The municipal executive held a private meeting to approve the launch of public tenders for the rehabilitation projects of Lumiar Secondary School, Luís António Verney Primary School (Beato), Luís de Camões Primary School (Areeiro), and Manuel da Maia Primary and Secondary School (Campo de Ourique).
The proposals were put forward by city councilors Filipa Roseta (PSD) for Municipal Works and Sofia Athayde (CDS-PP) for Education. The approval occurred with abstentions from the Citizens for Lisbon group (elected by the PS/Livre coalition) and votes in favor from all other parties, including the PSD/CDS-PP leadership (which governs without an absolute majority), PS, PCP, Livre, and BE, according to a source from the city council.
Following the city council’s approval, the proposals must be submitted to the municipal assembly.
Scheduled for implementation in 2026, the base contract values, including VAT, are set at 805,000 euros for Luís de Camões School; 1.5 million euros for Lumiar; 1.6 million euros for Luís António Verney; and 1.6 million euros for Manuel da Maia.
Additionally, 28,300 euros are allocated for each of the four public tenders to award prizes for the project selection process, where the first-place winner will be hired directly.
Despite approving the proposals, the PS city councilors criticized the PSD/CDS-PP administration, led by social democrat Carlos Moedas, for continuing to delay “very urgent” works on Lisbon’s schools and lamented the city’s failure to apply for the Schools Program, which offers 2 billion euros in non-repayable funding for 400 schools across the country.
“Voting on such a preliminary project design contest, when nothing has been done so far and Carlos Moedas has missed all deadlines, is merely a charade for electoral purposes,” said the socialists, linking these proposals to the October 12 municipal elections.
The PCP councilors also criticized the PSD/CDS-PP leadership, stating that the school rehabilitation works “at best will be completed by 2029/2030/2031,” indicating that education has not been a priority during the current 2021-2025 term.
“These proposals primarily serve to support propagandistic aims during election time,” the PCP expressed, advocating for measures to mitigate the degradation of these schools.
For the Citizens for Lisbon (elected by the PS/Livre coalition), the PSD/CDS-PP administration “has done nothing more than present, on the eve of the elections, a proposal to design projects when prompt resolution and action were needed to avoid delaying works indefinitely,” considering the “deplorable conditions” of these schools.
In response to these criticisms, the PSD/CDS-PP leadership countered, stating to Lusa that “accusing this executive of inaction is not only unfair but false,” noting that the municipality started launching the first project tenders for five schools at the end of 2024, now adding four more schools, with “new procedures already being prepared.”
Regarding the lack of applications for funding, the Moedas administration stated that “it would have been necessary for the previous administration [under PS leadership] to have done something, however minimal,” for any of the 28 municipally-owned schools in need of work to be eligible for such support.
The PSD/CDS-PP leadership emphasized that currently, the municipality is covering the project costs, “substituting the Government,” which they believe has “the obligation” to pay for these works as part of the delegation of powers in the education sector.
