Portugal bans remote learning for private schools to level playing field
Expat children unable to learn from home after criticism of state school online teaching
The Portuguese government has blocked private schools from offering remote learning for at least a fortnight to avoid their pupils gaining an unfair advantage over state-educated children.
The minority Socialist-led government of Prime Minister Antonio Costa said earlier this month that schools would remain open, but was forced to announce last Thursday that schools would be closed from the next day amid rising Covid infections.
When schools were closed, a decree forced “all schools to take a two week holiday”, The Times reports, with the Portuguese government claiming that “allowing private institutions to teach remotely would put state-school pupils at an unfair disadvantage”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The ban extends to all international and private schools, meaning that British children studying for GCSEs or A-Levels cannot by law be taught for two weeks.
Fee paying schools will be forced not to pivot directly to online learning after remote learning in state schools was criticised as “patchy” during Portugal’s first lockdown, the Daily Mail says. The ban will last for a minimum of two weeks to allow state schools to prepare to teach online, The Portugal News adds.
It is estimated that 200,000 students currently do not have access to the necessary tools to participate in distance learning.
A Portuguese parent has set up a petition against the ban, which has gathered more than 13,000 signatures so far, while The Association of Private Schools in Portugal said it was unconstitutional to prevent students from learning.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
One parent, who has two daughters at an international school, told The Times that parents are “all very shocked because we are following a completely different educational system to the Portuguese one... the idea of disadvantaging everybody as a solution for the few kids who haven’t got computers is crazy”.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.
-
Nigeria's worsening rate of maternal mortality
Under the radar Economic crisis is making hospitals unaffordable, with women increasingly not receiving the care they need
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Elevating Earth Day into a national holiday is not radical — it's practical'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
UAW scores historic win in South at VW plant
Speed Read Volkswagen workers in Tennessee have voted to join the United Auto Workers union
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Intelligence service: how schools are managing AI
In Depth Machine-thinking has the potential to create a paradigm shift in education but the change and challenges are huge
By Amanda Constance Published
-
Smartphones face bans in US schools
Talking Points Educators say the devices disrupt classrooms
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Not worth cheating your way in
Opinion Bribing the college admissions office no longer makes any sense
By Mark Gimein Published
-
Schools are suffering from low attendance
Under the radar But students are suffering even more
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
The rise and rise of home-schooling
The Explainer Why more parents in the US and UK are choosing to educate their children at home
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
How incel culture is on the rise in UK schools
The Explainer Teachers report students to counter-terrorism Prevent scheme amid 'scourge' of misogyny and sexual abuse
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
School's out: are term-time holidays acceptable?
Talking Point Parents struggle to afford summer travel price hikes, but face threat of fines and disrupted education
By Harriet Marsden Last updated
-
When should children start secondary school?
feature When making a decision, parents are likely to reflect on their own experiences of education
By The Week Staff Published