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Despite the controversy it has generated over the past few academic years, the Citizenship and Development course will continue. The Minister of Education guarantees that topics, including those related to sexuality and gender, will not be dropped, but new guidance documents will be released in September. Parents, Fernando Alexandre clarified at a press conference, will also be consulted by schools regarding the content to be taught in classrooms.
However, the assessment that the authorities make of the subject is not the best: "there is a lack of curricular framework", there are "discrepancies" and "inconsistencies" in the way the topics are treated from school to school and "there has never been a "national external evaluation" of the subject.
"These are essential subjects and cannot depend on the school or the teacher," explained the Minister of Education, Science, and Innovation. Therefore, as of September, the previous guiding documents are revoked.
What's new? The various topics are integrated into eight mandatory domains (sexuality is integrated into the Health domain), and the subject now includes essential learning, which was not the case until now, in line with a new National Strategy for Citizenship Education. Both documents are still subject to public consultation.
"We want to ensure that a set of topics, which are considered essential for students' education, are taught in a structured way and that this teaching is defined with a model common to all schools," said the minister, emphasizing that families will now be heard, although without " interfering in the curriculum and essential learning."
Parental involvement will primarily involve choosing external entities to participate in classes through suggestions. Without going into details or specific cases, Fernando Alexandre argued that parents were often surprised by the participation of certain entities in activities related to the subject, creating "alarm situations"—something he now intends to avoid.
"In a subject as important as this, we need to put an end to this alarm" and clarify "the rules for an external entity to enter the classroom," the minister explained.
Discipline now has eight domains
Citizenship now has eight mandatory subjects (previously 17), four of which are taught in all grades. The remaining subjects are flexibly managed, managed by schools based on their Educational Project, and are distributed across the different levels of education over at least three years: "one up to the end of the 1st cycle, one throughout the 2nd and 3rd cycles, and one during secondary education."
Mandatory in all school years:
Human rights
Democracy and political institutions
Sustainable development
Financial literacy and entrepreneurship
Those with flexible management:
Health
Average
Road risk and safety
Pluralism and cultural diversity
In addition to Citizenship and Development, the Government will also review the Essential Learning for other subjects across all grades. The review of the guidance documents for grades 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 has already been completed, and in September, 10 schools will implement the new documents for testing.
By December, the review of Essential Learning for the remaining years of schooling will be completed and between January and April the documents will be discussed in public consultation.