In 2023, the Azores had a school dropout rate of 21.7%, which is very different from the national average, said ISCTE researcher Francisco Simões.
At the celebration of Terinov’s fourth anniversary, Francisco Simões was invited to talk about the challenges of digitalization at work and the involvement of vocational schools in this process.
One of the biggest concerns the researcher expressed was the situation of school drop-outs in the region.
“We are very far from the national averages. It’s these kinds of problems that the vocational education system needs to respond to,” he said.
According to the data provided by the researcher, in 2022, the early school leaving rate in the Autonomous Region of the Azores was 26.1%, falling to 21.7% in 2023.
As for vocational education, Francisco Simões argues that it “has been presented as a way of solving certain types of problems”.
One of these problems is “entry into the job market and, in particular, resolving the situation of those young people who are neither in education nor in the job market. They are constantly coming and going,” he said.
The situation has been gradually improving; however, until the years 2020-2021, one in five young people registered at the employment center had the conditions mentioned above.
For Francisco Simões, “this is a very significant human mass. We have a lot of people who are in a dubious situation in relation to the job market.”
“Vocational education requires economic growth, results in the job market, company performance and productivity. Vocational education requires all this and, on the other hand, the resolution of a number of social problems/challenges,” he said.
He admits that it is necessary to “be aware that a lot is asked of vocational education” and that this “ends up being one of the problems. When nothing works, vocational education solves it”.

in Diário Insular–José Lourenço, director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.