terça-feira, março 11, 2008

Portugal 24

Professores: indignados ou manipulados?


De tudo o que se disse do conflito entre os professores do Ensino Secundário e o Ministério da Educação fica, depois de uma memorável jornada de protesto, a ideia de que afinal ninguém estaria, no fundo, contra a avaliação, mas sim contra a narrativa provocatória com que, não a ministra, mas o secretário de estado dela (subtileza de última hora...), teria embrulhado o processo de imposição das medidas. Ou seja, desde que com outros modos, maior flexibilidade e mais devagarinho, a coisa até nem tem problema nenhum. Os sindicatos estão dispostos a "negociar" o que for preciso desde que despeçam a ministra, para salvar a face, claro! Ou seja, tudo não passou de um exercício do mais sórdido sindicalismo, para eleitor ver, e sem a menor consideração efectiva pela indignação íntima dos seus representados. Os SMS agitaram a classe, a indignação subiu de tom e contagiou um número surpreendente de professores. Os sindicatos prometeram então controlar os danos e reconduzir o rebanho ao perímetro pacato da escola, desde que (seria esse o preço a pagar) José Sócrates corresse com a ministra. Para evitar a repetição do que se passou com Correia de Campos, Maria de Belém Roseira opinou subtilmente que talvez fosse bom despedir o secretário de estado que conduziu até agora o polémico processo. Ora aí está como se esvazia um processo sem que fiquemos a perceber patavina do que esteve em causa.

Procurei em vão um sítio na blogosfera onde algum ou alguns professores tivessem sido capazes de explanar preto no branco as razões essenciais da sua indignação. Nem um só sítio onde fosse possível obter o esclarecimento que toda a opinião pública gostaria de ter tido. Os debates televisivos não apresentaram nem números claros, nem palavras simples. Tudo era burocratês, indignação frágil e retórica inacessível. E no entanto os dados do problema tinham história e estavam até disponíveis! Aqui ficam alguns deles, para que a discussão prossiga em moldes mais sérios, dispensando os jogos hipócritas e manipuladores dos poderes governamentais, burocráticos e sindicais.

Progress in Responding To The 2007 Policy Priorities: Country Notes

PORTUGAL -- Living standards have fallen vis-à-vis the OECD average in recent years, with the widening GDP-per-capita gap essentially reflecting low productivity.

Policy priorities

Improve upper-secondary and tertiary education attainment

Challenge and recommendations: To improve human capital formation, it was recommended that a greater proportion of primary and secondary education spending be allocated to non-wage spending and a systematic evaluation of higher education institutions be implemented.

Actions taken: As decided earlier, very small and inefficient primary schools are being closed. A new career scheme for primary and secondary teachers, including new performance assessment procedures, has been approved by the Council of Ministers. The authorities have commissioned reviews of the higher education sector, including the current accreditation and quality-assurance processes.

in ECONOMIC POLICY REFORMS: GOING FOR GROWTH -- ISBN 978-92-64-04284-1 -- © OECD 2008


OCDE, 06-12-2007 Primary and secondary education in the United States

The average educational attainment of US students is weak by international comparison. For example, mean results of PISA test scores are below the OECD average. This is despite substantial resources devoted to the schooling system. One partial explanation for this is that academic standards, curriculum and examinations are not sufficiently challenging in most US states. In 2001, Congress enacted the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) to raise achievement levels, especially of certain groups that perform badly. The Act requires states to establish clear content standards as to what students should know, to regularly assess performance and to set thresholds for adequate yearly progress; it also requires schools where students are failing to meet such thresholds to improve or close, while enhancing options for parents of children in such schools to place their children elsewhere. The law appears to be well conceived, addressing key problems in a sensible manner. Preliminary indications are consistent with it raising school performance and closing achievement gaps. The NCLB legislation should therefore be reauthorised. Moreover, the NCLB framework of standards, assessment and accountability should be extended through upper secondary education.

in PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT WORKING PAPER No. 585 By Peter Tulip and Gregory Wurzburg


Modernising Portugal's Secondary Schools

Portugal has a total of 477 public secondary schools. Some date from the end of the 19th century but the majority were built after 1970, reflecting the period of expansion in the school network and the extension of compulsory schooling. The schools are heterogeneous in terms of building types, architectural features and quality.

... Portugal's modernisation programme provides for improvements to 330 public school buildings by the year 2015 with a total investment of EUR 940 million, 60% of which will be funded by the European Union (EU), the state government and local governments. The remaining 40% will be secured through bank financing (25%) and through asset building actions and the development of business units (15%).

ISSN 1609-7548 Modernising Portugal's Secondary Schools PEB Exchange 2008/1 © OECD 2008 By Teresa V. Heitor, Parque Escolar, Portugal.


OAM 333 11-03-2008, 02:00

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