The Regional Secretary for Education, Science and Culture highlighted in Horta the performance of the governments led by PS as well as the "major investments made in infrastructures, qualification of human resources and improvement of educational strategies."
Luiz Fagundes Duarte took part in the discussion of the Government's Programme that took place on Wednesday, stressing the data released by INE, according to which the Azores are the national region with the highest decrease in the illiteracy rate.
In order to continue this path towards success, the Regional Secretary revealed that "the Government considers" that Azorean youngsters "must pursue their education until the age of 18, either in regular schools or in vocational training schools."
In this regard, Fagundes Duarte "assured that the referral of youngsters to regular schools or vocational training schools will not be constrained by accessory parameters, such as school performance or the economic conditions of families."
In his speech, the government official announced that a series of measures will be put into effect immediately with the purpose of granting the "necessary authority" to teachers and holding them accountable for the results achieved by students.
The strengthening of the regional curriculum, the stabilisation of the teaching staff, the revitalisation of the Regional Inspectorate of Education - an entity that "should play a prospective and preventive role and not a merely punitive role -, and the organisation of a Regional Council of Education in the near future were other measures announced by the Regional Secretary.
In the areas of science, culture, sport and youth, Fagundes Duarte revealed that the new Azorean Government intends to implement and improve the policies pursued by the previous government in recent years.
For the Regional Secretary, "youth and sports policies as well as the majority of policies in the area of culture and science should be coordinated with education policies, which are the key area and the common denominator."