Latest news and stories about curriculum in Portugal for expats and residents.
An overview of the feedback, concerns, and future steps regarding the Essential Learnings curriculum framework.
The proposal is under public consultation until the 28th. The Portuguese Mathematical Society criticises the “excessive emphasis on practical and utilitarian tasks” to the detriment of logical reasoning.
The minister's proposal boils down to this: those who want to teach the Nobel laureate's works, do so; those who do not, do not. Live and let live. Try it, it will do you good.
The 'essential learning' framework in Portugal aims to simplify the curriculum, but risks reducing it to measurable results. This text proposes replacing control with trust and the lowest common denominator with meaningful and critical knowledge.
There are various models of teaching and literary education in Europe, but unlike Portugal, other countries tend to give schools more autonomy. Furthermore, being a Nobel Prize winner in Literature is not a criterion for inclusion.
It is the State's responsibility to ensure that everyone reaches a certain level of literacy and critical thinking, but without ever turning schools into an instrument of cultural standardisation.
In recent days, we have witnessed a series of episodes demonstrating the profound disorientation in the management of educational policies. From contradictory requirements for higher education access to the controversial proposal to make José Saramago an optional author due to the 'density' of his writing, the ministry's signals remain disjointed. The article highlights a lack of coordination in curriculum planning, confusion regarding digital integration, and policy reversals concerning teacher recruitment and the persistent issue of students without teachers. The author questions how the ministry can promise a world-class system by 2027 when it struggles to provide basic data on teacher shortages or manage current administrative challenges, concluding that the minister appears lost in a labyrinth while holding the future of over a million students in his hands.
Look at the audacity. Giving teachers and students freedom of choice. Leaving room for autonomous reading and reading for pleasure.
The Minister of Education responded to criticism from the PS regarding the possible removal of José Saramago from the mandatory reading list for the 12th grade, dismissing any ideological bias by noting that the proposed alternative is also a communist militant.
At issue is the possibility for Portuguese teachers to choose between two works by José Saramago and a book by Mário de Carvalho.
A critical analysis of the proposed Portuguese secondary education curriculum, arguing that making the study of José Saramago optional reflects a broader, detrimental trend in the education system. The author contends that technocratic jargon and a focus on assessment over deep literary analysis are undermining the teaching of complex texts, ultimately failing to foster critical thinking and cultural literacy in students.
By replacing the clarity of content transmission with the bureaucratic complexity of competency assessment, the Ministry of Education is not modernising teaching and the national curriculum. Opinion by Carlos Ceia.
The Government's proposal removes Saramago from the mandatory options for the 12th grade and includes Mário de Carvalho. The Portuguese Teachers' Association guarantees that the Nobel laureate will not be removed from the curriculum.
The Minister of Education said this Monday that the public consultation on essential learning, which includes the possibility of removing José Saramago from mandatory reading in the 12th grade, “is absolutely technical.” Fernando Alexandre also stresses that the decision has not yet been finalised.
The José Saramago Foundation questioned this Monday what the criteria were for removing the Portuguese Nobel laureate's work from the essential learning requirements for secondary education. The proposal is still preliminary.
The works of José Saramago are being considered for removal from the list of compulsory reading for secondary education students.
The work of José Saramago, Nobel Prize in Literature winner, may no longer be mandatory in the Portuguese education system.
The work of José Saramago may no longer be mandatory in the Portuguese education system. The Ministry of Education itself has put the proposal up for public discussion.
The document, which will begin to be implemented in schools in the next academic year, is the result of a curriculum review for all subjects in basic and secondary education.
In addition to students at universities and colleges of education, the strategic plan for the next five years includes further financial literacy training for those already in the teaching profession, ensuring they are properly qualified to teach this module within the citizenship curriculum.
