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A 2012 Country Profile report on Portugal, prepared by consultancy Deloitte for the European Commission, notes that: “The number of higher education graduates in Mathematics, Science and Technology (MST) has increased in recent years”, representing the highest growth in the EU27 (14.9% per year).

It adds: “The Government of Portugal has developed fellowship schemes and launched awareness campaigns aimed at increasing young people’s interest in (natural) science and technology with the ultimate aim of attracting them to become researchers.”

Impressive numbers

Official statistics indicate that, although the total number of students has fallen a little, the percentage of Portuguese youngsters studying STEM subjects is well above the European average.

So what has Portugal been doing to get it so right? We at inGenious have been very much aware of the support that the Portuguese government has given in encouraging STEM subjects, but we wanted to learn more. So we took the time to speak to Dulce Pinto and Nuno Ratão, both members of the inGenious team at the Portuguese Directorate-General for Education (DGE). Here's what we found out.

Why is Portugal interested in STEM and involving business in education?

"The reasons for wanting to focus on STEM are primarily economic, as having a population with a wide array of STEM skills is one way for Portugal to promote the growth of its industry. DGE hopes that the participation of businesses in STEM education, namely through taking an active interest in inGenious will add to this, through the development of best practices and practical experience amongst students and educators", explained Dulce.

A sound basis for science

Portugal takes its STEM subjects seriously – and its young people start early. Even in kindergarten and elementary education, children undertake environmental studies and, as they progress through the state academic system, they increasingly study a wide range of STEM-related subjects, including compulsory natural science, physics and chemistry, mathematics and ICT, along with additional optional subjects.

IT from an early age

Outside of the curriculum, Portugal has instituted various STEM-related programmes aimed at young pupils – some with the involvement of industry. One of these is KidSmart, an educational programme designed by IBM to boost the development of ICT skills for children between 3 and 6 years. The Portuguese Ministry of Education also recently gave half a million children access to laptop computers as part of its e-escolinha initiative.

Getting involved in STEM

A number of institutions also run initiatives and projects to promote STEM in secondary education, in cooperation with the government. For example, Science Olympiads (for example, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics) are promoted by various foundations, universities and other institutions.

Foundations such as Ilídio Pinho Foundation and the Champalimaud Foundation are active in promoting school science projects and award schemes, and there is also support for STEM in schools from Ciência Viva, an agency that promotes life science among school children and the public in general.

When did the DGE get involved inGenious and how is inGenious promoted?

“Portugal has been an enthusiastic participant in the inGenious project since day one, and the DGE has been at the forefront of efforts to encourage the participation of Portuguese teachers. This includes promoting inGenious in different official forums, websites and social networks.
The DGE has also contacted school management bodies to give its support to teachers signing up with inGenious. There are now 11 inGenious pilot schools in Portugal, and more in the pipeline”, states Nuno.

Partnering business

School-industry collaboration is, of course, an essential element to inGenious – and the DGE has been very active in this area, too, getting in contact with businesses and inviting them to work with schools. An online platform is also being set up to facilitate collaboration, where industry and schools can come together by sharing information on what they could offer each other.

Industry has shown an impressive interest in collaborating. IBM, Siemens, the PT Foundation, Texas Instruments and Microsoft are just a few examples of a wide range of enterprises that have been involved with schools so far.

In addition to its KidSmart Early Learning IT programme, IBM is behind Programa MentorPlace, Exite and Eweek initiatives, and also backs a Science In Schools programme in Portugal.

Siemens’ Generation 21 programme is another international initiative designed to raise the profile of science and engineering among young people, which is currently being supported in the country.

Portugal-specific projects

There are impressive home-grown programmes, too. Portuguese Telecom funds the PT Foundation, which donates computers, as part of its A Computer, An Opportunity initiative.

Sonae is a major retail company and one of several businesses taking part in the “Porto de Futuro” project. This is a challenge launched by the Education, Youth and Innovation Department of Porto City Council with the Porto business community, the goal of which is to provide support to the management and development of 17 school groups in the region. The initiative actively promotes entrepreneurship and creativity, and supports less well-off children, as well as encouraging professional and continuous training.

RECET (the Network of Technological Centres of Portugal), represented by the CTCV (Technological Centre of Ceramics and Glass of Coimbra), is behind the Think Industry project. This is aimed at improving young people’s awareness of industry, through the development of entrepreneurship and creativity. The 2012 project focused on Formula One cars – surely a genuine case of school-industry collaboration fuelling the country’s economic engine.

Hope for a better future

It is common knowledge that Portugal has suffered in the current global economic crisis. Involving businesses in education seems to be becoming an effective way to promote STEM subjects in the Portuguese state education system and to help add talent to the country’s economic motor.

The inGenious team at the DGE has helped build on Portugal’s academic curricula with a multi-pronged strategy of directly contacting and involving teachers, schools and businesses, using online platforms, social media and good, old-fashioned person-to-person relations.

For more information about the great work inGenious is doing to help put Portugal at the centre of STEM education in Europe, please contact the inGenious team at the Unit of Educational Resources and Technology at the Directorate-General for Education.

[email protected]