Educação a Nível Local - O Papel do Município na Educação

Abstract

Over the years, the municipalities of Portugal have increasingly assumed responsibilities in the area of education. This assumption of responsibilities is associated with the attempt to bring the resolution of identified problems closer to the local level, so that the solutions found can be the most suitable for each reality and context. Considering the process of delegation of responsibilities to municipalities, with particular emphasis on the most recent regulation, Decree-Law No. 21/2019, of January 30, the internship work essentially consisted of accompanying senior education technicians from a municipality in the north of the country, as well as collaborating in the promotion of activities developed by them, with the aim of deepening knowledge about the process and professionalism in Educational Sciences in such a context. The internship, within the scope of the master's domain and as an intervention component, culminated in the development of an evaluation project on the process of transferring responsibilities in the municipality in question. During the internship work, research was at the service of intervention. In this sense, techniques such as participant observation, field notes, and document analysis were used to carry out an assessment of the reality of this municipality. From the perspective of evaluation as a research practice and formative orientation, semi-structured interviews were conducted with different educational actors to understand their perception of the process in question. Overall, the interviews allowed us to understand that in this municipality, the transfer of responsibilities has an extremely positive balance, having brought important and positive contributions to education in the municipality. However, educational actors acknowledged the existence of some aspects to improve and emphasized that despite the advantages of the processes, this may not be a reality that extends to other municipalities, highlighting the need to rethink the decree in question with the intention of ensuring equity.