The Algarve will gain 18 new public preschool classrooms, making room for around 400 children who until now had no available places.
The announcement was made in Faro by the Minister of Education, Science and Innovation, Fernando Alexandre, after signing a cooperation protocol with six municipalities in the region – Albufeira, Lagoa, Lagos, Portimão, Faro and Tavira. Loulé is set to join at a later stage.
According to the minister, the scheme is “good news for preschool education” in the Algarve, a region where preschool places are considerably insufficient to meet demand.
Speaking to journalists, Fernando Alexandre said the scheme was created with “close collaboration between the government and local authorities,” stressing that such partnerships are essential to tackling long-standing challenges in education. “This is how we will solve problems in our country and in this region, which apart from a very serious lack of teachers, also has a lack of preschool coverage,” the minister said.
Despite welcoming the progress, the minister admitted that more work is still needed to respond to what he described as a “major challenge” for the public preschool network in the Algarve. For now, he said, the new classrooms are a temporary solution that should pave the way for a more structural response to the shortage of places.
With the opening of the 18 classrooms, a “significant part” of the demand will be met, the minister insists, although some children will still remain without a place. Alexandre did not specify how many would still be left out but made clear that the ministry is open to further increasing capacity if needed.
The minister also noted that the allocation of places is not straightforward, since some families may already have enrolled their children in private, cooperative or charitable institutions, while still keeping an application in the public system. For this reason, he said, it is crucial to ensure that priority goes to children whose families cannot afford private options. Doubling down on this belief, Fernando Alexandre stressed that the public network must give priority to families most in need.
“We must strike a balance in the way we resolve this” he explained, adding that the goal is to guarantee that children from households without the financial means to pay for private care can now be assured of a place in public preschool.
