# Kids in School in Portugal



## anjo2014 (Sep 19, 2015)

Hello,
I was wondering if there are any expats that have young children studying in Portugal.
I would like to start a petition to change the school hours.
I have been researching the EU community and found the names and emails of people who are involved in the EU educational system.
I think the school hours should be changed.
If countries like Canada and the Uk can have their children in school at 8:30 am to 16:00 why not here.:confused2:
It is not acceptable for a small child of 10 years old to go to school in the dark and come home in the dark.
Many students of age ten have to stay after 18:00 that is not acceptable.
Often they go to school and the teachers don't show up.:yell:
If other countries can organize their school schedule to have children start at 8:30 or 9:00 and finish the latest at 16:00 why not in Portugal?
If their are people who agree with me, please let me know.
The more people's names I can get the better the possibility of my request being considered. 
Please let me know if you are interested in helping! :clap2:
Jewelz


----------



## Janina k (Nov 30, 2011)

Hello

Personally knowing four English children in education here and watching how they have got on i can't see the problem with there education.

The problem wee see is that often while out with friends the one thing none of the English we know want is change the Portuguese way of life is perfect. 

When you researched coming over to Portugal did you not investigate the schools and the hours? if you did why did you decide to move to a country that has schools hours you don't like.

Fred and Krystyna


----------



## Maggy Crawford (Sep 18, 2010)

Frankly I prefer the well behaved Portuguese school children when they are out and about to the loud-mouthed, ill disciplines hooligans and louts that pass for English schoolchildren these days. If this is the result of long school days and teachers being able to enforce rules and regulations I am all for it.


----------



## grammymissy (Jun 21, 2009)

I do not have children in school here in Portugal, what are the school hours that the children attend school? Thank you.


----------



## SpiggyTopes (Feb 1, 2015)

Our daughter is in Foundation and attends from 08.30 to 16.00


----------



## anjo2014 (Sep 19, 2015)

I know the education system is great here. It is one of the best in Europe.
However, that does not mean they cannot have the same education with better hours that keep the children safe.
Better hours would allow to have time for other after school activities that would be beneficial to the children. Because of the erratic hours it is hard to scheduled activities for the children after school.
Erratic hours is not good for anyone. What is wrong with having this great educational system be at the same hours everyday?


----------



## grammymissy (Jun 21, 2009)

Anjo2014, what are your children's school hours? And what makes them vary to be longer or shorter? Thank you!


----------



## anjo2014 (Sep 19, 2015)

My daughter is not in school yet.
I know other children that are in school.
There hours can start at 9 am and end at 6 pm on some days.
Other days start at 12 noon and end at 3 pm.
Like I said there is not set hours in the schools starting from grade 5 onwards.
*It the erratic is confusing and hard for transportation*.
*Most schools don't have their own transportation they must relay on public transportation.*
Meaning they get on the bus at night with adults and strangers.
I wouldn't mind the hours so much if the schools had their own buses just for the children! But *I still think it is wrong for young kids to leave school when it is dark and get on a bus with strangers!?*
_Another problem are the books._
If the schools in Canada, UK and other countries ca provide school books for the children, why not here.
In Canada we were giving text books to use all year and then we handed them back at the end of the year to be used again.
Here the parents have to purchase the expensive books, and the child fail that year the book the next year is often a different one. So the parent has to buy a new book.
The publishing companies are making a fortune, because every time one small comment changes in the book, a whole new book is issues and making the previous one obsolete.
*It would save a lot of struggling Portuguese parents money to have the books at the school and let the student use them, and return them at the end of the year in good condition.*
I can understand if they want to charge the parents money if the book is destroyed, mishandled or lost.
What I want to change...
*
Better School scheduled.
School Transportation.
Book provided to students.

*


----------



## Maggy Crawford (Sep 18, 2010)

I have to echo a previous post which you did not answer. 
Did you not investigate all of this before coming to live in a foreign country? 
I have met many people who say they did not know this and did not know that but had done no research at all. I really do not feel you have any right to try to change a system in another country. On the Algarve I remember reading well-meaning social workers tried to change some systems only to be told by the local authorities "Thanks but no thanks".


----------



## anjo2014 (Sep 19, 2015)

Maggy Crawford said:


> I have to echo a previous post which you did not answer.
> Did you not investigate all of this before coming to live in a foreign country?
> I have met many people who say they did not know this and did not know that but had done no research at all. I really do not feel you have any right to try to change a system in another country. On the Algarve I remember reading well-meaning social workers tried to change some systems only to be told by the local authorities "Thanks but no thanks".


