ADVANCES AND SETBACKS OF THE PORTUGUESE HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE LAST DECADES: BY WAY OF ASSESSMENT

Abstract

In this article, the authors debate the situation of higher education in Portugal in several dimensions, considering the period 1974-2020. The advances and setbacks of higher education are highlighted, with a strong positive evolution over the last 50 years, regarding mainly: the explosive growth of demand and the corresponding response from the educational system that resulted in the creation of the polytechnic higher education system; the increasing number of higher education institutions that cover the entire national territory; the increasing number of teachers and of the investment in teacher training; extension of hiring social base and the resulting democratization of the system; the real higher education schooling rate which brings Portugal closer to EU and OECD’s countries average. However, some of the setbacks that have been occurring since the end of the 1980’s are also highlighted, mainly: the higher education’s openness to private initiative; higher education privatization, the setting of updated fees and the loss of public financing; teacher’s job insecurity due to the strengthening of unstable contracts as well as the ageing teacher’s category and the progress to some democratic deficit in public higher education that stems from the fact that the new Higher Education Legal Framework (RJIES) opens the door to a less colegial management and allows higher education institutions to adopt a foundational regime. Finally, some concerns regarding the danger of Portuguese higher education facing a setback and also becoming an elite education are expressed.