Education in Portugal is free and compulsory until the age of 18, when students usually complete their year 12. However, only one of those requirements is necessary. The education is regulated by the State through the Ministry of Education. There is a system of public education and also many private schools at all levels of education. The first Portuguese medieval universities, such as the University of Coimbra, were created in the 13th century, and the national higher education system is fully integrated into the European Higher Education Area.
The basic literacy rate of the Portuguese population is 99.44 (99.48% male, 99.38% female, aged 15–24). According to INE (Portuguese Institute for National Statistics), only 3.7 million Portuguese workers (67% of the working active population) completed basic education (81% of the working population attained the lower basic level of education and 12% attained the intermediate level of education). Alunos portugueses pela primeira vez "perto da média" - relatório PISA, Destak
According to the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018, the average Portuguese 15-year-old student, when rated in terms of reading literacy, mathematics and science knowledge, near above the OECD's average. Although, with a sharp downwards trend.
Portugal history In the beginnings of the Portuguese nationality, the Christian clergy was the main player in the educational endeavour. Portuguese universities have existed since 1290. Within the scope of the Portuguese Empire, the Portuguese founded in 1792 the oldest engineering school of Latin America (the Real Academia de Artilharia, Fortificação e Desenho), as well as the oldest medical college of Asia (the Goa Medical College) in 1842.
19th and 20th century However, by the end of the 19th century the illiteracy rate was over 80 percent and higher education was reserved for a small percentage of the population. 68.1 percent of Portugal's population was still classified as illiterate by the 1930 census.
Although the militants of the First Republic had chosen education as one of their banner causes, the evidence shows that the more democratic First Republic was less successful than the authoritarian Estado Novo in expanding elementary education. Under the First Republic, literacy levels in children aged 7 to 14 registered a modest increase from 26 per cent in 1911 to 33 per cent in 1930. Under the Estado Novo, literacy levels in children aged 7 to 14 increased to 56 per cent in 1940, 77 per cent in 1950 and 97 per cent in 1960.
Under Salazar the number of elementary schools grew from 7,000 in 1927 to 10,000 in 1940. While the illiteracy rate under the twenty years of the First Republic had only dropped a modest 9%, under Salazar in twenty years, the illiteracy rate dropped 21%, from 61.8% in 1930 to 40.4% in 1950. In 1940, the regime celebrated the fact that for the first time in Portuguese history, the majority of the population could read and write. Nevertheless, Portugal's literacy rate by the 1940s and early 1950s was still low for North American and Western European standards at the time.
In 1952 a vast multi-pronged Plan for Popular Education was launched with the intent of finally extirpate illiteracy and put into school every child of school age. This plan included fines for parents who did not comply, and these were strictly enforced. By the late 1950s Portugal had succeeded in pulling itself out of the educational abyss in which it had long found itself: illiteracy among children of school age virtually disappeared.Candeias, António (2004). Alfabetização e Escola em Portugal nos SÈculos XIX e XX. Os Censos e as Estatísticas (Lisboa, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian)
Literacy Rate 1900191119201930194019501960Children aged 7–1420%26%31%33%56%77%97%
From the 1960s, the country made public education available for all children between the ages of six and twelve, expanded a robust network of industrial and commercial technical schools aimed at intermediate education of future skilled workers (ensino médio), recognized the Portuguese Catholic University in 1971, and by 1973 a wave of new state-run universities were founded across mainland Portugal (the Minho University, the New University of Lisbon, the University of Évora, and the University of Aveiro - Veiga Simão was the Minister in charge for education by then).
From the 1960s to the 1974 Carnation Revolution, secondary and university education experienced the fastest growth of Portuguese education's history. After 1974 the number of basic and secondary schools as well as of higher education institutions, increased until the end of the century, sometimes without the necessary allocation of quality material and qualified human resources.
The revolutionary government also endeavored to increase the adult literacy rate. Though children often had high rates of literacy, many adults still could not read or write at the time. There is some evidence the government's measures to increase adult literacy were successful.
Education more than basic (4th or 6th year) wasn't affordable for most Portuguese families, the real democratization of education, specially secondary and higher education, only happened in the 1980s. After mid-2000s programs of modernization of schools (basic and secondary) and the construction of new elementary schools called "educational centres" (mostly to reduce the number of overloaded elementary schools, to widespread the 9 AM to 5h30 PM schedule system, because in most overloaded schools there are classes with 8 AM-1 PM schedule and other with 1 PM-6 PM) are being held.
The Bologna process for higher education has been adopted since 2006. However the higher-education rate in the country still remains the lowest in the European Union, this rate was around 7% in 2003 (Source: OECD (2003) Education at a Glance and OECD Statistical Compendium), and improved to 11% in 2007 - as compared to Slovakia's and Slovenia's around 16%; Germany's, Estonia, Spain's and Ireland's 28%; or Belgium's, Netherlands', Denmark's, Finland's, Cyprus's and UK's, over 30% (Source: EuroStat, March 2007).
