These six schools, operating in Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, Timor-Leste and Macau, follow the plans and programs of basic and secondary education in force in the Portuguese education system.
Guarded by the Portuguese State, Portuguese Schools Abroad (EPE) follow the Portuguese school calendar, but not the current one, which was changed due to the covid-19.
An official source from the Portuguese Ministry of Education told the agency Lusa that the measures adopted in Portugal to "reverse the accelerated growth of the pandemic" are not applied to EPE.
"These schools, in view of the specificity of each reality in which they operate, the evolution of the pandemic in the local territory and the rules issued by the government and health authorities of the respective country, are activating and implementing their contingency plans and distance learning plans ", continues the clarification requested by the Lusa agency.
Only the exams will have to be taken by all students, "regardless of their location".
In relation to the rest of the timetable, this "must adjust to the reality of these schools, considering other factors always taken into account with local specificities, such as holidays".
In Portugal, the school calendar was changed due to the school break that took place between the end of January and the beginning of March to reverse the accelerated growth of the covid-19 pandemic.
The 11-day break was redistributed between Carnival and Easter holidays, but also with five more days at the end of the academic year.
Portuguese schools abroad were created in the context of deepening friendship and cooperation relations, in the field of Education, through the signing of bilateral cooperation protocols between the Portuguese State and Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Angola, Mozambique, Timor-Leste and SAR Macau.
These public educational establishments, where around 500 teachers teach, are attended by close to 6000 students of the most diverse nationalities.
