Portuguese Education Minister calls it a “good problem”; country’s schools face crisis caused by lack of teachers
The Minister of Education of Portugal, Fernando Alexandresaid on Tuesday (9.Sep.2024) that the number of immigrants attending primary and secondary education in Portuguese schools increased by 160% from the 2018/2019 educational cycle to that of 2023/2024. In the European country, the school year begins in September and runs until June of the following year.
According to Alexandre, the increase interrupted the downward trend in the student population in Portugal, which fell from around 53,000 in 2019 to 140,000 this year. The number of foreign students now represents 13.9% of the total number of students in Portugal. Five years ago, the percentage was 5.3%.
Education in Portugal is going through a crisis that has been dragging on for years. According to a report in the newspaper Public As of Thursday (12.Sep.2024), there are thousands of teachers missing, especially in the Lisbon region, and students with vacant schedules due to the absence of teachers.
Still, the Portuguese minister stated that the growth in the number of immigrant students is a “good problem”. He said: “There are more than 30,000 foreign students entering our education system every year, and they are all over the country. This poses great challenges for us.”.
Among the challenges is the fact that, according to Alexandre, 25% to 30% of foreign students do not speak Portuguese. According to the minister, the government will introduce measures to help schools integrate these students effectively.
Alexandre said immigration has not only impacted the student population in primary and secondary education, but also in higher education. The proportion of international students in Portuguese universities has increased from 4% in 2013 to 12% in 2022. Foreign students enrolled in master’s programs have seen a similar jump, with their share growing from 5% to 15% in the same period.
Alexandre highlighted the critical role that foreigners play. “The integration of immigrants is essential for the functioning of our economy. But above all, it is essential for our society to remain cohesive. The integration of these people depends on education, and it starts with the children of these immigrants. If we fail in education, we will fail in our migration policy.”, he said.
Report released by Bank of Portugal in June 2024 (full – PDF – 2 MB) says that the Portuguese economy is sustained “for the increase in the active population”enhanced “for positive migration balances”. Furthermore, immigrants are a relevant part of maintaining the Portuguese Social Security system, Social Security.
According to the OM (Migration Observatory), “foreigners have a greater contribution capacity” and “play an important role in balancing the accounts of the Social Security system, contributing to a relative relief of the system and its sustainability”. Here is the full (PDF – 29 MB) of the document published by the organization in December 2023.
According to the document, the group uses Social Security less to obtain benefits than the Portuguese. These factors meant that, in 2022, the country’s Social Security had a positive balance of 1.6 billion euros, the highest in the historical series.
That year, foreigners contributed 1.86 billion euros to Social Security. Of this total, 35.9% (around 668 million euros) came from Brazilians.
The number of immigrants is growing rapidly in Portugal, as is the Brazilian population living in the European country.
In 2007, Brazil became the largest foreign community in Portugal, a position it holds to this day. In that year, there were around 66,000 Brazilians (15% of the total number of foreigners in the country). In 2022, the last year with consolidated data, Brazilians in Portugal totaled more than 239,000, around 30% of the more than 781,000 foreigners in the country.
Of the total number of foreigners living in Portugal in 2022, the majority (104,383) were between the ages of 30 and 34. Immigrants aged 5 to 19 totaled 95,148. Here is the full (PDF – 5 MB) of the immigration report for the year 2022.
These numbers are higher, since those who have a second nationality, such as Portuguese or from an EU (European Union) country, are not included.
Read more:
#Number #foreign #students #Portugal #grows #years