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

I am very pleased to welcome, in the Palace of Belém, this meeting of the Association of Entrepreneurs for Social Inclusion. This, as I have often pointed out, is an initiative deserving of great merit, answering my appeal for the mustering of society to combat school’s abandon and lack of success, as a privileged means to fight social exclusion.

Throughout almost seven years of existence, EPIS has been able to show a notable example of what may be provided by entrepreneurs, local councils and civil society volunteers in the search for diversified solutions to promote justice and social fairness.

I am now supporting this initiative with redoubled enthusiasm and extol the work carried out. Entrepreneurs for social inclusion are, in effect, an example of combining entrepreneurial vision with civic culture of social responsibility, which deserves being highlighted.

This is a cause that is in everybody’s interest and pertains to us all. A cause that assumes special relevance in the context of the great difficulties the Country is facing, in which the civil society is more earnestly called upon to supplement the public powers, in order to avoid social disruption and the failure of values that we must not abandon.

For this exact reason it is fundamental that a new collective proactive plan is organized to promote social justice and integration, without which inequalities will become emphasized.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

EPIS’ mission is based upon the conviction of the crucial role of Education and of equal opportunities in the construction of a more prosperous economy and of a fairer society.

Much is demanded nowadays from schools. Schools are expected to teach, educate, integrate, guide and accompany. It is expected, in short, that the educational system, in addition to a source of learning and qualification, be one of the driving forces for fairness, opposing as far as possible the original adverse factors, be these of an individual, social or economic nature.

But the truth is that it will not be possible to ensure this gigantic task without the convergence of efforts and the active participation of the whole of society.

In the turbulent times that the Country is going through, in which the employment levels do not even spare the better qualified, no one should in anyway believe that it is not worth studying, since this would not provide them with better employment opportunities.

On the contrary, advantage should be taken of the times to go further, to accumulate skills, to study and learn.

The only certainty we have is that those who study less will, of course, be the less benefited in the very competitive and demanding world in which we now live.

Portugal is one of the countries where the return on investment in education is largest. Return for them, since they have acquired improved conditions to enjoy a more fulfilling professional life, but also a return for society as a whole.

Education is the yeast of progress and development. Should Portugal lose heart in the effort to raise the educational levels of its citizens, particularly of the younger people, such waste would be a new factor in the worsening of poverty.

We can very rightly be sorrowful, today, for the exodus of many youths who cannot find jobs in our Country. But if anything may meanwhile assist them is, without any doubt, their level of qualifications, which allows them to be valued in any part of the world.

Nobody can lose sight of the effective importance of education, even if, due to current circumstances, it could appear as less evident.

How much worse wouldn’t be today’s social panorama if our youths could not avail themselves of high schooling levels to access the market and pursue their professional paths!

Let us look at the future, let us not be imprisoned by the constraints of a very difficult present.

In this perspective, it is more important than ever that civil society becomes involved, in the far-sighted vision which is that of promoting social inclusion through providing stimuli for education.

This is exactly the reason for the existence of EPIS, whose incorporation I endorsed and to which I have provided my support.

We have heard here its report and the presentation of its Action Plan for 2013-2014, that shows their operational capability and their vision for the future.

The activities undertaken are many and very meritorious, with highlights for the actions of proximity carried out by the arbiters for scholarly success, focused on youths and families at risk.

I applaud all the Municipalities that, until now, have answered the challenge of participation in this EPIS project.

Amongst those that were pioneers, allow me to single out the Paredes Council – represented here by its Mayor, whose determination in placing education as a priority in his County I was able to witness and admire.

I equally salute each of the Municipalities that, from North to South, have recently comprised the group, with Grândola and S. Braz de Alportel amongst the more recent examples.

The success rates in the improvement of school results and the dozens of cases of return to school are clearly positive and encouraging results for other Councils to join those that already benefit from EPIS’ intervening actions.

The methodology of arbitration for scholarly success, which is EPIS’ differential mark, was shown here by one of the arbiters, Dr. Isabel Duarte, who provided a live testimony of the daily tasks she performs on location. And there are promising signs of the projection of this method beyond borders, as related to us by Eng. Roberto Carneiro.

I hope that examples of young people such as that of Joana Filipa, who is now attending university and to whom I wish a future deserving of her merit and her dreams, may be multiplied throughout the Country.

We equally heard the testimony of Dr. Diogo Silveira Godinho, one of the volunteers of the “Vocations with a Future” project, which involves dozens of staff members of companies in the opening of new perspectives of professional integration for youths included in their support programme.

This is, in my view, a mutually enriching experience, which must be given value by companies and by society.

We also have to applaud the widening of EPIS’ action to the support for the professional insertion of youths, through the award of scholarships for training in companies.

EPIS is under permanent innovation, wants to change reality, does not conform to it, invents, proposes, musters, materializes. This is what we viewed in the report, and this is how we confirm the paths of its future activity. Today’s associates have good reasons to keep up their support for this cause, since this dynamism deserves and justifies the attention and participation of more associated companies, more municipalities and more volunteers.

I hope that other companies may be able to join, in the possible forms of association, a commitment that is as important for each of the comprised youths as for the whole of Portuguese society.

I want to thank the EPIS team, represented by its Chairman, Dr. Pires de Lima, and its Deputy Chairman, Dr. Luis Palha, as well as the associated entrepreneurs and volunteers, for all the work carried out and the courageous and determined way in which they project the future of the Association.

I congratulate all the students and families that fight for the scholarly success of their offspring. This is doubtlessly the best way to watch out for the future of those whom we care for. I want to call upon all youths to take advantage of the existing opportunities to study, not to spare efforts, not to give up, no to waste what is within your reach today and which will bear fruit when you need it most.

To you all I wish good fortune.

Thank you very much.