"We are making the biggest reduction in memory and that is registered in the Azores, from 2016 to 2020 nothing was ever changed. The continent and Madeira are always reducing [the early school leaving rate] and the Azores always have the same rates. We have already reduced by five percentage points," said the Secretary of Education, Culture and Sports, during the discussion of the Plan and Budget in the plenary session of the Regional Legislative Assembly, in Horta.

Sofia Ribeiro responded specifically to the BE deputy António Lima, who considered the goal of reducing early school leaving to 15% by 2030 (provided for in the Education Strategy 2030) as "very weak"

For the Bloquista deputy, this objective represents a reduction rate that "does not solve any problem".

The early school leaving rate in the Azores was 21.7% in 2023, according to data released in February.

PS deputy Inês Sá also recalled that the Azores have "one of the lowest levels of schooling" in the country, "associated with one of the highest early dropout rates".

The socialist condemned the absence of a "strategy and path" for education, criticizing the "total abandonment" of the Integrated Plan for the Promotion of School Success - ProSucesso, created by the PS Regional Government.

"The three years lost are exclusively the responsibility of the present, not of the past and much less of the future," she stressed.

Earlier, in a speech to parliament, the regional secretary highlighted that the largest slice of the Education Budget is earmarked for school social action, around 16 million euros.

In culture, Sofia Ribeiro promised that the ongoing revision of the support regime for cultural agents "will streamline and ensure greater transparency in the support granted to cultural agents".

In the debate, PSD deputy Délia Melo praised the "significant increase in school social support", which allows "alleviating the financial pressure for families with lower incomes".

The social democrat also accused PS MP Inês Sá of wanting to "erase from the collective memory those responsible for the state of degradation of education", referring to previous socialist regional executives.

Chega deputy Olivéria Santos expressed "concern" about the dematerialization of school textbooks, warning of the "dependence on technology" among the youngest.

The parliamentary leader of the CDS-PP, Catarina Cabeceiras, praised the "safe steps" of the Regional Government in hiring resources in the area of inclusive education, leading Sofia Ribeiro to reveal that the Azores have the "best ratio in the country" in relation to the number of psychologists in schools.

Pedro Neves, from PAN, recalled that his party had presented a proposal in the previous legislature (which ended up being rejected) to create financial incentives for the placement of teachers.

The Azorean parliament today began debating the proposals for the 2024 Regional Plan and Budget, without the threat of the document presented by the PSD/CDS-PP/PPM coalition executive being rejected, but with the PS vote still "open".

The Budget proposal, which defines the strategic lines of the coalition executive for this year, includes an amount of 2,045.5 million euros, similar to that presented in October 2023 (2,036.7 million).

Read Also: Bolieiro promises structural work for Ponta Delgada to have a "new hospital" (Portuguese version)