This chapter provides a thematic and chronological overview of national reforms and policy developments in the education sector since 2020.

For more information on ongoing reforms and policy developments please consult the following articles on reforms in early childhood education and care, school education, vocational education and training and adult learning, higher education and transversal skills and employability. The final article provides a European perspective on the reforms and developments.

Overall national education strategy and key objectives

After taking office on 26 October 2019, Portugal’s 22nd Government has prioritised public education, while ensuring equity, quality and appropriate qualifications. Important structural measures since 2016 include the following: 

• Defining the exit profile of students leaving compulsory education.
• Adopting curricular flexibility measures in basic and secondary education (Decree-Law No 55/2018, 6 July).
• According to Ordinance No 181/2019, 11 June, schools can manage over 25 % of the curriculum to address the needs and commitments outlined in their school innovation plans, provided they have been approved by the Ministry of Education.
• Legal framework of inclusive education (Decree-law No 54/2018, 6 July, amended by Law No 116/2019, 13 September).
• The  National Strategy for Citizenship Education (ENEC).
• Schools developing innovation plans (Ordinance No 181/2019, 11 June).
• The National Programme for the Promotion of School Success (Programa Nacional Promoção do Sucesso Escolar - PNPSE) created by the Resolution of Council of Ministers No 23/2016, 23 March. 
• Developing the adult education system via the Qualifica Programme (Council of Ministers’ Resolution No 32/2019, 14 February).
• Modernising the educational system.
• Improving the status of the teaching profession.
• Increasing the number of students supported by social services and institutionalisation of multi-annual scholarships in higher education.

The 22nd Government’s Programme prioritises the following areas in education:

Investing in public schools to combat inequalities

Guaranteeing access to universal schooling from the age of three and compulsory education for 12 years based on the principles established in the exit profile for students leaving compulsory education.

Investing in the collective future, boosting investment in higher education

Increasing the number of higher education graduates to improve the population’s qualifications and combat inequalities; extending higher education to new sections of the public; making access to higher education more widespread and improving diversity.

Promoting access to lifelong training and qualification

Promote access to lifelong training and qualification; consolidating integration, flexibility and effectiveness of training policy and the link between vocational training and the job market; qualifying the adult population and promoting the recognition of competences and learning and the adaptation of training pathways to individual profiles and needs through the Qualifica programme.

Consolidating school autonomy and internal participation models

Ensure that schools have to right conditions to exercise their autonomy, thus consolidating their ability to combat inequalities and construct a digital society.

Professional value and stability

Promoting the specialisation and training of education professionals so critical to the success of public education policies. 

Promoting digital skills

Promoting students’ and teachers’ digital competencies; implementing the Schools Digitisation Programme; encouraging computer teaching at different education levels; developing a programme to re-equip schools to respond to the challenges of the digital society.

Promoting democratic literacy and citizenship

Cultivating conscious, active and engaged citizens who can respond to the current threats to democracy.

Portugal 2030 strategy

The Portugal 2030 strategy embodies the vision for the next decade and is key for the various policy instruments, such as the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) and the next Community Support Framework 2021-27 (Portugal 2030). In the field of education, the strategy’s Agenda 2 "Digitalisation, innovation and qualifications as drivers for development" is an important contribution, covering areas such as the enhancing of the knowledge society, business innovation, human resources qualifications and qualification of institutions. Key goals include:

• increasing total spending on R&D to 3 % of GDP by 2030.

• reducing the percentage of working age adults, including young adults, who have not completed upper secondary education.

• achieving a level of 60 % of 20-year-olds in higher education, with 50 % of higher education graduates in the 30-34 age group by 2030. 

• achieving a leading position in digital skills in Europe by 2030.

• increasing adult participation in lifelong learning; strengthening the European Union's productive autonomy and sovereignty.

The Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) aims to increase the education and training system’s responsiveness, tackle social inequalities and increase employment resilience through investment in capacity building for schools, students and teachers for the digital transition, as well as strengthening vocational education and adult education and training.

The Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027) is a strategic approach with two priority areas regarding the abovementioned policies: promoting the development of a highly effective digital literacy ecosystem, and strengthening digital competences and skills for digital transformation.

Overview of the education reform process and drivers

The main reference point for ongoing educational policies and reforms is the Education Act (Lei de Bases do Sistema Educativo – 1986): the right to education and culture, equal opportunities and the freedom to teach and learn, as detailed in the Constitution of the Republic. These policies should be aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals established in 2015 by the United Nations.

Schools’ and teachers’ involvement in constructing and managing curriculum (autonomy and curriculum flexibility) contributes to the development of more student-centred pedagogical approaches and improving learning quality. This assumption led to the definition of two key documents: Essential Learning (Aprendizagens Essenciais - AE)  drafted by teachers' associations, authors and/or scientific societies and the Exit profile of students leaving compulsory education.

As part of the skill’s decentralisation process, which was boosted by the Decree-Law No 21/2019, 30 January, the role of municipalities as agents of educational reform has been increasingly recognised. As such, we can see increasingly closer collaboration between central services, municipalities and schools regarding the development of different programmes and educational projects (from pre-school to upper-secondary education), in areas such as planning the education and training network, transport and accommodation, support and educational supplements, curricular enrichment activities, management of school facilities and non-teaching staff.

The European integration process is another important lever of educational reforms, which are enshrined in the National Reform Plan, annually submitted and approved, both in Parliament and the European Commission, and monitored during the European semester of economic governance.

Similarly, a set of education reforms to be implemented between 2021 and 2026 was included in Next Generation EU for Europe's post-pandemic recovery, through the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), already approved in 2021 at national and European level.

Portugal has fully committed to the implementation of the European Education Area 2025, targeting its policies in the following five strategic areas:

• improving the quality, equity, inclusion and success for everyone in education and training.
• reinforcing lifelong learning and mobility for all.
• improving the skills and boosting the motivation of education staff.
• strengthening European higher education.
• supporting the ecological and digital transition in education.