Courses, Curricula and Degrees

Transcription

1 Courses, Curricula and Degrees In accordance with Law no. 115/97, of 19 September, which amended the Basic Education System Law, polytechnic courses lead to the academic degrees of bacharelato and licenciatura. At present, polytechnic courses are organised into curricular units with a duration of one year or one semester, comprising theoretical, practical and theoretical-practical classes. These seek to provide a solid cultural and technical grounding, through theoretical and practical scientific teaching designed to prepare students for professional life. Course leading to bacharelato degrees have a normal duration of three years, are designed to train professionals to a higher educational standard, preparing them to enter the employment market in the following range of fields: agriculture, management, technology, media, social sciences, hotel and catering, tourism, the arts, culture and basic education (although courses in these last categories are currently being reviewed and re-organised, as explained in chapter 4). Teacher training courses for the basic education system have a duration of four years. Students can choose between options corresponding to the current categories of teachers for the 2nd cycle of basic education. These courses lead to an official teaching qualification and a licenciatura degree in education. In accordance with Decree-Law no. 115/97, of 19 September, the Government will in the near future define the requirements to be met by higher education colleges in order to run initial training courses for teachers in the 3rd cycle of basic education, in order to ensure that teachers attain the appropriate academic standard. Recent legislation (Ministerial Order [Portaria] no. 413-A/98, of 17 July) has created and established the regulations for two-step licenciatura courses in polytechnic colleges. These courses are organised in two stages, the first leading to a bacharelato degree, and the second to a licenciatura. The first stage of the course lasts six semesters, and the second has a duration of two to four academic semesters. The curriculum comprises a series of units, some lasting a year, others one semester. A fixed number of hours per week is allocated to each unit, depending on the type of teaching approach used: theoretical, theoretical-practical, practical, seminar or work experience placement. The hours allotted to individual units may also be expressed in a total figure for the year or semester, depending on the duration of the unit. A plan of studies is approved for each course, indicating the curricular units per year and/or semester, together with the options and additional study areas offered, if any. Students who obtain a pass mark in all curricular units for the plan of studies established for the 1st stage of the course are awarded a bacharelato, and are subsequently awarded a licenciatura when they successfully complete the units in the second stage. The subject area stated on their certificates corresponds to the official designation adopted in the course regulations. In the past there have been specialised higher education courses (SHEC), but these are now being phased out. With a duration of two to four semesters, they lead to a specialist 35

2 higher education diploma (SHED), corresponding, for professional and academic purposes, to a licenciatura degree. Entrance requirements for university and polytechnic courses The Government has powers to decide, by decree-law, the entrance and matriculation requirements, in keeping with a number of basic principles: access is granted on a democratic basis, on objective criteria, in accordance with universally applicable rules and through a nation-wide application process. The higher education establishments themselves are responsible for the process of assessing applicants ability to follow courses and of selecting and classifying applicants accepted for each course and institution. Access to each higher education course and institution is subject to a maximum intake (numerus clausus), fixed each year by the relevant authorities; the State has the duty, under the Basic Education System Law, to ensure that restrictions on the overall higher education intake are gradually removed. The application process in Portugal can take the following forms: national competitive process, local competitive process, special competitive process and special process. Entrance requirements for specialist post-graduate courses Applicants for master s courses must hold a licenciatura, with a minimum mark of 14/20. In exceptional cases, the academic authorities of the relevant higher education establishment may decide to accept students with a lower mark, on the basis of their curriculum vitae. Applicants for doctorate courses must hold a licenciatura with a minimum mark of 16/20, or else a master s degree. Applications may also be accepted from individuals with a scientific, academic and professional record which demonstrates their capacity to work for a doctorate, in which case the academic authorities at the university in question may decide to accept them on the basis of their curriculum vitae. Welfare services for students In accordance with Law no. 113/97, of 16 September, which sets the ground rules for financing the state higher education sector, the State is required to work towards assuring the existence of welfare services which facilitate access to higher education and academic success on the part of higher education students, applying positive discrimination in relation to students from needy backgrounds and students studying away from home. These services ensure that no student is excluded from higher education on economic grounds. In practice, the State grants direct and indirect financial aid, managed on a flexible and decentralised basis. 36

