The Regional Secretary for Education and Culture highlighted in Horta the "giants steps" that have been taken in education over the last decades, through the construction of many schools, the training of teachers, the improvement of schooling rate and the eradication of traditional school dropout.
Avelino Meneses pointed out that, despite "the major or minor developments, but always continuous," the results scored by Azorean students remain "unsatisfactory." Therefore, this situation "is one of our main challenges."
The Regional Secretary spoke at the legislative Assembly during an interpellation to the Government on the results of the national exams scored by the regional schools in 2016/2017. On the occasion, he stressed the search for "commitment solutions" that will turn the school into "a means of learning for all students."
In this context, he added that the Regional Government has created the integrated plan for the promotion of school success, designated as ProSucesso - Azores for Education, which will remain in force until 2025. It includes all educational programmes already implemented in the fight against school failure and dropout.
Avelino Meneses also considered that the indicators available for 2016/2017 school year "convey hope," although the school system in the Azores has yet to reach the desired "levels of excellence."
In the last five years, there has been a "considerable" reduction of school failure at several levels: 8% in elementary school, 10% in the middle school and 11% in junior high school," stressed the government official.
According to the Regional Secretary, the improvement of the results scored in the external exams and the decrease of school failure rates will serve as "the basis for building a successful school path." This will "surely" lead Azorean students to complete compulsory education "in due time and with adequate learning."
While it is true that the dissemination of school results presented in the form of rankings provides "greater transparency" to the educational system, it "deals with different realities in the same way," said the government official.
"The results of national exams when converted into school rankings should be regarded with caution," stated the Regional Secretary.