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  rural schoolhouse in Vilarinho da Raia, closed and abandoned because there were no more students . 

In March 2007 the  educational system of Chaves consisted of 6 primary schools in the urban area.  These are called "escola básica" and have classes from the first to the fourth year.  There were 41 primary schools in rural areas (freguesias) as of 2006, but several of these have closed since then for lack of students.  There were two schools, Escola E B 2, 3,  with classes from the fifth to the eighth year (Nadir Afonso and Casa dos Montes).  There were three secondary schools--Escola Secundária Doutor António Granjo, Escola Secúndaria Júlio Martins, and Escola Secundária Fernão de Magalhães.  These last three are always known by their popular names--Aregos, Técnica, and Liceu, respectively.   There is also a Professional School, which offers a secundary school diploma.   Higher education is represented by a campus of the University of Trás os Montes and Alto Douro (Vila Real), offering courses in Tourism and Pre-school education.  Lastly, there is a private nursing school--Escola Superior Enfermagem Doutor José Timóteo Montalvão Machado. 

The educational system is free and education is obligatory until the age of 16 or the ninth grade.  See Structure of Educational System in Portugal or the Wikipedia article Education in Portugal .   There is a high dropout rate though and around 50% percent of those who started primary school never finish the 12^th year.  In Chaves only 7% of the total population has finished secondary school (U.S. 75%), and in Vila Real it is a little better with 9.2%.  On the other end of the scale you have Boticas with 2%.  This number has been going down over the years.  Another figure that is still high but has been decreasing is illiteracy.  According to the 1991 census Chaves had 14.7% illiterates, Vila Real 11%, Boticas 25% and Montalegre 24.2%.  A look at the statistics below from Geocid gives an idea of the situation.

Schools according to Year of Teaching (1995/96)     

Portuguese Education:  Europe or Third World?

A recent article in Publico, Portugal's most prestigious newspaper, presented a bleak picture of the primary schools in the country.  According to a study made by the General Inspectorate of Education in 2580 schools in Portugal, the results were the following:  44% had only one teacher; 23% had fewer than ten students and the average number of students per teacher varied between 11 and 14; 7% of the students had special education problems that were not being met.

The "Liceu", the first secondary school in Chaves

Another study carried out by the Central Region Teachers' Union in 860 schools in the region discovered that:  32.2% of the schools did not have any type of heating (with most of the schools located in zones of prolonged and vigorous winter); 48.3% had no library and 69% had no computer; almost 40% did not have up-to-date maps (some maps still showed Portugal with colonies), 90% were not connected to the Internet; in 90% there were no musical instruments; 57.6% did not have a teaching assistant; 86.7% did not have a cafeteria or a canteen; and finally, and even more tragically when we remember that this is Europe, 234 schools (27%) did not even have a telephone.  Coming after the government announced that by the end of 2001 all primary schools would be connected to the Internet this last statistic is especially pessimistic.

An article in Jornal de Notícias on 29 May 2001 painted an even less optimistic picture:

Half of young Portuguese completely abandon their studies without finishing compulsory education (until the ninth year of school).  This is a reality that classifies Portugal as the country with the lowest level of education in all the European Union.  As a whole, 46% of young Portuguese drop out of school early, while in countries like Sweden or Finland, only seven to ten percent of the students do so. 

According to numbers released yesterday by the European Commission, only Italy  (with 27%) comes close to Portugal in the panorama of school dropouts in the Union.  Greece (with a percentage of school dropouts of 18%) is better than  the European average  (21%), surpassing member states like the United Kingdom, Ireland or Luxembourg. 

According to a study made by the European Union, Portugal stands out, also negatively, in the numbers relating to teenagers who finish secondary school.  While in countries like Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Austria, between 85 and 89% of young people finish secondary school, in Portugal, only 35% do so (the European Community average is 71%) 

Spain and Italy, with a 58 to 60% success rate in secondary school, among young people between 25 and 29 years old, are the countries that come closer to Portugal, but still at a great distance. 

