The fifth commitment
Portugal needs all its public schools to offer high-quality education to all students. The public education sector is responsible for more than 85% of school-age students and will always be the "educator of last resort". As schools change, so will the future workforce and society in general. What these students learn today affects not only their future, but that of all their fellow citizens.
This study by Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos, produced by Margaret E. Raymond and Yohannes Negassi, looks at public education in Portugal, analysing the current situation and presenting a possible reform model to meet the challenges that public schools have and will face in the future. In this sense, the study looks at issues such as:
- The results obtained by Portuguese students;
- The economic and social factors that may have an influence on these results;
- The impact that the system of organising public education in Portugal will have on these results;
- The inequalities that exist in public education in Portugal and the injustices that arise from them;
- What might need to change in Portuguese schools to improve these results;
- The advantages of adopting a school performance measurement and management system.
The system proposed here uses a development framework that aims to promote the mastery of knowledge among students, teachers and school principals, while providing transparent information to policymakers and other key players. Through this study, FFMS aims to contribute to the public debate around this sector, which is so fundamental to the country's future.
