The political party Left Bloc has identified the fight against early school leaving as a priority for the next legislature.
On a visit to the Velas Primary and Secondary School in São Jorge, the BE/Azores coordinator, António Lima, said that in the Azores, 26 percent of young people leave school before completing compulsory education. In comparison, on the mainland, the average is six percent, advocating “the implementation of a plan to combat early school leaving that will allow the national average to be reached within five years.”
For António Lima, who visited the Velas Primary and Secondary School accompanied by the BE’s first candidate for São Jorge in the next elections, the difference between early school living in the Azores and on the mainland “is abysmal” and “has no justification whatsoever.”

According to the BE’s first candidate for the regional elections, “in 2022, during the right-wing coalition’s governance, early school leaving in the Azores got worse, falling by two percentage points”.
“We hear the president of the government – and Coalition candidate – praising his work in education, but how can you talk about education without talking about the huge problem of early school leaving?” he asked.
“We have to tackle this problem and make it one of the Azores’ top priorities in the next legislature,” said António Lima.
The BE defends implementing a plan to combat early school leaving involving schools in the regular education network, vocational education, families, Social Services, and local entities, such as sports and cultural associations and town councils.
António Lima explained that this plan “has to be comprehensive and participatory so that, within five years, the Azores can reach the national average for school dropout rates.”
“This situation jeopardizes the future of the Azores and the future of these young people, who will find it much harder to get a well-paid job and will find it harder to get into higher education, for example,” said the BE/Azores coordinator.
“We cannot continue to jeopardize the future of the Azores,” he concluded.

In Diário Insular, José Louren;co, director

Novidades note: The drop-out rate in the Azores at the high school level is around 27%, almost three times the rate in mainland Portugal.

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Cultures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance)  at California State University, Fresno–PBBI thanks the sponsorship of the Luso-American Development Foundation from Lisbon, Portugal (FLAD)