The Regional Secretary for Education and Training reiterated that the restructuring of the school network is primarily intended to improve the school performance, bearing in mind the education success of Azorean students.

While heard on the Commission on Social Affairs of the Azorean Parliament, Cláudia Cardoso recalled that she “understands that sometimes it is more convenient for a child to attend a school near their area of residence,” but the schools that have received students from closed schools  are equipped “with more computers, more resources, support technicians and teachers from other areas. They provide children with more opportunities to improve their school performance and that is what we intend.”

The Regional Secretary for Education and Training also stressed the need “concentrate resources which will improve the learning conditions for these children and that is something that we will eventually recognise in the long-term, including parents and tutors.” 
 
Cláudia Cardoso considered that “it is natural in a democratic society that people disagree with the decisions taken, but 3 petitions in 27 closed schools is a small number.”

In addition, the Regional Secretary for Education and Training also noted that “it is not worth claiming” and demanding the promotion of educational success, “and then, when such measures are taken, saying that they should not have been taken.”

The restructuring of the Azorean school system was based on several principles, including the issue of schools that closed as they were integrated into other schools. Cláudia Cardoso said the case of Francisco Ferreira Drummond Basic Education School, “which led to the closure of the São Sebastião, Ribeira Seca and Feteira School, the case of Ponta Garça School on São Miguel that led to the closure of three schools and the case of Ribeira” where three schools will be closed during this school year, most likely in the second term, for the same reasons.

In addition, the restructuring took into account the cases of small schools with “a reduced number of students, which brings serious disadvantages, especially at an educational level,” the Secretary said, reminding that these schools usually have a single teacher who “has to teach four grades in one class or two teachers, each teaching two grades simultaneously. This situation has led to “difficulties, either in the learning conditions or in the teachers’ performance, who cannot teach properly. This situation is evidenced in the reports drawn up by these teachers  who, without exception, complain about teaching four grades in the same class, stated the Regional Secretary.

Furthermore, this situation is also evidenced in the outcome of the external summative assessment tests of these small-sized schools, whose “results are below the regional average and, in our view, this fact is obviously related to teaching issues and how this teaching is carried out.”