Vila Nova de Famalicão enters the new school year with an "overwhelming investment" of around 28 million euros in education, where "every cent spent is an investment in the future". The mayor of the municipality, Mário Passos, was speaking last Friday, September 15, at the reception for the 10th year of vocational education students at the Camilo Castelo Branco Secondary School.

The mayor assured that the municipality has prepared "rigorously" for the start of the new year "so that students, teachers, educational assistants and technical staff have all the conditions for a peaceful school year and that this peace of mind extends to families".

Mário Passos guaranteed a school with equal opportunities for all and pointed out that "all activities are already starting fully on this first day", giving as examples the Curricular Enrichment Activities, which already have "all the pedagogical projects defined and all the teachers in place", as well as school meals and transport, procedures that are fully guaranteed.

In the municipality's overall budget, investment in human resources, meals and transport has risen, justified by the mayor "by the increase in costs, which we're going to ensure won't be passed on to famalicenses".

The increase in meals and transport amounts to one million euros. The municipality has also recruited 23 more operational assistants to ensure the normal running of schools "at an increased cost, given that the Ministry of Education doesn't take account of this need, setting ratios below what the schools actually need".

At the launch of the new school year, Mário Passos also spoke about the commitment to vocational education, which he defined as "very important" for the Famalicense region, where an increasingly technological industry is proliferating and which needs intermediate technical staff with the training and capacity to respond to companies' needs. "We would like to have more competences in this area, so that we can tailor courses to companies and the reality of Famalicão. It's a path we want to take because we're convinced that more students will opt for this route of education, with a view to a good pay base and local employment, while at the same time generating good human resources for companies." 

The mayor also pointed out that three Specialised Technological Centres are being set up in the municipality, in a process that the municipality is following "pointing out clues and making contributions, taking into account the characteristics of the municipality's and region's business fabric and its dynamics, with a view to improving the teaching and learning provided by schools".

Mário Passos also gave an account of the town hall's priorities in terms of buildings and works to be carried out in schools, with emphasis on the Brufe and Arnoso Stª Eulália School Centres and the completion of the rehabilitation projects for the Júlio Brandão, Nuno Simões, D. Maria II, Gondifelos and Padre Benjamim Salgado Basic Schools "so that at the end of the year, with the process ready and as soon as funding is available, the town hall can move ahead with these interventions". Regarding this process, the mayor added that he was somewhat concerned that "there is no effective timetable", although the council "is pressing ahead and is prepared to move ahead with the works as soon as there is funding".