“To ensure equality and progress towards free education, the PCP will present a bill to eliminate tuition fees, charges, and fees across all levels of higher education, along with strengthening school social action to ensure all who wish to access can indeed access Higher Education,” stated Paula Santos.
During the meeting of the Standing Committee — a body that operates during the Parliament’s recess — the communist deputy focused her speech on the return to school, criticizing the Government for recently deciding to unfreeze, starting from the academic year 2026/2027, the tuition fees for undergraduate courses.
This fee has remained unchanged since 2020 and will rise from 697 to 710 euros, according to the Minister of Education.
Highlighting the economic difficulties faced by many students and families, Paula Santos accused the Government of aiming to “further restrict access to Higher Education” by increasing tuition fees “in violation of constitutional provisions that determine the right to education.”
“Contrary to the Government’s claims, increasing tuition fees indeed leads to more inequalities and leaves students behind,” she argued.
For the PCP, “education cannot be a privilege for an economically advantaged elite, as the Government sees it.”
Paula Santos noted that this month marks the beginning of the academic year, but “old problems” persist, such as the lack of teachers, psychologists, specialized technicians and educational assistants, the “degradation of the school infrastructure,” the “insufficiency of social school action,” the “impoverishment of curricula,” or the “devaluation of inclusive education.”
The communist deputy called for the enhancement of the teaching career status, with better salaries and working conditions, and warned of the shortage of places in nurseries and pre-school education.
The PCP proposes the creation of a public network of nurseries, with the opening of 100,000 places by 2029, arguing that the investment in these places is equivalent to the reduction in corporate tax over this period.
“Therefore, we are indeed talking about a clear political decision not to invest in nurseries, and the creation of pre-school education places,” she asserted.
