The 2024 State of Education Report from the National Education Council (CNE) details that in the 2023/2024 school year, 174,126 students of foreign nationality attended compulsory education, 31,366 more than the previous year (22%).

Most of these students are Brazilian, but among the 55,827 foreign students whose native language is not Portuguese enrolled in basic education, only 10,638 were enrolled in Portuguese as a Second Language (PLNM) (19.1%), and of the 14,239 in high school, only 1,963 took the subject (13.8%).

According to the report's authors, these data "seem to show that the offer fell short of what would be necessary."

The document emphasises the importance of "adapting the response to foreign students who do not master the Portuguese language, reviewing the offer of Portuguese as a Second Language (PLNM), in terms of scope and content, in order to respond to the migratory flows that have transformed the composition of nationalities in the national education system."

Nationalities

Among foreign students in primary education whose mother tongue is not Portuguese, Ukrainians (1,416 students, 11.3%) and Indians (1,154 students, 9.2%) stand out, being the only nationalities with more than 1,000 students in Portuguese as a Second Language (PLNM).

In secondary education, these two nationalities continue to predominate: Ukrainians with 240 students (10.5%) and Indians with 197 students (8.6%).

The largest group of students in PLNM, both in primary and secondary education, is composed of students of Portuguese nationality, "most likely a sign of the migratory flows that have brought young people to Portugal, whose children are already national citizens," but who do not have Portuguese as their mother tongue or who previously studied in another educational system.

The National Education Council (CNE) also highlights the increase in children, young people, and adults attending the education system in 2023/2024, totalling 2,068,790, 12,462 more than the previous year, with 79.2% attending public institutions, as in previous years.

The actual preschool enrolment rate, relating to children aged 3 up to compulsory school age, reached 94.5%, an increase of 0.3 percentage points, approaching, "albeit slowly," the 96% target set by the European Union to be met by 2030.

"The expansion of supply may not be sufficient to meet the needs of the number of children of preschool age," it warns.

In the first cycle of elementary education, the actual enrolment rate has been 100% since 2021/2022, while in the other cycles, despite having grown, it remains at 94.2% in the second cycle and 94.7% in the third cycle.

In high school, 10% of school-age youth are not enrolled in existing programs.

“Knowing that a high school diploma means greater employability and better life prospects, it is important to understand the reasons for this situation and define strategies that can overcome them,” argues the National Education Council (CNE).