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Honourable Speaker of Parliament
Honourable Prime Minister
Honourable Mayor of Lisbon
People of Portugal,

A year ago, as President of the Republic, I addressed the People of Portugal for the first time in the ceremony celebrating the proclamation of the Republic.

I then referred that the impending celebrations of the centenary of the Republic, in 2010, should make us reflect over the meaning of such celebrations, and that these should constitute a means to bring together the People of Portugal in communion with Republican ideals, instead of dividing them under the pretext of controversial causes.

In relation to this, I must recall the words of the first President of the republic, Manuel de Arriaga, when appraising his mandate and the objectives that guided him:

«Our aim was always that of bringing together the Portuguese family, without distinction of confession of faith, sect or party, round the Fatherland, since the Nation had become sovereign with the proclamation of the Republic»

It is with this same spirit that the centenary of the Republic must be heralded by the public powers and the institutions of the civil society.

I equally referred, precisely one year ago, in this very same place, to the civic ideals of republicanism, praising the ethical dimension of republican culture and the demands deriving from it, specifically in the issue of the responsibilities of the holders of public office and in the fight against corruption.

After a year gone by, I can register that many initiatives, regarding legislation aiming to effectively increase the fight against corruption, were placed before Parliament.

I appeal Members of Parliament to strengthen the efforts already undertaken in order to bring into legislation the republican ideal of a greater transparency in public life.

I renew, in this solemn ceremony, my exhortation for a rediscovery of republican values. Amongst these I would highlight the ideal of education, which was a permanent feature of the political programme of the regime instituted in October 1910.

Not by chance, the First Republic was a period during which notable pedagogues stood out, when many innovative initiatives were launched, such as the workshop-school, or educational projects expanded, such as the garden-schools.

This effort, however, did not allow the resolution of the more serious problems the Country was facing in the dawn of the Republic.

And now, almost one hundred years later, we must recognize that the Republic has not been able to resolve the main cause of our structural backwardness: the deficiencies in the education of the children and the young.

Although more than thirty years have gone by after the democratic regime was instituted, the problem persists, even if only compared with other European countries.

In accordance with the data obtained from the 2001 census, 45% of the population between 18 and 24 years of age did no go beyond the obligatory schooling nor attended any professional training courses.

Throughout these one hundred years we wasted too much time correcting past mistakes.

We dealt with the school as a governmental problem and not as a problem of regime. And we overly concentrated on the relations between the State and the school, without paying attention to the role and the responsibilities inherent to civil society.

It is true that in the more recent decades an effort was made to recover lost time but, educationally, the general idea is that we are still trying to find the correct path: the path of excellence and of demand for the education of the People of Portugal.

Arriving at a national strategy for the education of the new generations that should muster everybody, is the best tribute we can pay to republican values.

At this moment I would like to propose to the People of Portugal a new view of the school, a new educational model built upon the idea of social innovation.

I do not wish to specifically address the Government or even Parliament. I wish to address all the People of Portugal.

The idea of social innovation requires new strategies, concepts and practices to satisfy social needs.

The idea of «innovation» is not an exclusive of entrepreneurial activities. It is possible to innovate – and innovate socially – in the most diverse fields, including education.

We must start by asserting that a republican school is a plural and open school, which cultivates conviviality among the most diverse convictions, creeds or ideologies.

It is also a neutral school, in the sense that it does not serve any official ideology sponsored by the State or by any institution.

On the other hand, it should be underlined that education is the basis of real social inclusiveness, since this is largely associated with each one’s qualifications and skills.

But the inclusive character of the school must also be highlighted in another sense: the democratization of teaching and obligatory schooling is a factor of equality and a feature of inter-class, interracial and inter-confessional conviviality.

In order that this conviviality is not limited to the surface of reality, material conditions are required for an effective equality of opportunities, which can only be reached through a greater and more active involvement of the community with the school.

We have, in effect, to develop a new attitude towards the school. We have to understand that the school is where the more relevant assets of our future reside.

It is imperative to be aware that the best reproductive investment we can make is in the future of our children and young people.

This is an awareness that must primarily exist with the parents, and this could require a personal interventional action directed towards giving adequate value to the progeny’s education.

