Portugal from Re.ViCa

Partners situated in Portugal:

• Prof. Vitor Rocio, from the - Open University of Portugal is a member of Re.ViCa's International Advisory Committee.

Portugal in a nutshell

Source: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/po.html

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east. The Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira are also part of Portugal.

Higher education reform

The Bologna Process

The Bologna Process was a European reform process aimed at establishing a European Higher Education Area by 2010. It was an unusual process in that it was loosely structured and driven by the 45 countries participating in it in cooperation with a number of international organisations, including the Council of Europe.

The reform aim was to create by 2010 a higher education system in Europe, organised in such a way that:

   * it is easy to move from one country to the other (within the European Higher Education Area) – for the purpose of further study or employment;
   * the attractiveness of European higher education is increased so many people from non-European countries also come to study and/or work in Europe;
   * the European Higher Education Area provides Europe with a broad, high quality and advanced knowledge base, and ensures the further development of Europe as a stable, peaceful and tolerant community.

Portugal, like other European States, has conducted educational policies and reforms to accomplish these objectives. This include the reorganization of both university and polytechnic subsystems and the implementation of extensive legal and curricular changes. Since its field application in 2006 is has being widely contested by students (many lost an academic year with the change), and several universities had disrepute the concept by introducing integrated master degrees in several courses.

Structural development

Table I: HEIs' key figures in 2006 and vision 2020

	Polytechnics (2006)	Polytechnics (2020)	Universities (2006)	Universities (2020)
Number of institutions	29	max. 18	20	max. 15
Students (FTE)	105,000	95,000	120,000	105,000
Students (FTE) / teachers (%)	17.8	16.0	14.3	12.5
Basic degree / teachers (%)	3.5	3.7	1.6	1.9
Passing percentage (%)	70.3	76.0	55.4	70.0
Graduate employment and continuation to postgraduate studies (%)	88.7	90.8	88.8	91.0
Doctorate degrees / professor (%)	-	-	0.6	0.8
Scientific publications / teaching and research staff (%)	-	-	1.7	2.2

Structural development in universities

Table II: Consequences of the structural development in Finnish universities

Nr	The new university / consortium	Consists of	Starts on
1.	Aalto University	(1) Helsinki School of Economics, (2) Helsinki University of Technology and (3) University of Art and Design Helsinki	August 1st, 2009
2.	University of Eastern Finland	(1) University of Joensuu and (2) Univeristy of Kuopio	January 1st, 2010
3.	University Consortium in Turku (new kind of university to be established in 2011)	(1) University of Turku and (2) Turku School of Economics	August 1st, 2008

Structural development in polytechnics

Table III: Consequences of the structural development in Finnish polytechnics

Nr	The new polytechnic	Consists of	Starts / started on
1.	HAAGA-HELIA University of Applied Sciences	(1) HAAGA University of Applied Sciences and (2) Helsinki Business Polytechnic	January 1st, 2007
2.	Metropolia University of Applied Sciences	(1) Helsinki Polytechnic Stadia and (2) EVTEK University of Applied Sciences	August 1st, 2008
3.	Novia University of Applied Sciences	(1) Swedish Polytechnic Finland and (2) Sydväst Polytechnic	August 1st, 2008

Portugees HEIs in the information society

Information society strategy period

For more information see: Major e-learning initiatives in Portugal.

References

---

> Countries