3 Direct aid can take the form of student grants and emergency aid. Indirect welfare services can take the form of access to meals and accommodation, health care services, support for cultural and sporting activities and access to other forms of educational support. Special help is also provided for disabled students. Recent legislation has created a system of competitive scholarships for students in higher education, like those offered to secondary school students. A Student Welfare Board has been created in every higher education establishment in order to administer these services. Under the internal regulations of each institution, these boards are granted administrative and financial autonomy which they exercise through their own offices and departments Extra-muros education Extra-muros education comprises a range of educational and cultural activities outside the school system. These activities are organised on a systematic, sequential or alternating basis and may be undertaken on the initiative of either public or private organisations; they can also be co-ordinated with adult education or school activities. General aims The aims of extra-muros education are as follows: to develop or update knowledge and skills, through activities substituting or complementing the work of the school system. to combat illiteracy, including functional illiteracy. to provide creative and educational use of leisure time. Extra-muros education courses seek specifically to promote literacy, to update skills and knowledge, to provide cultural and civic education and to train people for employment. Curriculum Three types of extra-muros courses are offered: courses leading to qualifications recognised as equivalent to academic qualifications, courses with their own programmes, leading to qualifications recognised as equivalent to units, subjects or levels offered in adult education, and courses organised in conjunction with the adult education system, leading to the same qualifications. The curriculum for each course is organised in a form appropriate to the knowledge, interests and needs of each group of students, and may take the form of project work. Course dates and timetables should be fixed to fit in with the working hours and pace of the students, and to make use of day-release time. Courses are structured, organised and taught in such a way as to be flexible and in keeping with the specific principles of adult education. 37

4 Mobility between extra-muros education and adult education is guaranteed by the existence of parallel programmes. In cases where extra-muros courses are given in conjunction with subjects and areas taught in the adult education system, the courses are organised and certificates awarded in accordance with the legal rules for the respective cycle. Entrance requirements Extra-muros courses are open to all individuals above school-leaving age. Entrance requirements and the student profile are defined on a case-by-case basis by the organisers of extra-muros initiatives, depending on the nature and aims of the course in question. Learner assessment Learners are assessed on a continuous and qualitative basis. Training staff are required to draw up individual reports for each area, indicating the progress made and difficulties encountered by each trainee, and their relative success in attaining the aims established. Trainees are then either passed or failed. Certificates Extra-muros education is not designed to lead to academic qualifications. However, knowledge and skills acquired may be recognised and credited as equivalent to units or levels in the adult education system. Certificates are therefore issued at the end of each course, stating the name of the course, the training programme, assessment results, and equivalence to academic qualifications or vocational qualification level, when appropriate. Training staff Training and other staff working on extra-muros schemes are recruited by the organisers using criteria which guarantee the quality of the training and the pedagogical quality of the course, in any of the forms established for working in adult education. 38

5 4. TEACHING AND OTHER STAFF 4.1. Teaching staff Terms of employment Number of teachers in the different sectors of the education system Table 4.1 gives a statistical breakdown of the teaching staff in the public and private sectors of the Portuguese education system, in terms of levels and type of education, and showing the total number of permanent staff. Table 4.1. Teaching staff in the public and private sectors of the Portuguese education system, by educational level (1995/96) Sources: Forecasting and Planning Department Department of Secondary Education Department of Higher Education In the academic year of 1995/96, there was a total of 189,114 teachers in the different levels of the public and private sectors of the Portuguese education system. This figures includes both teachers actually working and others released from teaching duties and considered for legal purposes as the equivalent to scholarship holders. As can be seen in the table, the different sub-systems within the Portuguese education system have widely differing teacher numbers, in accordance with their respective state of development. The pre-school sub-system had in 1995/96 a total of 6,811 nursery teachers, most of them employed in the state sector, while the basic education and secondary education sub-systems had a total of 145,732 teachers, also mostly employed 39

