Friday Briefing: Best Schools in Portugal

Good morning and welcome to PORTUGAL DECODED. School's out and the rankings are in. Read here which schools in Portugal achieved the best scores, what it means and why there's a fuss about it.

Jul 19, 2024

POLITICS

The latest opinion polls gives the Socialists a slight lead over the governing AD, four months after tight general elections. Far-right Chega remains the third political force (14%) but dropped five points since May (More).
On Wednesday, PM Luís Montenegro had his first State of the Nation debate in Parliament. Negotiations over the State Budget for 2025 - for which the minority Government needs opposition support - dominated the debate (More).

SOCIETY

70 thousand Portuguese left the country in 2022, five thousand more than in the previous year. Portugal is currently the EU country with the largest number population abroad and the eighth in the world, relative to its population (More).
The high-speed rail link between Lisbon and Porto got green light from Brussels and 813 million in EU Funding. The project will link the two cities in one hour and 15 minutes and is planned for completion in 2030 (More).

ECONOMICS

In September 2024, the Government will launch the Gov.pt website as a digital hub to the various public services, from the Tax and Customs Authority (AT) to Social Security (More).
The Parliament will vote on closing shopping centers on Sundays and holidays after a petition launched by the Commercial Workers Union received more than 20,000 signatures (More).

CULTURE AND SPORTS

The Lisbon Design and Fashion Museum (MUDE) will reopen on July 25, after eight years closed for renovation works, with an exhibition about the architecture, evolution and interventions carried out in the museum (More).
A group of researchers and academics at the University of Coimbra have set up a working group to promote the “decolonisation” of its cultural heritage and recommend, where appropriate, restitution and retribution (More).

IN FOCUS

DECODER

What are the best schools in Portugal?

What are these rankings about?
At the end of each school year, the Ministry of Education releases aggregate data on schools’ results in the 9th grade national tests and national secondary education exams in the previous year (so, this year’s ranking concerns 2023 results). Part of this information is available on the Infoescolas website, which includes the distribution of students by academic year and age; indicators of the progression of students; the retention or dropout rate in each academic year; and comparative results with schools in similar contexts.

How are the rankings calculated?

The Ministry of Education only provides the data. It’s then up to the media outlets to compile the rankings afterwards, which means that they will use slightly different criteria in their rankings: for example, RTP and TVI/CNN Portugal used the data analyzed by Lusa news agency; whereas Público got the support of Católica Porto Business School. In the above infographic, I followed Público’s analysis for national secondary school exams (full dataset available here).

Got it. But why doesn’t my children’s school show up?
Most media outlets have only published the results of public and private educational establishments with more than 100 tests and exams carried out last year. Since many students in international schools do not take national tests and exams that means that many of those schools will not show up in the ranking published in the Portuguese press. Público, for instance, has decided not to rank these schools but still lists the average results of those schools that had more than 50 national exams. In this way, we can see, for example, that Vilamoura’s International School, though not ranked, has an average score that lands it among Portugal’s top 20 schools.

So, what’s the fuss about?
Public school headmasters have argued that the rankings serve as ‘free publicity for the private sector’ without really showing the quality and work done in educational establishments. Filinto Lima, the President of the National Association of Public School Headmasters (ANDAEP), criticised the ‘simplistic criteria’ used to rank schools based solely on students' results in national exams, pointing out that there are many other variables: ‘These rankings don't take into account whether students haven't had lessons for a long time or whether they have explanations’.

What has been done to address this criticism?

The publication of schools rankings in Portugal began 23 years ago based only on national exam results. However, over the last two decades, more and more criteria have been included in the data, such as the number of disadvantaged pupils that manage to achieve success and complete the study cycles without failing. In addition, Público also calculates a so-called “superation ranking” that combines exam results with various socioeconomic variables, from other data sources, in order to account for contextual effects.

TIPS OF THE WEEK

Lisbon

Broadway in the Park

After having completely filled the garden of the National Theater and Dance Museum last year, the new Broadway in the Park show takes musical theater to the scenic setting of Jardim do Torel, right in the heart of Lisbon. An evening of summer celebration with some of Broadway’s greatest hits, featuring american actress and singer Keala Settle, and a luxurious cast of actors, singers, and dancers, accompanied by a live band, in the emblematic and historical Jardim do Torel. The show is part of Broadway in Lisbon '24. Performed in English. Tickets: 10 € to 20 €, available here.

