Welcome to the Official page of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic

Chairman of the Board of Pedro Arrupe College,
Madam Director,
Teachers, Parents and Students,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I was very pleased to accept the invitation to attend the inaugural act of the Pedro Arrupe College, erected here facing the river, in an open and quiet area, which adds to this zone of the Park of Nations a structure of great quality in the field of learning.

I have already been through the magnificent facilities and enjoyed the brightness, the balance and the neighbourhood views. At the entrance, I saw a panel stating “this is where the youngsters of the XXI Century will grow”, a statement full of the immense responsibility of those who propose to educate our young and prepare them to face life’s vicissitudes.

The best way to prepare the future is, undoubtedly, to provide youngsters with quality learning and pass on to them the value that will serve as a guide in their personal choices, in their relations with others and in their behaviour as citizens.

I very sincerely hope that you will be able to fully comply with the purposes that encourage you, and that I am equally certain to be the expectations of the parents that have trusted this College in the education of their children.

The choice of Pedro Arrupe as the Patron of the College is a tribute to this man who was born 103 years ago. The story and the lessons of his life are a firm reference for the opening to the world, to dialogue and to difference.

It is with this spirit that the College defines its educational project as “a chart to navigate into the XXI Century” and chooses the Sea as the transversal theme of its entire project.

The Portuguese journeyed by sea to the five corners of the World and with this placed themselves at its centre. Not just geographically, if we look towards all that the sea brings together, but also in our capacity to commune with peoples of every origin, race and creed, of having left a trace of our culture and of our way of life wherever we managed to go.

We have to learn to use such qualities that characterize us as a people and the central position of our territory. The teaching of the sea and a quality education are, without doubt, two seeds that will bear good fruit.

As President of the Republic, I have tried to prove the decisive importance of the education of children and youths in the construction of the future we all want for Portugal.

It is a mission that can and must count upon the private institutions that develop their activity in this sector and that many constitute a quality reference in the teaching scenario, being cast in the path of success of their students.

We cannot dispense, but rather the contrary, with the competition that is established between them and the public sector.

Choice and opportunities must be multiplied and diversified, and without it the freedom to teach and learn becomes seriously compromised.

We live in a global world, in which mobility of youngsters and adults is a reality and an incontrovertible challenge. Diversity, competitiveness and the capacity for free choice imply that the offer is widened and multiplied and that each one is allowed to assert himself in his capacity for success.

All schools, public and private, have to participate and interact in the fight against school failure, in the increase in the trust of parents, families and society in the quality of teaching, in the effective promotion of equal opportunities.

To face difficulties and conquer them, the degree of knowledge and the capacity to permanently keep the spirit open to further training and new learning is more than ever determining.

We thus require institutions of qualified learning. In order that these can grow and assert themselves a legislative framework is necessary within which they can act with confidence to materialize their projects and investments.

For this reason it is expected and demanded that political action, in its relationship with the civil society, is based on transparency and on open dialogue. In view of the difficulties and uncertainties the Country is going through, this action has more than ever to be guided by criteria of predictability and stability.

In effect, what is unpredictable in economic and social reality cannot be accrued by the unpredictability of the action of the public powers.

On the contrary, there must be a special sensitivity to soften this uncertainty, which has a cost in terms of a risk premium, and action taken to instil confidence in the agents that contribute towards the economic, social and cultural development of the Country.

This is valid for any decision, and much more so when substantial change to the normal life of families, citizens and companies, whatever their field of activity, is in question.

It is important that the chosen measures be previously adjusted with the representative bodies of the civil society, in order that their legitimate interests are not abruptly and unexpectedly affected.

I hope and expect that the objectives that caused your efforts to carry out this new educational project under the inspiration of St. Ignatius de Loyola will be fully achieved.

I am pleased to congratulate all your officers, all your teachers, staff, students and their families, for the new school, and express my best wishes for the greatest success in your work.

Thank you.