The Regional Secretary for Education, Science and Culture restated on Friday in the Village of Água de Pau that in terms of educational policies, "the great challenge that lies ahead of us is, precisely, the battle against school failure."

Speaking at the opening session of the 1st "Fénix - Açores" Seminar, an experimental programme created to combat school failure in elementary, middle school and junior high school levels, Luiz Fagundes Duarte said that having good schools facilities, qualified teachers and students with good learning conditions is not enough to achieve school success.

In this regard, the government official pointed out that the legislative measures are already being implemented with the aim of finding solutions to tackle this scourge in Azorean schools. These measures will be followed by a final document on this matter that will be raised for discussion.

The Azores are the region of the European Union with the worst results in terms of school performance and early dropout. In order to revert this trend, the Regional Secretary defended the need for changes in methodologies, teaching practices and even in students' emotional involvement in order to stimulate their emotional involvement with the school.

In this context, Luiz Fagundes Duarte admitted the possibility of adaptations to the reality of each school and each child with the right tools so that the Azores may be able to revert this trend by reducing the negative results of school performance.

According to the Regional Secretary, several measures have been implemented in the field, including the recognition of the role played by Pedagogical Councils, the increased representation of parents/tutors at the Pedagogical Council and School Assembly and the closer involvement of the School Assembly in the functioning of schools. These measures are an attempt to search for solutions that address the problem of school failure.

In order to accomplish this goal, Luiz Fagundes Duarte conveyed his full willingness to accept suggestions and contributions provided by all parties, especially from those who deal with this reality on a daily basis.

The "Fénix" Project has been implemented in the Azores only a year ago and, according to the Regional Secretary, it has the potential to provide encouraging results; however, a programme of this importance "cannot be carried out without the direct, active and committed collaboration of those who are on the ground."

"We will do everything within our reach to support schools that intend, on their own initiative, to take part in this project with dedication or in others that may contribute to end this scourge," stressed the Regional Secretary.

Furthermore, Luiz Fagundes Duarte conveyed his wish that the four Azorean schools developing this project may disseminate it to other schools "in coming years," hence the relevance of this programme to combat school failure in the archipelago.