“The merging of these three areas into a single ministry has raised serious doubts about the government’s ability to provide an effective, specialized, and adequate response to the specific challenges facing Higher Education in Portugal,” a statement said.
Fernando Alexandre is one of the 13 ministers from the outgoing administration whom Luís Montenegro has decided to retain, and he will once again head the Ministry of Education, Science, and Innovation. This new ministry succeeds the previous socialist government’s ministries of Education and Science, Technology, and Higher Education.
The new government structure faced criticism at the time, but Fernando Alexandre promptly assured that none of the areas would be undervalued.
“What we aim to convey with this merger is precisely the importance of thinking about education and investment in science, regardless of the level at which it is done, as a fundamental element for transforming our society and for comprehensive personal development,” the minister had justified.
In response to the list of ministers in the XXV Constitutional Government, the Student Movement now emphasizes that higher education faces multiple structural challenges “that demand priority attention.”
Among these, student representatives identify the funding of institutions, strengthening of school social action, valuing the binary system, promoting science and research, and retaining young graduates in the country.
According to the movement, which includes federations and student associations from universities and polytechnics, these are topics that “cannot be relegated to the background in a ministry whose area of competence is already vast and complex.”
“We therefore reaffirm the need to rethink the current ministerial structure, as only with clear and dedicated tutelage will it be possible to ensure the coherence of public policies, reinforce the centrality of higher education in the country’s development, and effectively respond to the challenges,” the statement noted.