We worry about the material comfort of our children, but we often think that their education, the most important and decisive asset for their future, is a task for which others should be mainly responsible.

Many continue to look at schools as «learning factories», to which they send their children and where they deposit in full the task of training them for the future.

The first great query must be placed to the parents: how do you participate in the education of your children?

It is not enough just to buy books and manuals, or to severally attend parents’ meetings or to take the children to school daily.

There is a culture of self demand that must be encouraged in the parents, leading them to a more active and participating involvement in the quality of teaching, in the functionality and maintenance of the schools’ facilities, in the support of the teachers’ difficult tasks.

The school is inserted in the community. It can possibly be said that a community must be construed with the school as its centre. For this reason local authorities should assume greater responsibilities with respect to teaching establishments.

Schools’ management must be gradually transferred to the communities where they are inserted, in order that these associate themselves to the results obtained.

Apart from the local authorities, the non-governmental organizations of the civil society and the region’s enterprises should be called to take an active part in this process of social innovation, as already successfully tested in some areas of the Country.

Modern information and communication technologies can be used to create a real inter-connection between the school and society.

A real sense of community must be encouraged in relation to the school and educational success. The quality of a school must be a matter of pride for the community where it is located. That will prove that the community invested in the qualification of its progeny, in the improvement of its own future.

This involvement also presupposes, as is natural, that the figure of the teacher is given prestige and endeared by the community, which at once requires the stability of the teaching complement.

It is equally necessary to understand that, largely, the dignity of the teaching role is based upon the respect and admiration that the teachers are capable of attracting in the educational community, with colleagues, parents and students.

The surrounding community must support the teachers and their mission. The fight against school abandonment or failure, for instance, cannot be undertaken only by the teaching staff.

The community must actively endeavour to identify abandonment and exclusion situations, locate the causes of failure, and redirect students in the right path, liaising with the school, the family and the experts in education.

The setting up of brokers between the school and the family, directed towards the students that face the risk of failure or abandonment, seems a very positive idea, especially in the needier areas.

On the other hand, at the level of secondary education and even, at the level of basic education, local authorities, entrepreneurs, artists, sports people or local institutions should be invited to relate their experiences to the younger people, encouraging amongst them the creative and entrepreneurial spirit, the will to conquer, and the attachment to work.

Schools’ isolation is another phenomenon that should also be fought. In truth, the majority of the people are not aware of what goes on inside the schools. They ignore the material conditions of the facilities, the means available to the teachers, the attitude of the students in the learning process. It is imperative that the community is acquainted with the school and how it works.

The way schools function in today’s Portugal is an indicator on how tomorrow’s Portugal will function.

It would equally be useful if in this procedure of social innovation towards a community modelled school, that more intense contact be encouraged between various teaching establishments. The sound examples which exist in our Country must be disclosed to the public.

Dialogue and interchange between schools will permit the detection of weaknesses, to find out how these can be overcome, to compare results and exchange experiences, thus aiming towards successful educational training.

In my visits in the Country I have detected positive signs of change and have encouraged the wishes and initiatives that are searching, from the pre-school network to secondary education, for a community teaching model.

I refer to the most recent instance in which I was involved. I visited, last month, the county of Paredes, in the north of the Country. The local council decided to highlight the visit with two initiatives.

On the one hand, placing large posters in the streets, which read: «Paredes invests in 12 years of learning».

On the other hand, the setting up of an Association for Social Inclusiveness, founded by 43 local entrepreneurs, whose main objective is the fight against failure and school abandonment in the county.

Initiatives such as this – and I could refer several others – make me certain that we will be capable of achieving our objective: a better school for a better Country.

People of Portugal,

On this October 5, 2007, I propose a new view over the school. I know that this model of school linked to the community is not easy to put into practice. I know it is necessary to overcome certain diverse constraints to achieve this ideal.

The Republic was also an ideal. For this reason, I believe in the will and the exertion of the public powers, the local authorities, the families, the teachers and the civil society.

With everyone’s effort it will be possible to carry out the ambition for a better school, in the name of a better Republic.

Thank you very much.