In the document, which results from an audit of school dropout, the TdC recognizes progress in combating this problem, recalling that between 1992 and 2019 the rate of early school leaving dropped from 50% to 10.6%, approaching the European target of 10%.
However, it points out problems in terms of data collection on the phenomenon and its monitoring, which affect the reliability of information on school dropout and, consequently, the effectiveness of any measures to combat it.
One of the problems pointed out in the audit is, of course, related to the definition of the concept of “early school leaving”, which, if not consolidated, allows for several interpretations.
“The lack of a unambiguous and unambiguous definition of drop-out and drop-out risk, applicable throughout the education system, makes it difficult for schools to register and report on the framing and classification of students’ different situations, compromises the reliability of the data and makes it impossible to do so. appropriate treatment“, read in the document.
This data reliability is, on the other hand, weakened by the fact that the registration and attendance control mechanisms are flawed.
Second to audit, the way in which enrollment control, in particular, is set up, allows situations of children who have never entered the education system, as there is no cross-checking of data between different entities, or of students who are not already attending school if keeps assets in the information systems of the Ministry of Education.
In addition to these areas, it is added that there is no mapping at the central level, which integrates all regions and which allows the provision of timely information, since in the case of private schools there is a lag of about six months.
The TdC also identified problems in terms of the indicators used to measure early school leaving, underlining that in the national education system there is no specific indicator and that even the rates used by the National Statistics Institute are insufficient.
“We do not know, therefore, the real numbers of dropouts in Portugal, frustrating both the efficient implementation of preventive measures and the recovery of students who are dropping out or at risk of dropping out, or the adequate targeting of funding“, concludes the audit.
Recommendations for improvement
Regarding the concrete measures of the Government, the report recognizes efforts through the implementation of measures to combat dropout and school failure, but points out that no strategy has been formalized to aggregate and evaluate the measures and refers to a lack of transparency in terms of budgeting.
In this sense, and in order to mitigate systematic obstacles, the TdC leaves a series of recommendations, such as the “clear and unambiguous” definition of abandonment and its indicators in the national education system, and the mapping of the phenomenon, in detail at national, regional and local.
It is also recommended to definition of a global combat strategy, the implementation of effective control and information systems and the promotion of transparency in the Budget Program, with the provision of information on the amount reserved for this area.
In the report, despite recognizing progress in reducing early school leaving, the TdC also warns that Portugal, even though close to the European target, remains in 21st place among the 28 countries of the European Union.
In view of the current context of the covid-19 pandemic, the TdC points out the possibility of a worsening of school failure and dropout, particularly among the most vulnerable students.
Monitoring implies more costs
The Ministry of Education argued that more detailed monitoring of school dropout has implications for the costs, data protection and skills of the Autonomous Regions, in reaction to the findings of the Court of Auditors (TdC).
“A more detailed monitoring of early school leaving, as suggested by the Court of Auditors’ report, in addition to the high costs it entails, must always respect the limits of competence of the Autonomous Regions, enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic, as well as the protection requirements of data that apply to the crossing of information about citizens collected by different institutions, some of them external to the Ministry of Education“, can be read in the statement.
The Ministry of Education also underlined that Portugal recorded the most significant reduction in school dropout in Europe and that the “Early Education and Training Abandonment indicator has been consolidated in the European Union (EU) since 1999, being used by official bodies responsible for statistics of each member state, in the Portuguese case, the National Statistics Institute “.
“In 2002, the first year in which information is available from the 28 member states, dropout was 17% in the European Union [EU] and 45% in Portugal, placing Portugal in penultimate place and in striking contrast with its counterparts“, is noted in the same note.
In 2019, “Portugal registered the lowest average ever – 10.6%, in line with the European average”, while “in the first quarter of this year, 10.0% was reached, a figure agreed with the EU as an objective. for 2020“, underlines.
On the other hand, the “Government’s commitment to reinforce its intervention in this area“, with “the constitution of a Working Group in the Ministry of Education that will seek to consolidate, improve and reinforce the instruments for monitoring and combating early school leaving, in the context of the current covid-19 pandemic“.
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D / Day after tomorrow
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