Fernando Alexandre, the Minister of Education, spoke at a rally for the AD coalition of PSD/CDS in the historic center of Santarém. In his address, he disclosed having communicated to Prime Minister Luís Montenegro his willingness to continue in government should AD win the upcoming elections.
“One topic that has been surprisingly absent from debates—and I don’t remember this happening in any other election—is education. I confess I’m surprised because, indeed, there are many problems in our education system to be resolved. However, the truth is that this government, in 11 months, has restored calm to the schools,” stated Fernando Alexandre.
The head of the AD list in Santarém provided an explanation for why, in his view, the opposition is prioritizing other issues over education in the current political debate ahead of the elections on May 18.
“Teachers have left the streets where they were fighting for rights that were denied to them. The PS refused to recognize teachers’ rights and give them the value they deserved,” he said, receiving applause.
Today, according to the Minister of Education, “teachers are motivated and are in the classroom fulfilling their noble mission of contributing to the individual growth of each child and young person.”
In the more political portion of his speech, after addressing the economic and social challenges of Ribatejo, he accused the PS and Chega of “joining forces to interrupt the government’s work.”
“They halted the government because it was increasingly difficult for PS executives, over eight years, not to solve the problems, making it clearer to the Portuguese people the differences between the current and previous governments,” he claimed.
Fernando Alexandre stated that Chega “is a party that only has a negative message and finds it difficult to cope when problems begin to be resolved.”
According to the Minister of Education, the upcoming election on May 18 “concerns evaluating the government’s work over 11 months, compared to what was not done before and the alternatives.”
“That’s what’s at stake, and for that reason, it obviously makes sense for members of the current government to lead lists in 11 districts. Eleven ministers are heading the lists precisely because it’s that national evaluation of the government that is at stake,” he argued.
Regarding the challenges facing the education sector, which have been suspended due to the current political crisis, Fernando Alexandre noted that the review of the teacher career statute was underway.
“It hadn’t been reviewed for several decades and is essential for valuing the teachers’ career. That reform was interrupted. But we were also reforming the organization of our Ministry of Education, which needs to be less bureaucratic,” he stated.
The Minister of Education also indicated that before the dissolution of parliament, there was a review of the legal status of higher education institutions underway, “something that should have been done ten years ago and which the previous government, over eight and a half years, only managed to establish a commission to write a report.”
Fernando Alexandre additionally mentioned the executive led by Luís Montenegro’s intention to revise the social action system “to ensure that no student is excluded from accessing Higher Education due to their economic situation.”
“I regret that, indeed, our electoral program in the area of Education hasn’t been discussed, as well as our program in the area of Science, where we made the largest investment. We hope to have the opportunity to continue our work,” he added.
