“It is necessary to provide this clarification because we know that the best educational projects are those where there is good coordination between municipalities and schools,” emphasized Fernando Alexandre, advocating for municipal involvement in improving the educational system.
The Minister of Education, Science, and Innovation spoke to journalists after the signing of collaboration agreements with 13 out of 21 municipalities slated to receive a total of 6,008,487.76 euros for urgent renovations in 28 schools.
The needs were identified by the Directorate-General for School Establishments (DGEstE), with interventions ranging from exterior wall insulation and painting to asbestos removal, window and floor replacements, and elevator installations.
Today, 14 agreements were signed with 13 municipalities, amounting to 3.1 million euros, and the remaining eight municipalities will receive their funds upon the signing of their respective collaboration agreements.
During the session, Fernando Alexandre reiterated the need to clarify the responsibilities related to the decentralization process, stressing that the government must ensure the necessary resources, while the execution of the works is the responsibility of municipal councils.
The projects are expected to commence shortly, with the minister aiming for completion between this and the following year.
Besides these 28 schools with pressing needs, the DGEstE has identified 600 schools requiring work, an increase from the 451 noted in 2023 when the government under António Costa signed an agreement with the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities.
According to Minister Fernando Alexandre, about 100 schools are already undergoing renovations, but he acknowledges that completing work on the roughly 600 schools by the end of the decade is unlikely.
“What is the priority until 2029? It is to execute PT 2030 and the billion euros from the European Investment Bank,” he stated, referring to the loan granted for rehabilitating and constructing schools in Portugal.
“It is a substantial investment; it will allow us to renovate hundreds of schools, but not all. Not all have the same level of urgency, and we will prioritize the more urgent ones,” he added, stressing that maintaining the school infrastructure, which includes about 5,400 schools, requires ongoing investment.
“We cannot allow what happened in past decades, where there was no investment, leading to significant deterioration of the school infrastructure,” he warned.
In a statement released later, the Lisbon City Council announced the signing of two Collaboration Agreements with the capital’s municipality, valued at 910,200 euros, “for the installation of temporary modular units at Delfim Santos Primary School and conservation work at Vasco da Gama Primary School.”
“The municipality remains fully committed to collaborating on the goal of improving schools but reiterates the pressing need for such competencies to be accompanied by necessary funding,” added the council led by social-democrat Carlos Moedas.
Emphasizing that “measures such as those now implemented do not replace the essential structural investment in the city’s schools,” the council also noted that it continues to await funding for the general requalification of “28 schools identified as priorities.”