6 in the state sector. The state higher education system, including both universities and polytechnic institutions, had a total of 20,099 teachers. Terms of employment: hours and related rules The hours worked and the timetables assigned to teaching staff in the Portuguese education system vary in accordance with the specific context in which they are employed. Given that teachers in different parts of the public and private sectors of the education system are treated differently, their hours, timetables and other rules will be best described by dealing separately with each area. As a general rule, teachers in the state sector (excluding higher education) have a timetable of 35 hours, divided into contact and non-contact time; the proportion of noncontact time depends on the level. Teachers in the pre-school and basic education (1st cycle) systems have a maximum of 25 hours contact time per week, whilst their colleagues in basic education (2nd and 3rd cycles) and secondary education have a maximum of 22. Teachers who work exclusively in secondary education have a maximum of 20 contact hours per week. Contact hours may be reduced on two main grounds. Firstly, contact hours are reduced for teachers as from 40 years of age, in accordance with the law. This applies to all subsystems except for teachers employed as one-to-one tutors. Secondly, contact hours may also be reduced, in some cases to zero, for teachers suffering from invalidity, in all educational sub-systems. Evening hours, defined as teaching time after hours, are counted as one and a half time. In private sector education (excluding higher education), teachers may work at more than one school, on the condition their total timetable is no more than 33 hours. In public sector higher education (universities and polytechnic colleges), teachers have a total weekly timetable of 35 hours, comprising contact time, preparation and student guidance. All full-time teachers are required to give between six and nine hours of classes or seminars (six to twelve hours in polytechnic colleges). Permanent teaching staff may only be employed on a full-time basis, whilst guest lecturers, assistant teachers and readers may work part time. Staff in any of these categories may opt to work on an exclusivity basis. Terms of employment: careers and pay In order to enhance the social and professional standing of teaching staff, and thereby to improve the quality of the education provided, the different career routes existing in the Portuguese education system are designed to give teachers a sense of progress in their professional life. The rules for each career system establish their respective tasks, their rights and duties, the career structure and the procedures for promotion, as well as the terms of employment and remuneration. 40

7 Given that the terms of employment for teachers represent the legal rules governing their working life, it is only natural that the degree of complexity of the subjects/levels taught and the different contexts in which they teach should have resulted in different terms reflecting the real situation in each individual sector of the state education system. Teachers are therefore employed in accordance with either the Career Regulations for Nursery Teachers and Teachers in Basic and Secondary Education (Decree-Law no. 139-A/90, of 28 April, amended by Decree-Law no. 1/98, of 2 January), the Career Regulations for University Teachers (Decree-Law no. 448/79, of 13 November, ratified with amendments by Law no. 19/80, of 16 July, and subsequently further amended) or by the Career Regulations for Polytechnic Higher Education Teachers (Decree-Law no. 185/81, of 1 July). Whilst the legal rules on the rights and duties of teachers in private and co-operative educational establishments are not actually codified in any specific set of regulations for teaching staff, the general legislation referring to the different levels of private and cooperative sector education contains a number of pertinent provisions. Teachers in nonhigher education establishments have their rights and duties enshrined in Decree-Law no. 553/80, of 21 November (Private and Co-operative Education Statute). Higher education teaching staff have their careers regulated in Decree-Law no. 16/94, of 22 January (Private and Co-operative Higher Education Statute). The importance attached to teachers is reflected in their career structures and pay, which now serve as a clear symbol of the consolidation of the education system and of the credibility of their role in society. A career structure which allows for a gradual process of promotion has been an important factor in generating a sense of cohesion amongst the different professional classes in the education system. A single career structure, organised ion the form of an ascending scale, has been created for state sector teachers (excluding higher education), who constitute a specific professionals category. For nursery teachers and teachers in the 1st cycle of basic education who hold bacharelato or equivalent qualifications, who start work after undergoing teacher training, the career consists of nine scales, with new teachers starting on scale 1. For other teachers, the career structure, with a minimum duration of 29 years, consists of eight scales (from scale 3 to scale 10), for teachers with a licenciatura, or of nine scales (from scale 1 to scale 9), for teachers with a bacharelato qualification. Teachers are recruited for the state education sector (excluding higher education) through national competitive selection processes, in which they must demonstrate that they fulfil the necessary conditions for employment in the public sector (they must have Portuguese nationality, or other EU nationality, the relevant academic qualifications, they must have completed their military or civic service, there must be no legal impediment to their employment, etc.). But teachers are not definitively contracted and appointed until they have the vocational qualifications required by law. However, the career structure for teachers now allows professionals to make rapid progress up through the hierarchy, reaching the top posts without having to remain too long in intermediate positions. This has been achieved thanks to innovations to the promotion process: teachers are no longer promoted merely on the basis of length of 41