Furthermore, the number of Portuguese with an incomplete secondary education decreases when we increase the age group.    88% of the Portuguese, between the ages of 50 and 64, and 81% between the ages of 40 and 49, were not able even to finish secondary school.  These numbers are reflected in the national average, helping to make it the worst in the European Community:  four in five Portuguese (79%), between the ages of 25 and 64, dropped out of school before finishing their secondary school (the European Community average is 60%). 

Nevertheless, in relative terms, the performance of the Portuguese becomes a lot more encouraging in university education.  Although Portugal is far from member states like Finland and Sweden, where 31 and 29% of citizens have a university diploma, the country reaches the level of 10% of people who have successfully finished a university education.  The numbers verified are not very different from those in Italy (10%), Austria (11), Greece (17), and Luxembourg (18). 

Spain, where 20% of the inhabitants have a university degree, comes close to countries like France (21%), Germany (23%), and Holland (23%), and almost reaches the average of 21%.

All education is free but students must pay for books and transportation on the bus system; although they have a discount.  The appearance of most schools is that of a dilapidated building with no trees around it.  The major secondary school in Chaves, the Liceu, is housed in an old convent and the first thing you see are the outside walls completely covered with graffiti, that no one has ever tried to remove. The playground or sports field is so filled with holes that sport would be almost impossible to practice.  The basketball courts are outside and on an irregular surface and the rims on the baskets have become so bent that play is impossible.  There are no running tracks, swimming pools, tennis courts, or weight rooms.  Physical education is given for only two hours a week.  Usually, the same sport, football is played all year.  School sports are almost non-existent, mainly because students have no time with a heavy load of academic subjects, and the children who live in rural areas leave school by bus at the time when extra-curricular sports activities might begin.   There are no tracks for athletics of course, and there are no extra-curricular activities such as a choir, band, drama club, or sports teams that might compete in a league.  A school is a place to go to, study, and go home.

A big problem in the educational system, as in the health system, is teacher absenteeism.  If a teacher brings in a doctor’s letter he can remain absent for as long as he wants.  He can never be fired for this.  Until recently there were no substitutes when this occurred, with students being sent home.   

Starting in 2007 the recently elected Socialist government, with Minister of Education Maria de Lurdes Rodrigues, has attempted to solve the problem of teacher absenteeism,  by requiring that all classes must have a substitute teacher.   At the primary-school level this has worked out with unemployed teachers getting a position, albeit temporary when teachers missed for long-term illness or pregnancy.  The biggest problems have occurred at the secondary-school level where students have different teachers for different subjects.  Now, required by law, when a teacher misses other available teachers are put in the classroom.  Unfortunately what often looks great on paper can be a disaster in the reality of everyday life.  Obviously a mathematics teacher cannot give a class in English and vice versa.  The solution has been for the substitute teacher to have the students either play cards or do their homework during that class time.  Now several teachers forced to substitute have won course cases to have their substitute hours paid as overtime.  Students are not happy since they waste their time when they could be having a break and teachers are not happy because they must go into a class for which they are most likely completely unprepared. 

Another change has been the initiative that primary-school students have classes in English, art, and music, extra-curricular activities that had never been offered.  Unfortunately, most schools do not have classrooms for these extra subjects or teachers available.  The solution in Chaves was to extend the school day so students could do the extra-curricular activities in the afternoon.  For students who come in from the villages the city hall had to provide buses to transport them to one or two designated schools for these classes.  School meals also had to be provided, again transporting students by bus since most schools have no cafeteria.  Quite often the middle class families decide to forego these extra classes because they are usually badly taught and cause such hardship for both the children and the parents who have to take them and pick them up.  English, for example, is taught in a haphazard way by poorly paid teachers, with few books, and to groups of over 30 children.  Many families do not bother to send their children since these classes are not compulsory. 

There are also some pre-primary schools run by the government, but nursery schools are private.  Poor parents can receive a subsidy from the government for placing their children in some of these schools.  

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