The Regional Secretary for Education and Culture conveyed in Nordeste the Government's satisfaction for the smooth start of the new school year in the Azores. There was no "constraints" either in terms of human resources or in terms of infrastructures.

For Avelino Meneses, this situation is due to the "effort and commitment" of the technical and administrative team of the Regional Directorate for Education, which is under the administration of the Regional Secretariat for Education and Culture. "This department has been responsible for the opening of teaching applications and the timely placing of teachers in schools."

"Now, other challenges, more ambitious and difficult, lie ahead of us. The main challenge is the fight against school failure. We will attempt to eradicate this problem or, at least, reduce it. This goal will be achieved with effort and ambition as well as with some amount of utopian optimism," said the government official.

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a working visit to two schools in Vila de Nordeste, São Miguel Island, Avelino Meneses stressed that in order to tackle school failure, "we need to from whining to action."

In this struggle, the Regional Government counts on the "support of all parties concerned" to build an "inclusive schools that is mainly focused on students."

Hence, Avelino Menses defended the need "to foster the dialogue between local and regional authorities, families and institutions in order to serve the best interests of students."

The Regional Secretary for Education and Culture announced that the Government of the Azores, as announced by the President of the Government, will move forward with the creation of an Integrated Programme for the Promotion of School Success. The government official also recalled the implementation of several measures to tackle school failure, such as the additional hour credit, the extension of the "Fénix" project, the support to elementary school teachers and, more recently, the creation of school mediators.

This programme will be implemented in the school year 2015/2016. Its development will count on the collaboration of Sampaio da Nóvoa, among personalities, and will be discussed by the school community, said the Regional Secretary.

The school year in the Azores started officially on Monday, involving over 40,400 students enrolled at 175 schools and over 4,700 teachers, supported by approximately 2,300 employees.