According to the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the average Portuguese 15-years old student was for many years underrated and underachieving in terms of reading literacy, mathematics and science knowledge in the OECD, nearly tied with the Italian and just above countries like Greece, Turkey and Mexico. However, since 2010, PISA results for Portuguese students improved dramatically.
The Portuguese Ministry of Education announced a 2010 report published by its office for educational evaluation GAVE (Gabinete de Avaliação do Ministério da Educação) which criticized the results of PISA 2009 report and claimed that the average Portuguese teenage student had profound handicaps in terms of expression, communication and logic, as well as a low performance when asked to solve problems. They also claimed that those fallacies are not exclusive of Portugal but indeed occur in other countries due to the way PISA was designed. Estudo do ministério aponta graves problemas aos alunos portugueses , GAVE (Gabinete de Avaliação do Ministério da Educação) 2010 report in RTP
Due to the Portuguese sovereign debt crisis in the late 2000s, and the subsequent IMF-EU financial assistance to the Portuguese Republic from 2011 onward, many universities and other higher education institutions suffered financially. Many were on verge of bankruptcy and were forced to increase its admissions and tuition fees as the budget dwindled and the staff members and bonuses were being reduced. Universidades sem dinheiro para pagar salários , Expresso (April 13, 2009)
Years of schooling
School Year Age of entry School Stage - 0 Infantário / Creche Nursery - 1 - 2 - 3 Jardim de Infância Kindergarten - 4 - 5 1st year 6 1º Ciclo / Escola Primária / Ensino Primário 1st Cycle / Primary School / Primary Education Ensino BásicoBasic Education 2nd year 7 3rd year 8 4th year 9 5th year 10 2º Ciclo 2nd Cycle 6th year 11 7th year 12 3º Ciclo3rd Cycle 8th year 13 9th year 14 10th year 15 Ensino SecundárioSecondary Education 11th year 16 12th year 17
Students must turn 6 years old by the end of the civil year of entry in 1st year of school.
School year calendar Each school year starts in mid September and ends in mid June. There are three holiday breaks during the year: Christmas break (2 weeks), Carnival break (3 days) and Easter break (2 weeks). The school year is divided in three terms, usually limited by the following dates: 1st term - from 15–21 September to the end of the 2nd week of December 2nd term - from the first Monday of January (after January 1, which is a National Holiday) to two weeks before Easter 3rd term - from the Monday right after Easter to the 2nd half of June / 1st half of July. The 1st years ending school are 9th, 11th and 12th, since they have National Exams (they end school usually 1 week earlier than the 7th, 8th and 10th years). Kids from 1st to 6th year usually leave school 2 weeks after years 7, 8 and 10; and 3 weeks after years 9, 11 and 12.
After the end of the 3rd term, there are national exams during June and July for students in 9th, 11th and 12th years, and measurement exams in 2nd, 5th and 8th years.
Pre-primary education
Nursery
Children from four months (the usual maternity leave) until they are three years old may frequent a nursery (Creche). The large majority of nurseries are private. Other nurseries are run by the Portuguese Social Security and are partly financed by the state. In these nurseries parents pay according to their income.
Kindergarten
Pre-primary education is optional from the ages of three to five and is provided in both state-run and private kindergartens schools. State-run kindergartens provision is free of charge. The schools are known as Jardins de Infância (Kindergartens). Most international schools offer an international approach to pre-primary learning and follow a curriculum such as the International Baccalaureate.
Pre-higher education Basic Education (Ensino Básico) lasts for nine years divided into three stages of four, two and three years respectively. The stages are respectively 1º Ciclo (1st Cycle), 2º Ciclo (2nd Cycle) and 3º Ciclo (3rd Cycle). Children are required to do two exams at the end of the third stage: Portuguese and Maths. Secondary Education (Ensino Secundário)- public, private or cooperative - is compulsory since the school year of 2012/2013 and consists of a three-year cycle after basic education.
Access to Secondary Education is made through the Certificate of Basic Education. There are three types of programmes: general programmes, professional programmes, and artistic programmes, providing instruction in technical, technological, professional fields and in the Portuguese language and culture. Permeability between the programmes is guaranteed. The teaching and practice of technical, technological or artistic programmes are provided by professional schools and special schools for education in Arts.
Programmes are sanctioned by the Certificado de Habilitações do Ensino Secundário/Diploma de Ensino Secundário (Secondary School Credential/Diploma), which is the prerequisite for access to higher education through national access examination.
Basic education In Portugal, Basic Education consists of nine years of schooling divided into three sequential cycles of education of four, two and three years.