On Tuesday, the Socialist Party (PS) accused the government of wanting to “turn back the clock over 40 years” on sexual education, urging the mobilization of all civil society to prevent these “extremely serious” changes in the Citizenship curriculum. This position attracted criticism from Rui Rio, former leader of the PSD, who observed on the social network X that the PS “is stubbornly deepening the divide between itself and the Portuguese people.”
It should be recalled that Mariana Vieira da Silva, speaking to journalists yesterday in Parliament, voiced concerns that the government is “preparing to make a decision that the PS considers very serious concerning citizenship education and sexual education.”
“The first time this Parliament passed a law on this subject was in 1984, and therefore, we are talking about a retreat of decades in the appreciation of human rights, the education of our children, and sexual education,” she added.
In response to this stance, Rui Rio wrote yesterday on X, “In this issue, as in some others more characteristic of BE and Livre, I think the PS is persistently widening the gap that separates it from the Portuguese people. But let’s wait for the future to see.”
Neste tema, como em alguns outros mais característicos do BE e do Livre, eu acho que o PS está a insistir teimosamente em cavar mais fundo o fosso que o separa dos portugueses. Mas esperemos pelo futuro para ver. https://t.co/Z8sSqQA1n3
— Rui Rio (@RuiRioPT) July 22, 2025
Citizenship. New Guide Focuses Less on Sexuality and More on Financial Literacy
The new guide for the Citizenship and Development curriculum has been open to public consultation since Monday, July 21, and places less emphasis on topics like sexuality or animal welfare and more on financial literacy or entrepreneurship.
In the compulsory and transversal topics, the government’s proposal highlights human rights, democracy and political institutions, sustainable development, and financial literacy and entrepreneurship. A secondary emphasis includes health, road risk and safety, cultural pluralism and diversity, and the media.
Analyzing the government’s proposal and the current strategy reveals that attention to sexuality or sexual orientation ceases to exist and is only addressed in the context of human rights violations. Animal welfare, meanwhile, should be one of the topics covered under the sustainable development chapter for students in the 2nd cycle.
The proposal introduces financial literacy and entrepreneurship, with younger students being encouraged to “understand the importance of saving and its objectives” or to “differentiate between taking loans (from family, friends, or banks) and granting loans.”
[News updated at 14:37]
