Regional Government sets goals of Fénix - Açores programme for 2017/2018 school year
The Regional Secretary for Education and Culture determines in an order to be published Tuesday in the Official Journal the goals to be achieved under the Fénix-Açores programme for the 2017/2018 school year.
These goals will be stipulated between the Regional Directorate for Education and each regional school establishment. They will focus on the failure and dropout rates in every school level and the lowest marks (1 point out of a 5-point scale) scored in the 9th form Math external exam.
They will take into consideration the weighted averages of the marks scored in the subjects of Portuguese and Math in internal evaluation, which is not applicable in the year of schooling subject to external evaluation. Moreover, these goals also include the distance of the regional average mark scored in the external exam from that registered in regular evaluation in the 9th form.
According to the order issued by Avelino Meneses, the targets will also cover the years of schooling in which the Fénix-Azores programme involves the subject of English. They vary as to whether the year of schooling covered by this programme is subject or not to external evaluation.
The Fénix-Açores programme, which accompanies the purposes of the national programme, is mainly intended to reduce school failure and dropout in Basic Education, particularly in its core subjects - Portuguese and Math.
The regional programme provides the reorganisation of classes in a given school year with the aim of promoting "a more flexible organisation" that will be line with the specific needs of the students involved. Moreover, it proposes new forms of intervention.
Hence, the "nest" support will remain for students from elementary school to junior high school. In this case, students with major learning difficulties will be included into smaller groups in order to promote a better and faster acquisition of knowledge. In addition, it creates two new types of support for middle school and junior high school students with the purpose of increasing the effectiveness of the programme: "Fénix A,B,C" and "Fénix Turnos."
The new features are intended to promote the possibility of a "differentiated and more individualised work" in a process that can be carried out throughout the school year or be adjusted in accordance with the results of the assessment that will be eventually made.