Key Benefits:
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PROPOSED LAW NO. 271 /X
Exhibition of Motives
The right to education constitutes, today, in modern societies a fundamental right of
citizenship, of which the effective exercise of other rights depends. It is therefore up to the state to
assure all and each of the citizens equal opportunities to fully exploit the
your abilities and to acquire the skills and knowledge that promote your
personal development and enable them to make an active contribution to the society in which if
integrate.
In that sense, the XVII Constitutional Government Programme set out as a matter of urgency
national the integration of all children and young people in school and the elevation of the level of
training and qualification of the next generations. For so much, it has established as objectives the
progressive broadening of preschool education to all children at appropriate age and the
extension of fundamental education up to the end of the secondary level, making it mandatory
frequency of teaching or training up to the age of 18, even for young people who if
find inserted in the employment market.
Over the course of four years in office, the Government has taken a wide set of measures in the
sense of realizing these goals. The reorganization of the school network of the 1 th cycle of the
basic education, carried out in collaboration with local authorities, has translated into the
closure of more than two thousand small schools alone and in the concentration of children
in host schools and in particular in school centres, the construction of which was
funded, in part, by the National Strategic Reference Framework 2007-2013 (QREN).
In this way, it was possible to strengthen the integration of preschool education into the network of
establishments of the basic education and extend the respective coverage. For that purpose, they were
also launched initiatives specifically aimed at the construction of rooms intended for
pre-school education, responding to the needs that make themselves feel with greater
Acuity in some regions of the Country. This effort has been carried out in partnership with the
municipalities. In addition, to strengthen the learning opportunities of children who
attend preschool education, the Ministry of Education has published guidelines
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curriculum that allow you to consolidate your pedagogical relevance and your contribution to the
success educational future of children.
The Government has also taken several steps to promote success and
prevent school leaving in the basic education. In addition to the establishment of new
rules that created conditions for schools to work more and better, organizing
adequately its resources (for example the new management regime or stabilization
of the faculty); measures have been adopted with direct consequences on the quality of the
apprenticesups (such as replacement lessons; recovery plans and
development; the universalization of the evidence of afferition; the Action Plan for
Mathematics and the National Reading Plan; the training programmes in service of the
lecturers). With these measures and with the broadening of the offer of Education Courses
Training, directed in particular to young people at risk of early school leaving, was
possible to significantly reduce the rates of unsuccess and abandonment.
Defining secondary level education or training as a reference level for
qualification of the Portuguese population, the Government has taken initiatives, directed at both the
young people such as adults, to generalize as soon as possible this level of
qualification. The initiative New Opportunities , which has aroused a broad adherence of the
Portuguese society, both the educational and training institutions, and the companies and
of the citizens themselves, has opened up a new possibility of obtaining a qualification of
secondary level through recognition, validation and certification of competencies
acquired by the experience and the insertion into the labour market. In the school framework,
have developed special modalities of completion of secondary education and created a
wide network of professional courses in public secondary schools, which allowed to invert
the trend of loss of pupils, providing the young formations that enable them to
more qualified integration into the labour market.
The Government has, still, launched an ambitious programme of modernization of schools
public secondary that will requalify the facilities of more than three hundred schools by 2015.
The schedule of implementation of this programme, financed in part with funds from the QREN, was
recently anticipated, in the framework of the measures to combat the impact of the crisis
economic and international financial in Portugal. In this way, the school park will be in
conditions of responding to the challenges of qualifying a growing number of young people and
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provide a more diversified educational offer, in which vocational training
should play a key role.
Aware that the promotion of the qualification of the Portuguese population requires the enhancement of the
social support for families of minor resources, the Government has determined the payment of the 13 th
provision of the family allowance (coinciding with the beginning of the academic year) and proceeded to a
unprecedented enlargement of school social action. First, equipping the supports
provided in basic education and secondary education and reinforcing the amounts of aid
economic, then changing the criteria for the allocation of the supports, in such a way that the
number of beneficiaries more than doubled. In addition, it created the school pass,
subsidizing the transportation of all children and young people in school age.
All these measures have been designed and implemented with a view to the effective realization
of the objectives set out in the Government Programme. They lack, however, now of the appropriate
general legislative framework, which ensures its continuation and development, in the
sense of the universalization of preschool education and the definition of teaching or training
secondary level professional as a fundamental level of qualification. Imprints, by
this, enshrine in the law both the generalization of free preschool education for all
children of five years and the extent of compulsory education for 12 years and up to 18
years. Complementarily, the Government will approve measures to strengthen social support to
families, creating the indispensable conditions for the effective fulfillment of that
compulsory. With such decisions, they consolidate the foundations for the construction of a
more qualified and competitive society, but also fairer and more empowered
realize equal opportunities.