8 service, but also in recognition of their performance and in view of their participation in training activities. The second component in the effort to enhance the social standing of the teaching profession is pay. Teachers in the state sector (excluding higher education) are subject to a salary scale in which academic qualifications (bacharelato or licenciatura) are a more important factor than the posts occupied in the course of their careers. State sector higher education teachers have a professional career structure consisting of successive categories. Teaching staff begin as assistants and, after following through the normal stages of their career, end their career as lecturers. The career structures for university and polytechnic teaching staff are distinct; for the former, staff being their careers as trainee assistants and may rise eventually to a professorship, the top category, whilst polytechnic staff start their careers as assistants, the top post being that of lecturer/co-ordinator. Teaching staff are appointed to different posts in the hierarchy through competitive application processes, in which they must provide documentary evidence of meting the requirements established respectively, for university staff in articles 36 to 52 of the Career Regulations for University Teachers (Decree-Law no. 448/79, referred to above) and for polytechnic staff in the Career Regulations for Polytechnic Higher Education Teachers (Decree-Law no. 185/81, also referred to above). Teaching staff in higher education may apply for promotion through competitive application processes and public examinations. In the university system, most staff are appointed through competitive application processes, although public examinations are organised for assistants (doctoral examinations) and trainee assistants (examinations in pedagogical skills and academic capacity, as an alternative to taking a master s degree). In the polytechnic system, most posts are filled through a combination of a competitive application process and public examinations. The salaries of teaching staff in the state higher education system in Portugal depend on whether or not they have exclusive contracts and their respective position on the hierarchical scale. There are therefore different salary scales for university teachers and polytechnic teachers. Although very similar to the career structure of state sector higher education teaching staff, the career structure for staff in the private and co-operative sector has a number of distinct features. Firstly, although the same categories of teaching staff are used, two different forms of contract are allowed definitive appointments and fixed-term contracts. And secondly, salary levels are fixed by the individual establishment where the teacher is employed Teacher training In any education system, teacher training is a crucial factor in the success of implementing and consolidating educational reforms, inasmuch as it involves teachers in the process of change and assures the quality of the education provided, by renewing course content and teaching methods. 42

9 In seeking to describe the teacher training system, it is necessary to take into account two factors which limit the effectiveness of training activities and their influence over the system as a whole. Firstly, at any given moment, the training system only covers teachers in the pre-school, basic and secondary education systems, there being no formal vocational training with a psycho-pedagogical component for higher education teaching staff. Secondly, any training provided today will necessarily interact with previous training systems, the effects of which are felt in the way the teaching profession conducts its work. The current teacher training system must therefore be viewed in the context of these two limitations. The system as it exists today was established in Decree-Law no. 344/89, of 11 October, and represents the logical corollary of the application of the Basic Education System Law. Teacher training seeks to give a consistent response to the teaching profession s need to develop new vocational skills appropriate to the different levels of education in which individual teachers work. This results in new training objectives, new structures for training and new curricula for transmitting the scientific and pedagogical knowledge required. The teacher training system therefore consists of three types of training: initial training, specialist training and continuing training. Each one of these has a distinct role to play in the system: initial training leads to a basic teaching qualification, specialist training seeks to qualify teachers for specific tasks of educational activities and continuing training is designed to update, enhance and retrain teaching staff, and to encourage them to help innovate and improve the quality of education. Initial training: training colleges and curricula With the publication of the Basic Education System Law, the Ministry of Education has sought to ensure that teachers wishing to enter the profession have to possess a specific teacher training qualification. This created the need for different course and qualification variants for teachers taking up posts at different educational levels with their respective curricula. Initial teacher training is designed precisely to respond to this type of problem, by organising courses in specialist teacher training institutions with curricula appropriate to the different professional qualification levels required. Prior to the amendment of the Basic Education System Law, teacher training courses were given in specific training units in universities or in special teacher training colleges, depending on the educational level at which teachers intend to work. In general terms, nursery teachers and teachers in the basic education system (1st and 2nd cycles) are trained in teacher training colleges, whilst courses for teachers intending to work in the 3rd cycle of basic education and in secondary education are given exclusively in universities. The curriculum for all teacher training courses follows the same structure, consisting basically of a scientific/academic component, an educational sciences component and a teaching skills component. The duration of courses varies, as does the relative importance within the course of the scientific/academic component, depending on the educational level for which teachers are being trained. Courses for nursery school teachers and basic education teachers (1st cycle) have a duration of three years and lead 43

