembly, both native to Benedita, one of the most populous parishes in the municipality, instrumental in past municipal elections.
The strategy aims to leverage the local visibility of the candidates to secure at least one seat in the Municipal Assembly in a municipality held by the PSD for 28 years.
“We want to win in the parishes and the Municipal Assembly, continuing the path started in 2021,” explained Mariana Leitão, addressing the fact that local structures couldn’t come to terms with the PSD, which governs the city, for a coalition.
“Currently, we believe it is best for Alcobaça to proceed independently,” she stated.
“It is crucial to foster more development, better living conditions, and address housing issues,” she said, without offering specifics on the social-democratic management of the municipality.