Yes, I knew all about it!
I studied here in Portugal, that is why I Know it it wrong.
I am Portuguese and Canadian.
I have the right to want to change things to make them better for future generations.
I have first hand knowledge of how the school system works in both Canada and Portugal.
I will try to make a change to benefit the children and the Portuguese families who I personally know that struggle to pay all the books and fees involved in the educational system.
Legally Portuguese must keep their children in school until grade 9. It may have changed to grade 10 actually.
Many families cannot afford to keep their children in school and have to leave.
I knew a boy who was super intelligent and could have anything he wanted. However his parents could not afford to keep him in school and he had to leave and start to work! That is wrong!
When families are very poor the government pays for school and food. However , if families are just a little over the "poor" level they get nothing! So they have to struggle to pay books and transportation.
I have the right to have a say and take action when I see injustices that need to be rectified!
I will continue to make changes that benefit both children and struggling families.
If you don't like it then stop writing on my Thread!


----------



## Maggy Crawford (Sep 18, 2010)

I will do that and leave you to get on with it as you see fit.


----------



## anjo2014 (Sep 19, 2015)

Thank-you!


----------



## GUAPACHICA (Jun 30, 2012)

*School book costs.*

Hi - I'm actually a retired British teacher, living in Spain where parents are also responsible for the purchase of their children's school books. I have no personal experience of this, but I would agree with you that, especially in this period of economic crisis, when so many families are still enduring great hardship, the need to provide their school kids with text books does represent a huge financial burden! 

Yesterday, I was told by a Spanish friend who works in a bar as a part- time cook, that she's just had to shell out €300 for one daughter's school books and €250 for her other's - and that is for two students in the State school system! She's explained that only parents on the 'Paro' unemployment benefit - or those with no income, whatsoever, are entitled to financial assistance for such purchases! Unbelievable, eh?

I was appalled to hear, from this friend, that, just as you've said, children of parents who cannot afford these high costs have to leave school ( in fact, she told me that 'they cannot study without the books- so there's no point in their attending school..') 

The perplexing point, which you've also highlighted, is that the necessary titles are often subject to change from one year to the next - which is why my Spanish friend has not been able simply to pass on to her younger daughter the school books which had been used, for the very same courses, by her elder daughter, last year...!

I've no idea why this requirement for parents to have to fund their children's school books still exists in both Portugal and Spain, but the result has been that many able students will not have been able to complete their school education - which seems incredibly harsh and a virtual punishment for them, simply because their families are not well- off! 

I know that here in Cádiz, Spain, there have been various 'collection points' dispersed throughout the city centre, to which residents have been able to take donations of money, or purchased items ( pencil cases; exercise books; pens, pencils, folders, files and books) to be given to families in need. 

It seems so sad, when we know that school kids have to survive in a hugely competitive classroom environment, equipped by their parents with the latest resources and gadgets, that many will be struggling to provide them with the bare minimum - pens, paper and text books...!

Good luck with your campaign - which, being half- Portuguese, you've a much greater chance of highlighting in the media and in the Public consciousness than other expats! 

I know, that in the case of my friend, whose bar- cook's wages are abysmally low, that she will have needed to take out yet another loan, in order to fund her daughters' school books. She's proved far too proud to accept any contribution from me - or from any other friend, so she'll try to look for additional hours in some other bar ( almost impossible to find, in Cádiz), to have any hope of paying back her bank!

Saludos,
GC.


----------



## SpiggyTopes (Feb 1, 2015)

If we are talking about hardship, I suggest a visit to the Philippines to gain some balance.


----------



## Centralbound (Aug 16, 2013)

anjo2014 said:


> I know the education system is great here. It is one of the best in Europe.


No, it is not, and no, it is not. It is in a diabolical state, run badly, underfunded year after year, paperworked to standstill and every attempt at sensible reform is hyped into an attack on the very idea of teaching.

I know people treated like lepers for pointing out the obvious to their kids school. Told to take their kids back to Holland in a public meeting! They were complaining that their kids only had half a day of lessons. They probably will take their kids back too. I could tell you a few more shockers but people involved might not want to read it on the internet.

The annual schoolbooks stupidity is keeping some people well off. Transport is a camara failing. Teachers like my thick, nasty gossipy near neighbour with a permanent contract? How do you get her out? 

By all means get campaigning, it is a noble cause but having seen and heard what I have, spare me the petition. Taking on inertia. laziness, stupidity etc in official institutions in Portugal requires huge energy and its why hardly anyone does.


----------



## siobhanwf (Mar 20, 2009)

*I AM CLOSING THIS THREAD FOR THE FOLLOWING REASON* 


RULE **17 

*You may not use the forums *to solicit donations, votes, or participants for surveys, contests, *petitions*, or product testing. Employment requests/offers are limited to the Marketplace forum and subject to the Marketplace Rules.


----------