10 to a bacharelato. In these courses the scientific/academic component represents 60% of the total timetable, whereas in courses for 2nd cycle basic education teachers, which last four years, this component takes up 70% of the timetable. In the courses for 3rd cycle basic education teachers and secondary school teachers, which have a duration of 5 to 6 years and in which trainees obtain a licenciatura in their respective subject areas, the scientific/academic component represents 70% to 80% of the total timetable. This new initial training system has represented a real step forward in the wider context of teacher training. As the new system was gradually implemented, concentrating essentially on creating an integrated curriculum (scientific/academic, psychopedagogical and practical areas), displacing traditional concepts of teacher training (programmes organised as a sequence of training components), it has eventually resulted in a more coherent and systematic education system, reflected in stronger training institutions. The initial training system described above has, however, recently been revised by Law no. 115/97, of 19 September. The new law has made a number of significant changes in relation to bother training institutions and the academic qualifications required of teachers outside the higher education system. Under the revised system, nursery school teachers and teachers for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd cycles of basic education can be trained in teacher training colleges, provided that the colleges meet a number of legal requirements, whilst secondary school teachers can only be trained in universities. Moreover, all initial teacher training courses now lead to licenciaturas and have a normal duration of four years, which may be extended by a maximum of four semesters. Although initial training is centred on an integrated curriculum, the route open to most teachers seeking a professional qualification consists of one of the alternatives now offered by the Ministry of Education for teachers on provisional appointments. The most important of these is in-service training, in effect a form of initial training provided during the teacher s working hours, without involving any lengthy interruptions to his normal duties. In-service training, which is regulated by Decree-Law no. 287/88 of 19 August and Decree-Law no. 345/89, of 11 October, is organised by higher education institutions in close collaboration with the schools to which the teachers belong. It seeks to offer vocational training equivalent to that provided in initial training institutions for the respective educational level. Courses consist of a two-year curriculum which includes two sequential components Education Sciences and Teaching Skills leading to a special professional qualification for this type of training. In order to raise the standard of teaching in the state education system and also in the private and co-operative sectors, the Ministry of Education has offered special incentives to encourage teachers to enrol for in-service training. All in-services trainees enjoy a reduction in contact time of 4 to 6 hours a week, depending on the training system used (distance learning or conventional training). In addition to this, graduate teachers with at least six years satisfactory and effective service prior to enrolling are exempted from the project component (year 2 of the in-service training scheme). 44

11 Continuing training: content, assessment and qualifications Continuing training is formally defined as training which teachers undergo after their initial training; the specific aims are to promote the personal and professional development of teachers. Continuing training also responds to the needs created by scientific and technological developments and the changes these have generated in contemporary culture; these initiatives help to retrain teachers, on an ongoing basis, adjusting their teaching skills to new demands and enabling them to transmit learning with all the necessary rigour. The importance of continuing training as a means of updating skills and knowledge is reflected in the fact that special legislation has been passed governing the system Decree-Law no. 249,92, of 9 November, subsequently amended (Law 60/93, of 20 August, and Decree-Law no. 274/94, of 28 October). This legislation regulates all major aspects of the continuing training system, laying down the training content, the rights and duties of trainees, the training organisations, the type of assessment and certificates awarded and the organisations responsible for planning and controlling the system. In order to implement the system, qualified trainers are needed, together with an institutional network to work in close co-operation with the relevant persons and organisations in executing national and regional plans for continuing training. Higher education institutions, training centres run by schools associations, and the colleges and training centres run by teachers associations are the main players in this network and together provide all the training required of this type, in a structured way, employing trainers with different levels of qualification, specified in the legislation referred to above. The aims of continuing training initiatives are selected from areas such as academic subjects, education sciences, pedagogical research, personal training and professional ethics, and information technology. The initiatives seek to update the teachers skills and knowledge and to train them in the teaching, research, training and communication skills they use in transmitting learning and know-how. Continuing training initiatives for teachers take a number of different forms and structures and the curriculum contents are organised in accordance with the training level. Training schemes generally take the form of courses, modules, higher education subjects, seminars, training workshops, teaching practice, projects or study circles, and in terms of length, depth and complexity initiatives can be classified as initial training, further training and specialisation, with a duration respectively of 30, 22 and 15 hours. Certificates are awarded for all continuing training activities, in accordance with the relevant law, stating that the teacher has attended the course or other activities, and giving an objective assessment of his or her performance. These certificates can help the teacher to obtain promotion and are also relevant to their professional record. In order to ensure that continuing training is in practice available to teachers, the State has established training as a right, ensuring that all teachers have access, on equal terms, to professional realisation and allowing them to plan and take part in team work. Teachers are therefore able to attend compulsory continuing training initiatives free of charge and also benefit from a reduction in teaching hours, in accordance with the legal 45