The self-governing bodies of the Autonomous Region of Madeira were heard.
The consultations of the self-governing bodies of the Autonomous Region were triggered
of the Azores and the National Board of Education.
Thus:
Under the terms of the paragraph d) of Article 197 (1) of the Constitution, the Government presents to the
Assembly of the Republic the following proposal for a law:
Article 1.
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Subject
1-A present law establishes the scheme of compulsory education for children and young people
who are found to be in school age.
2-A present law enshrines, still, the universality of preschool education for all
children from the year in which they attain the five years of age.
Article 2.
Scope of compulsory education
1-For the purposes of the preceding Article 1, the school age shall be deemed to be
children and young people aged between the ages of six and 18.
2-The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall also apply to pupils covered by the
provisions of the Decree-Law No. 3/2008 of January 7, as amended by Law No 21/2008, of
May 12.
3-A compulsory education implies, for the in-charge of education, the duty of
proceed to the tuition of your educating in schools of the public network, the private network and
co-operative or in educational institutions and or training, recognized by the
competent entities, determining for the student, the duty of attendance.
4-A mandatory schooling cessa:
a) With the achievement of the secondary level lecturer diploma of education;
or
b) Regardless of the achievement of the diploma of any cycle or level of education,
at the time of the school year in which the student perparts 18 years.
5-The procedures required for the realization of the duty to proceed to the matriculation and
respective renewal is defined by dispatch of the member of the responsible government
by the area of education.
Article 3.
Universality and gratuitousness
1-Within the scope of compulsory education the teaching is universal and free of charge.
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2-A gratuity provided for in the preceding paragraph covers tuition fees, fees and emoluments
related to the tuition, school attendance and certification of the use,
available to the students of supports within the scope of school social action, under the
provisions of the Decree-Law No. 55/2009 of March 2.
3-Students covered by this Law, in a situation of deficiency, are beneficiaries of the
provision of financial supports, in the modality of scholarships, in terms and
conditions to be met by decree-law.
Article 4.
Admission to the work of minor covered by compulsory education
The minor who, under the prevailing labour law, detains capacity to celebrate
contract of employment and shall not find itself in the situation provided for in the paragraph a) of the Article 4 (4)
2., may be admitted to provide work, provided that, simultaneously, you find
enrolled and to attend compulsory education.
Article 5.
Preschool education
1-A preschool education is universal for all children from the year in which
attain the five years of age.
2-A universality provided for in the preceding paragraph implies, for the State, the duty of
ensure the existence of a preschool education network that allows for the enrollment of
all children by it covered and that of ensuring that such frequency takes place in
free of charge of the educational component and, for parents, the duty to proceed to
enrollment of its educands in kindergarten and that of securing the respective
frequency.
Article 6.
Amendment to Law No. 46/86 of October 14
Article 4 of Law No. 46/86 of October 14 (the Bases of the Educational System),
amended by the Laws No 115/97 of September 19 and 49/2005, of August 30, passes to
following wording:
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" Article 4.
[...]
1-[...].
2-[...].
3-[...].
4-[...].
5-The provisions of this Law shall be without prejudice to the definition of a more
broad as to universality, compulsory and gratuitous in the
general organization of the education system, in the terms of the law. "
Article 7.
Supplementary legislation
The Government approves, in the form of a decree-law, the supplementary legislation required to
implementation of this Law that shall regulate, in particular, the universality of the pre-
school with respect to children reaching the five years of age, control of the
compliance with the registration and frequency duties with respect to the students covered
by compulsory schooling and the terms and conditions in which the latter may be
admitted to provide work.
Article 8.
Abrogation standard
They are revoked:
a) Article 6 (4) of Law No. 46/86 of October 14 (Law of Bases of the
Educational System), as amended by the Laws n. 115/97, of September 19, and
49/2005, of August 30;
b) Articles 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7 and 7 of the Decree-Law No. 301/93 of August 31,
amended by Law No. 30/2002 of December 20.
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Article 9.
Transitional arrangement
1-Students currently covered by compulsory education who are enrolled in the
academic year 2009-2010, in any of the years of schooling of the 1. or 2.
or in the 7. year of schooling, are subject to the limit of compulsory education
provided for in this Law.
2-For the students who enrol in the academic year 2009-2010, in the 8 th year of
schooling and following, the legal provisions revoked by the
present law, being the limit of compulsory schooling which results from these
provisions.
Article 10.
Entry into force
The provisions of Article 5 shall only come into force on the date of the entry into force of the decree-law
let it come to regulation.
Seen and approved in Council of Ministers of April 30, 2009
The Prime Minister
The Minister of the Presidency
The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs