Education minister criticizes leadership at EPM, renews contracts of affected teachers

In a dispatch this week, Portugal’s Minister of Education, Science and Innovation, Fernando Alexandre, expressed concern over the leadership at the Portuguese School of Macau (EPM), citing management’s “inability” to address institutional issues that have caused significant unrest among both parents and teachers.

Alexandre highlighted disruptions brought on by the school director’s abrupt, poorly-explained replacement of four teachers.

Further, the recruitment of new teachers not being based upon clearly defined eligibility criteria has fueled distrust and confusion among existing teachers, parents, and staff, sparking considerable concern and opposition within the school community.

“This new staff cycle, which began with the appointment of the administrators of the titular entity and the new director of EPM, should coincide with a consolidation of the school’s mission, or even an expansion of its areas of ​​intervention,” said the minister.

“However, as soon as it began, problems arose, causing major impacts to both the school community and local education services. This has revealed an inability on the part of those responsible for these problems to resolve them. Parents, educators, teachers, non-teaching staff, and the school community as a whole have not been reassured,” he added in the statement.

Alexandre emphasized that the Board of Directors of the EPM Foundation must regulate the actions, as well as the general authority, of the school director.

He stressed that the director should not act independently, particularly in sensitive matters that effect the school’s operations, without first consulting, or simply informing, the board.

“As a result of the decision not to renew the contracts of four teachers and a psychologist, taken unilaterally by the director, Dr. Acácio de Brito, a campaign of dissent against the director has commenced, organised by parents, guardians, and the school community in general. This has generated serious disruptions to the functioning of the school, causing alarm among stakeholders, and even leading many parents to threaten transferring their children to other schools in the region,” the statement read.

In a significant move, Alexandre has renewed special leave grants for several educators for another year.

The decision, announced Wednesday, involves teachers Alexandra Domingues, Carlos Botão, Elsa Botão, Manuela Dora Coelho, and psychologist Isabel Marques.

The minister’s directive mandates that these professionals remain at EPM for the upcoming academic year, continuing their teaching roles and assigned tasks.

Additionally, Alexandre has ordered that EPM maintain its Portuguese non-native language courses in the 2024/2025 academic year under the same conditions as the previous year.

Emphasizing inclusive education, the minister instructed EPM to adhere to the guidelines set by Macau’s Education and Youth Development Bureau, ensuring bipartisanship over the criteria to be implemented.

Further, Alexandre has required the EPM Foundation’s Board of Directors to communicate any decisions regarding the school’s operations meticulously in writing, specifying the outcomes of any undertaken votes.

In a comprehensive eight-page document, the minister also advised the EPM director to apply objective and transparent decison-making in school operations. The minister further requires the director to foster an ongoing and constructive dialogue with the educational community, even in matters beyond the EPM Board’s purview.

The Portuguese Ministry of Education’s representative was in the region to evaluate the circumstances surrounding the termination of employment for the teachers at the school earlier in July.

This inquiry, which commenced early July, involved meetings with various parties directly involved in the case. Staff Reporter