12 regulations. With a view to their careers, teachers may choose the training initiatives which best fit in with their plans for professional and personal development, and a credit system ensures that all training activities in which they participate count towards their promotion chances. As well as allowing teachers to realise their personal and professional aspirations as individuals, continuing training activities also offer them a chance to take part in group work, by collectively participating in various stages of the planning process. Teachers can contribute to the training plan at the centre to which their school belongs and play an active role by working on project teams or joining study circles. Teachers rights to training, as established by the State, are counterbalanced by the corresponding duty to take part in continuing training schemes organised under national and regional programmes earmarked as priorities in relation to the needs generated by the reform of the education system, and by the fees payable for participation in optional training initiatives. Assessment of teachers on continuing training schemes is geared to two major concerns. Firstly, to gauge the degree to which training activities achieve the aims defined in continuing training programmes, in which task both trainees and training staff participate. And secondly, to guarantee the quality and coherence of the retraining process: trainees are assessed individually, using any of the written assessment forms created for this purpose. Given that continuing training is conducted on nation-wide basis, involving complex training aims and highly technical operations and procedures, a national co-ordinating body is required in order to plan, accredit, credit, monitor and assess the different initiatives undertaken over time up and down the country. These are the main responsibilities of the Continuing Training Co-ordinating Board, which brings together the main institutional actors in the system and seeks to involve them in the running and planning of a coherent training system, by matching training needs to initiatives undertaken by different training organisations Non-teaching staff: terms of employment and training The personnel needed in order to run an education system includes both the teachers, who undertake academic duties, and a wide range of other workers, qualified in different professions, whose role it is to carry out the technical, administrative, back-up and manual tasks needed for the running of educational institutions, thereby contributing to the technical and academic success of the school system. Table 11 in Annex 1 shows the different professional categories of the staff currently employed in nursery schools, basic and secondary education school, higher education institutions and the central offices of the Ministry of Education. The figures show that in all sectors administrative and auxiliary staff represent by far the largest categories, followed by manual workers and technical staff. 46

13 Although the staff of the Ministry of Education and educational establishments are employed on a range of different contracts, most workers are full-time and permanent public employees appointed to their respective institutions. This lends a certain degree of stability to the organisation of these institutions, as public employees are, by definition, representatives of the administrative authorities, in permanent positions and members of the staff at their respective establishment, as well as participating in the administration of the State and enjoying the protection of collective contracts established in law. As public sector employees non-teaching staff are subject to the general terms of employment established for state organisations, and are paid in accordance with official salary scales for their category and position. In order to respond to the challenges of technological change in contemporary society, the Government has created a vocational training system for public sector employees, with specific aims, training organisations and types of training (Decree-Law no. 50/98, of 11 March). The training which is provided by the central departments of the Ministry of Education and by the trades unions is therefore considered as both the right and the duty of employees, and can help to adjust the working practice of non-teaching staff to the changing circumstances in which they called on to act. 5. ADMINISTRATION OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM The education system comprises two distinct sectors. The first of these consists of the individual schools and institutions, which represent the main raison d être of the system, and the second comprises the organisational structures of the Ministry of Education, whose task is to define national education policy General Administration In the words of the Organisational Law regulating the Ministry of Education, its overall task is to promote the development and modernisation of the education system, strengthening the link between education and research, science, technology and culture, contributing to innovation in the education system, to preserve and disseminate the Portuguese language and to promote the development of an integrated sports policy. Under the political leadership of the Minister and three Secretaries of State (the Secretary of State for the Administration of Education, the Secretary of State for Higher Education and the Secretary of State for Education and Innovation), the Ministry of Education is equipped with a series of offices and departments (see Figure 1, Annex 2) through which it pursues these objectives. These offices and departments are located throughout Portugal, in accordance with their responsibilities and level of decisionmaking powers, and divided into central, regional and local offices and authorities. Decision-making powers are decentralised wherever possible, in accordance with the aims and objectives of the management cycle. 47

