“I told the rector that consequences would have to be addressed. If the director of the Faculty of Medicine, against the rector’s decision, published an improper list, in my view, there would need to be consequences within U.Porto. This is the rector’s responsibility. But I believe this process within U.Porto is not yet concluded, so we will know later what will happen. It is now within the autonomy of the institution,” stated Minister Fernando Alexandre at the Education and Science Committee of the Portuguese Parliament.
The official noted that what occurred was a “formal error of the institution” and that the student placement system in higher education is “centralized” and “very transparent.”
“If there was pressure and if it was lawful, it should be investigated,” he emphasized.
Fernando Alexandre acknowledged that the case is “not good for the system,” but denied that the reliability of university placements is a problem in Portugal.
“This does not mean that we should not have mechanisms to reinforce autonomy and accountability,” he asserted.
During the hearing requested by IL, PSD, JPP, Chega, BE, and Livre, Fernando Alexandre also stated that the “only action” he took “was to see if there was a legal basis to create the 30 additional vacancies and requested an opinion from the Inspectorate General of Education and Science.”
“Given that this opinion was negative, obviously the minister’s intervention ended,” he assured.
The minister explained that he wanted to “defend his honor” with the clarification made on the day it was reported that the rector of U.Porto received pressures from several “influential people with access to power” to admit 30 candidates to the Faculty of Medicine without the minimum required grade.
“The response I gave was in defense of honor. I regret that the rector did not immediately come forward to clarify that the minister never pressured him. As he did not clarify, I had to make it clear that what was being suggested in the news, that I had pressured the rector, was a lie,” he explained.
Fernando Alexandre indicated that the rector “was the only person” he contacted about the process: “I returned the call after he tried to contact me twice,” he said.
The minister rejected having “politicized” the problem and clarified that the Government’s proposal for the new Legal Regime of Higher Education Institutions seeks to “break with abuses of power,” particularly with an “open” election for the General Council of the universities.
“It is a way to provide freer expression for the entire academic community and to end power structures,” he said, during a session in which he preferred not to discuss the U.Porto case.
The minister expressed the intention to “allow institutions to breathe” in the face of “situations of abuse of power, of capturing members of the general council.”
In the context of the competition, 30 individuals received an ’email’ from FMUP stating they had been admitted to the Medicine degree, but this email was not approved by the rector of U.Porto, as required by law.
The director of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP) admitted on September 23, during a parliamentary hearing, that there was a “mistake” by an executive board member who used the word “approved” instead of “rectified” in the list of the special admission to the Medicine course.
In early September, it was reported that the rector of U.Porto claimed to have received a phone call from the Minister of Education “expressing availability for extraordinary vacancies to be created.”
Later, in a parliamentary hearing, the rector assured that he was not referring to the Minister of Education. “I never mentioned the minister,” he stated.
On September 18, the Attorney General’s Office confirmed that an inquiry is underway in the Public Prosecutor’s Office concerning the case.
