Following a meeting with Education Minister Fernando Alexandre regarding the Government’s proposal for the Legal Framework of Higher Education Institutions (RJIES), Chega party deputy Gabriel Mithá Ribeiro stated that the Government is conducting a fundamental review, despite having approved a previous amendment proposal in the Council of Ministers during the last term.
Mithá Ribeiro mentioned that “nothing is finalized” and that the process will restart, asserting that this should be the Government’s approach given the change in legislature and parliamentary balance. He further revealed that the executive plans to submit a new proposal in September.
“We have a responsibility from which we will not shy away, and we will dialogue with the forces interested in improving higher education,” he added.
The Chega deputy acknowledged agreements with the Government on “some points” discussed during the meeting, particularly regarding institutional autonomy and the “convergence between universities and polytechnics.”
He also stated that the party opposed replacing the term “Higher Education” with “Superior Education”—a change proposed by the Government in the previous legislature—arguing that education is a family responsibility while teaching is the State’s duty.
On February 6, the previous Government approved a legislative proposal to amend the RJIES in the Council of Ministers. This proposal revised the rules in place since 2007, but the revision stalled because the executive fell after a failed confidence motion.
The new RJIES proposed by the previous executive, which replaces “Higher Education” with “Superior Education,” aimed to enhance institutional autonomy, proposed merging universities and polytechnics and integrating private into public institutions while maintaining a binary model but allowing for system evolution and flexibility.
Today, the Government, represented by the Education Minister and the Secretaries of State for Higher Education and Science and Innovation, is meeting all parliamentary parties at the National Assembly regarding the Government’s Legal Framework of Higher Education Institutions proposal.