14 The central offices of the Ministry of Education are primarily responsible for policy making, co-ordination, information services, research, planning, programming and assessment with regard to the different education sub-systems, European affairs and international relations, financial and human resources, curricular development and organisational change, sport and school welfare programmes, and their work and decisions apply to the education system as a whole. There are various advisory bodies (the National Education Board, the National Board for Welfare in Higher Education, the Board of Director-Generals, the Co-ordinating Board for Private and Co-operative Education, the Board for Co-operation between Higher Education and Industry and the National Higher Education Assessment Board) whose main role is to advise the minister whenever he consults them. There are also a number of different programmes with specific aims. These include notably the Education for All Programme, designed to ensure that all young people complete their compulsory education, and the Co-ordination Office for Multicultural- Intercultural Education, responsible for promoting education designed to inculcate values such as togetherness, tolerance, dialogue and solidarity between peoples, ethnic groups and cultures. Since 1995 a number of working parties have been set up in order to look into innovative approaches to education policy matters, with a view to implementation in the system. The most important of these are the Working Part for the Accreditation of teacher Training and the Working Party for the Development of Adult Education and Training. The Regional Education Offices (North, Centre, Lisbon, Alentejo and Algarve) of the Ministry of Education serve to decentralise the State s decision-making powers, and carry on the ministry s work at regional level. The Regional Education Offices are responsible primarily for organising and administering education establishments and school education (all sectors except higher education). They co-ordinate, monitor and provide support services in the following areas: technical and pedagogical matters, human and material resources, welfare schemes and school sports. They are also responsible for co-ordination and liaison between different levels of the education system, implementing the policy guidelines laid down at national level. The Regional Education Offices also take part in assessing educational needs, gathering information about the system and, under the guidance of the Higher Education Department, co-ordinating the application process for places in higher education. A total of 21 Education Area Centres, at municipal or inter-municipal level and answerable to the Regional Education Offices, are responsible for implementing and promoting policy in all areas under their jurisdiction, principally by managing schools offering the 1st cycle of the basic education system. At local level, municipalities are also responsible for liaison between the education system and the community. They have special responsibility for facilities and equipment, auxiliary staff and welfare schemes for pre-school education, the 1st cycle 48

15 of basic education and programmes for offering the 2nd cycle of the basic education system through distance learning using audio-visual technology. In the islands (Azores and Madeira, which are separate autonomous regions) the regional organisational structure is different. Education policy is the responsibility of the Regional Education Departments, which are organs of the regional governments with specific powers in this area, although the Minister of Education remains responsible for co-ordinating education policy as a whole. Whilst the intermediate authorities are responsible primarily for organising and running schools, implementing at local level the policy defined by the central authorities, the Regional Inspection Offices, which cover the same regions as the Regional Education Offices, are in turn responsible at local level for carrying out the work of the General Education Inspectorate. This consists of overseeing the technical-pedagogical work and the administration, finance and assets of educational establishments at different levels of the education system Schools and developing autonomy Despite the autonomy enjoyed by individual schools, colleges and higher education institutions, the ideals they pursue are the same. The management authorities responsible for the running of each institution seek primarily to promote the quality of the education and research work conducted, thereby providing a context of institutional stability in which the teaching-learning process can flourish Schools (excluding higher education) The administrative autonomy enjoyed by schools has been extended in recent years. The first steps in this direction were taken by Decree-Law no. 769-A/76, of 23 October, establishing a model which was subsequently adjusted by Decree-Law no. 172/91, of 10 May. The current rules are laid down in Decree-Law no. 115/A/98, of 4 May. The new rules on the autonomous administration of schools, set out in Decree-Law no. 115-a/98, of 4 May, have only recently come into effect and will be implemented as from the academic year of 1998/99. These management rules will therefore in the coming years be applied jointly with those established in Decree-Law no. 769-A/76, of 23 October (which have applied since 1975 to schools offering the 2nd and 3rd cycles of basic education and to secondary schools not required to adopt the management model established in Decree-Law no. 172/91, of 10 May) and in Decree-Law no. 172/91, of 10 May (which came into effect from the academic year of 1992/93, in 48 schools and school areas, as a pedagogical pilot scheme). In accordance with the management model established by Decree-Law no. 172/91, of 10 May, each school is managed and administered by a School Board or Education Area Board, an Executive Director, a Board of Studies, an Administrative Board and a Unit Co-ordinator, for schools belonging to Education Areas. The School Board has a leadership and decision-making role, while the Executive Director is responsible for administering and managing the school s cultural, pedagogical, administrative and 49