Matosinhos

Matosinhos em Jazz

Matosinhos em Jazz, an initiative by the Matosinhos council, has free entry with beginning at 6pm and 10pm. This year’s edition, which already started on July 1, occupies two stages in the city: the Basílio Teles Park and Guilhermina Suggia Square. Ego Ella May (July 20) and Eduardo Cardinho (21) will play at the first venue. On July 25, at 10pm, the Orquestra Jazz de Matosinhos and trumpeter Nick Marchione perform at Praça Guilhermina Suggia. The following day, the 26th, and at the same time, the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música joins DJ Switch. More information available here.

Aveiro

Derivas na Ria

The Aveiro lagoon is a precious territory, full of ancestral memories and ever-renewed challenges, that still remains largely unknown. Appealing to several artistic languages, involving long walks, boat trips, performances, installations and a cine-concert, Derivas proposes an encounter with the landscape and a fiction constructed from the territory, its experiences and stories, more or less documentary, more or less imaginary. The presentations will take place on the 20th and 21st, at 4pm. The meeting point is at AVELA – Associação Aveirense de Vela de Recreio, next to the Old Aveiro Fish Harbor. Entrance is free, with mandatory reservation via email bilheteira-TA@cm-aveiro.pt.

Óbidos

Óbidos Medieval Market

A medieval fair recreates the Middle Ages in Óbidos every July. This year the fair takes place from the 18th to the 28th of July. Knights and fortune tellers stand around the large terrace behind the castle, and there are theater performances and concerts of medieval music on a big stage. Visitors are taken on a journey back in time to medieval Europe in different ways, including in the food served at several stalls. There are also campsites, displays of weapons and tools, and live animals such as ponies, donkeys, falcons, and snakes. There are discounts for visitors who turn up in traditional clothing from the medieval period. Tickets (normal fare: €10,00 adults/ €8,00 children) and program information available here.

Funchal

Summer Opening 2024

This is the biggest Summer festival in the archipelago with a set of extreme variety of music styles – hip-hop, soul, funk, rock, rap, reggae and so much more. Santa Catarina Park, in the heart of Funchal, is the scenery for this celebration. On July 19, Zarco (18h15), Ivandro (19h50), Julinho KSD (21h50), Veigh (23h40) will play on the SO_PROUD Stage and GMO (17h00), Noia (19h30), Beatbombers (21h30), Marlokov (23h00) will play at Azáfama Eletrónica. On July 20, Maya Blandy (18h15), Pedro Mafama (19h45), Milky Chance (21h20), e Van Zee (23h30) will play on the SO_PROUD Stage and Jay Camara (17h00), Zen Baboon (19h00), Vitor Batista (21h00), Nuno Lopes (23h00) will play at Azáfama Eletrónica. More information here.

Throughout

Portugal Cycling Tour 2024

The Volta a Portugal is one of the most anticipated competitions for sport lovers in the country. This year’s Tour will take place between July 24-August 4, when cyclists will travel through different cities in the country, facing mountains, plains and urban areas. This year’s Tour is unusual it takes place much earlier (due to the Olympic Games and the Tour of Spain) than in previous years. The winner of the 58th edition of the Volta a Portugal will be crowned in Viseu, on August 4th. In addition to seeing the Tour in loco, cycling lovers may also accompany the race daily on RTP - the official television of the 85th Cycling Tour of Portugal.

Stages of the Tour:
July 24: Águeda - 5,6km
July 25: Stage 1: Anadia - Miranda do Corvo - 158,2km
July 26: Stage 2: Santarém - Lisbon (Marvila) - 164,5km
July 27: Stage 3: Crato - Covilhã (Torre) - 161,2km
July 28: Stage 4: Sabugal - Guarda - 164,5km
29: Day of Rest
30: Stage 5: Penedono - Bragança - 176,8km
31: Stage 6: Bragança - Boticas - 169,1km
August 1: Stage 7: Felgueiras - Paredes - 160,4km
August 2: Stage 8: Viana do Castelo - Fafe - 182,4km
August 3: Stage 9: Maia - Mondim de Basto, Sr.ª da Graça - 170,8km
August 4: Stage 10: Viseu - Viseu - 26,7km

PORTUGAL DECODED