More than 11,000 people have signed a petition calling for increased funding for specialised arts education schools, warning that the educational paths of tens of thousands of students across Portugal are at risk.
The petition highlights that over 32,000 primary and secondary school students are currently studying music, dance, theatre and visual arts in private and cooperative conservatories – institutions that they say make up the backbone of Portugal’s public network for specialised arts education.
“These are students fulfilling compulsory education through artistic courses, many of them in partnership with mainstream schools,” the petition states, calling on parliament to intervene and introduce legislation ensuring automatic annual updates to funding levels, indexed to inflation.
According to the signatories, the sector has been suffering from chronic underfunding, with per-student financial support “frozen since 2015”, a situation they say is increasingly affecting schools.
“The situation is critical. The continuity of the network is at risk in many parts of the country,” the petition warns. “Jobs for teaching and non-teaching staff, local cultural development and, above all, the artistic education paths of tens of thousands of students are at stake.”
The petitioners stress that there has been “no real increase” in funding over the past decade, despite rising inflation, higher operating costs and career progression obligations.
Carlos Pinto da Costa, the petition’s first signatory and coordinator of the Specialised Arts Education Department at the Association of Private and Cooperative Education Institutions, said schools have been forced to absorb “successive cost increases, from wages to energy, maintenance, equipment and instruments without any update to public funding.” He described the current model as “structurally unsustainable” and said an urgent funding review is needed.
As a result, schools have been forced to cut funding “to a minimum”, including in facilities, equipment and teaching materials. Teacher careers have also suffered, with the petition noting that many educators have accepted conditions below those set out in collective labour agreements. Teacher Leonel Fernandes said some educators now work under “worse pay and conditions than their counterparts in public schools, despite performing the same duties.”
Filipe Vieira, director-general of the Jobra Music Conservatory, said that without such an automatic funding update mechanism, institutions will remain permanently on the brink.
Meanwhile, Manuel Silva, pedagogical director of the Oliveira de Azeméis Music Academy and president of the Association of Pedagogical Directors of Specialised Arts Education, stressed that the sector requires medium- and long-term planning, team stability and continuous investment.
The petition can be found (and signed) at online petition website Petição Pública.
