Fernando Alexandre: New preschool classrooms exceed target in the Algarve

"In the Algarve, we have identified seven municipalities and at the moment we have eight that want to sign the agreement [for the creation of new preschool classrooms], the Minister of Education, Science and Innovation, Fernando Alexandre, told the Lusa news agency, counting "five municipalities that have already signed and three more that will sign".

Without specifying which municipalities signed the protocol, the minister stressed that these agreements go "beyond" what had been established by the Ministry, which announced its intention to open "six to seven thousand more places" in public education for pre-school this school year, in 30 municipalities where the greatest needs were identified.

The government "dedicated 40 million euros or so to this investment and what we are doing is, municipality by municipality, carrying out this negotiation," he explained.

The Público newspaper reported today that the number of new rooms planned by the government may be lower than expected, due to the refusal of some municipalities in the Lisbon region to sign the protocol and others only accepting to open a smaller number of rooms.

The minister clarified to Lusa that "for now there are in fact some who have said no", but that this will only be a definitive position in relation to Sintra, despite that being "the municipality with the greatest need" and its president, Basílio Horta, having "an interest".

According to the minister, protocols have been signed in the Lisbon region for the creation of two preschool classrooms in Santarém, and "several councils have already confirmed" their interest in signing agreements that should be announced by the end of the week.

"We cannot forget that this is the responsibility of local authorities," recalled Fernando Alexandre, emphasizing that the government is, with this measure, "providing the means for local authorities to comply" with the opening of rooms, financed at 42 thousand euros per year.

"We want local authorities to see the government as a partner in solving the problem," but "it is not within the government's remit to open preschools," he stressed, considering that "the reception [from local authorities] has been positive."

In this sense, Fernando Alexandre said he "did not understand" statements by the PS secretary-general, José Luís Carneiro, who on Sunday, September 21, accused the government of failing to meet yet another objective for the start of the school year, by promising seven thousand places for preschool when "there are only 400 places" and criticized the minister for having moved forward with the measure without speaking to the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities ( ANMP ).

"We held many meetings with the ANMP and we have many issues to discuss," he stated, guaranteeing that it had been agreed, "and accepted," that they would not "be discussing structural matters during an election period."

If the ANMP "wants to take the initiative to resolve the preschool problem," the Ministry of Education will be "completely available," but the minister assured that he had not received any proposal in that sense.

In a response sent to Lusa news agency, the Ministry reiterated that this is one of several measures the government is taking to address the lack of preschool education in the most disadvantaged areas of Greater Lisbon, the Setúbal Peninsula, and the Algarve. Because this is an emergency response and aimed at negotiations, it was made directly with the municipalities.

In the text, the government reaffirms its commitment to the objective of universal access to preschool education by the end of the legislature.

Fernando Alexandre spoke to Lusa in Caldas da Rainha where he visited the new Specialized Technological Centers (CTE) for Information Technology and Industry at Rafael Bordalo Secondary School.

According to the minister, this is a project financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan ( RRP ) to the tune of around 500 million euros, which will allow the re-equipment of around 400 vocational schools, of which 68 have already completed projects.

Photo: Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation.