"While in the rest of the country most Portuguese people have qualifications at the 3rd cycle or higher - 50% of Portuguese people in the rest of the country have qualifications of the 3rd cycle (9th grade) or higher --, in the Azores we are exactly the opposite. In the Azores, most of the Azorean population still has qualifications only up to the 2nd cycle of basic education (6th grade)", advanced Sofia Ribeiro in an interview with Lusa.

This is one of the data from a study carried out within the scope of the Azores Education Strategy 2030, which will be presented on Thursday in Angra do Heroísmo, explained the regional secretary for Education, Culture and Sports of the PSD/CDS-PP/PPM executive.

The regional study also identified a link between the qualifications of the inhabitants and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the municipality: "There is a clear correlation, in which the municipalities with the highest qualifications of their citizens are wealthier municipalities", said Sofia Ribeiro.

Ponta Delgada (São Miguel island), Angra do Heroísmo (Terceira), Horta (Faial) and Vila do Porto (Santa Maria) are the Azorean municipalities with the highest GDP as well as the highest education level of their inhabitants.

At the bottom of the table are the other five municipalities on the island of São Miguel (Ribeira Grande, Lagoa, Vila Franca do Campo, Povoação and Nordeste), where the population with the lowest level of education lives.

Regarding the reasons for the low level of education of a large part of the Azoreans, the regional secretary recalled other studies that indicate "that there is an influence related to the family tradition in the valuation of work and study": "There is an almost traditional issue that needs to be reversed".

The regional work makes "an analysis of the qualifications of the Azoreans, municipality by municipality", comparing them with each other and with the numbers for the whole country, the mainland and Madeira.

The data now released are in line with the "Retrato dos Açores" of 2023, by Pordata, which showed that 63% of the population between 16 and 89 years old in the Azores did not have secondary education, while at the national level this number dropped to 50%.

When analysing the population with higher education, the Azores had a rate of 16%, lower than the national average (24%).

Asked about a possible relationship between poverty rates and early school leaving in the Azores, Sofia Ribeiro said that it is not possible to make this association "with technical rigour", because the data are not provided by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

According to the minister, the Education Strategy will also allow the identification of students who have dropped out of school early, i.e. those who, without having completed the 12th grade, have not enrolled.

"We have no history. It was a work that was done for the first time at the beginning of this school year. From now on we will build this history", she indicated.

The regional secretary estimates that the strategy will start to be implemented in 2024, after integrating the contributions collected.

According to the INE, in 2023, the early school leaving rate in the Azores reached 21.7%, almost three times more than the national average (8%).

Leia Também: Mais de um milhão de adultos concluíram o básico ou secundário desde 2005 (Portuguese version)