16 financial affairs. The Board of Studies, which co-ordinates and directs educational activities, assists the administrative and management authorities in pedagogical, didactic and cultural matters, and in relation to educational guidance for students and training for teaching and non-teaching staff. The Administrative Board is responsible for ensuring that the school s administrative and financial affairs area managed in accordance with the law. The Board of Studies is supported in its duties by a number of other professionals and departments (the Curriculum Department, the Form Boards, the Form Directors, the Form Directors Annual Co-ordinator, the Facilities and Equipment Director, the Training Department and the Psychology and Counselling Services) which assist it in its work. Under the model created by Decree-Law no. 769-A/76, of 23 October, schools are basically managed by a Management Board, a Board of Studies and an Administrative Board. The Management Board is a collegiate body which directs the affairs of the school, manages teaching and non-teaching staff and oversees disciplinary matters. The Board of Studies directs and co-ordinates pedagogical affairs, and is assisted by other boards of groups, sub-groups, years and forms. The Administrative Board ensures that the school s administrative and financial affairs are conducted in due accordance with the law. Finally, under the new rules of school autonomy created by Decree-Law no. 115-A/98, of 4 May, schools are run on the general principles of democracy and participation, the primacy of pedagogical criteria, the representative nature of the school administrative and management bodies, the responsibility of the State and other participants in the education process, the stability and efficient of school management, and the transparency of administrative decision-making. Schools are organised on the basis of an educational project (a document establishing educational guidelines and priorities for a three-year period), the internal regulations, governing the running of the school, and the annual plan of activities (defining aims, programmes of activities and the respective organisation, and resources, in keeping with the guidelines contained in the educational project). It is natural therefore that the administrative and management bodies established by law should have specific powers in the fields of pedagogical-didactic management, logistics and financial affairs. Schools therefore need a management and organisational structure in which the individual responsibilities of the different actors in the educational process (teachers, students, non-teaching staff, parents and guardians and local authority representatives) are clearly defined, and which establishes democratic procedures involving participation by all the relevant parties. These needs have to be reflected in the composition and powers of the different administrative and management bodies. Schools are therefore administered and managed by an Assembly, an Executive Board or Director, a Board of Studies and an Administrative Board. The Assembly establishes the guidelines for the school s activities and is responsible for their implementation, approving the educational project, the internal regulations and the autonomy agreement. The Executive (Executive Board or Director) is responsible for the administering and managing the school s pedagogical, cultural, administrative and financial affairs; it also 50

17 drafts the basic documents referred to above, institutes the rules for the running of the school and prepares other documents required for democratic management procedures, such as the annual plan of activities, approving the definitive version, and the draft budget. The Board of Studies co-ordinates and directs pedagogical and educational activities, student guidance and monitoring and initial and continuing training for teaching and non-teaching staff. The Administrative Board, for its part, oversees the administrative and financial affairs of the school, managing human, material and financial resources, with special responsibilities for approving the annual budget and the management report and accounts and for authorising expenditure. The educational guidance services and the other special educational support services help to implement and carry through management policy. The educational guidance services co-ordinate curricular questions, organise form activities and co-ordinate years, cycles and courses, whilst the Psychology and Counselling Services and the Educational Support Unit seek to offer individual help and vocational guidance so that students can integrate fully into the school. One of the most innovative features of Decree-Law no. 115-A/98, of 4 May, is that the autonomy of individual schools is considered as an ongoing process which may be furthered through an autonomy agreement, through access to skills in the fields of flexible curriculum management, management of timetables which include teaching and administrative duties, educational management and guidance, the adoption by the school of its own rules on timetables, terms, form composition and classroom use, creating a stable permanent staff, participation in the selection of non-teaching staff, budget management and execution, the possibility of self-financing and management of the respective revenues, acquisition of goods and services and carrying out building work, within limits to be established, association with other schools and partnerships with local organisations and services Higher education institutions Different management models exist for state higher education institutions (centralised and decentralised models, depending on the make-up of the organisation), which enjoy statutory autonomy. Universities (Law no. 108/88, of 24 September) and Polytechnic Institutes (Law no. 54/90, of 5 September) have fully independent powers to manage their scientific, pedagogical, administrative, financial and disciplinary affairs and their own assets. The organisational structures of universities and polytechnics have their own distinct terminology universities are governed by an Assembly, a Senate, a Rector and an Administrative Board, whilst polytechnics have a President, a General Board and an Administrative Board but the division of powers and responsibilities is in practice roughly the same. The Rector/President directs and oversees the management of academic, administrative and financial affairs, the Senate/General Board creates organisational units and drafts the plan of activities, whilst the Administrative Board is responsible for administrative and financial management. 51