Maria de Lurdes Rodrigues
Encyclopedia
Maria de Lurdes Rodrigues (MLR, born March 19, 1956, in Lisbon
) is a Portuguese university professor of Sociology
and politician.
MLR is associate professor at ISCTE - Lisbon University Institute, where she has taught since 1986 and received her PhD in Sociology in 1996. She was the national representative at the Eurostat
's Working Party of R&D and Innovation Survey (1996-2002), President of the Observatory of Sciences and Technologies at the Ministry of Science and Technology (1997-2002) and the national representative at the OECD Working Party on the Indicators for the Information Society (1999-2002). She also worked in the consultancy and human resources management and training areas.
MLR has authored dozens of scientific papers and books chapters and published three monographs: Sociologia das Profissões [Sociology of Professions] (1997), Os Engenheiros em Portugal [Engineers in Portugal] (1999) and A Escola Pública Pode Fazer a Diferença [Public School Can Make the Difference] (2010).
's first Government) from 2005 to 2009, Maria de Lurdes Rodrigues launched a wide range of policies, some of which particularly controversial among teachers, unions, and even some sectors of the then ruling Socialist Party, such as the teacher career and performance assessment reform. These policies were assessed by the OECD.
During her mandate school results improved and school dropout rates fell significantly.
In 2009, the Portuguese pupils performed the highest combined increase in the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment
exam scores as compared to 2006 results. Portugal ranked among the OECD average countries for the first time.
Main policies as Minister of Education:
Primary education reform
Primary education reform had two main goals: to broaden the scope of learning activities and to build modern school environments. The former goal was achieved by the Full Time School Programme, that brought to schools curriculum enrichment activities such as English, Music, and Sports. The latter goal was fulfilled by closing down more about 2500 very small schools (less than 10 pupils) across the country and by building or refurbishing more than 400 fully equipped primary schools with kindergarten. Both policies were implemented in close partnership with municipalities. Primary education reform was assessed by the OECD.
Pupils' Legal Status
A new pupils' legal status was set, forbidding grade retention due to unjustified school absence. This measure was taken upon research evidence that grade retentions do not promote success and are a step towards early school leaving.
Adult Education and Training Reform
In 2006, Rodrigues together with the Minister of Labour launched the New Opportunities Initiative, to foster adult education. Three years later, more than 1 million citizens had joined the initiative and 300.000 had received a school certificate.
Curricular reforms
MLR pushed public schools into vocational upper-secondary education, and from 2005 to 2009, the number of pupils attending vocational education grew from 30.000 to 126.000. As for basic education, nuclear subjects (Portuguese and Maths) were reinforced with an Action Plan for Maths and a National Reading Plan.
Schools' modernization
A National Secondary Schools Modernization Programme, run by Parque Escolar, was launched in 2007. The programme aims to rebuild more than 330 out of the 500 Portuguese public schools with secondary education. The first phases of the programme were assessed by the OECD.
Schools' ICT capacity was boost by the 2007-2010 Technological Plan for Education. As a result of the plan, the ratio of pupils per computer with broadband connection fell from 18:1 in 2005 to 5:1 in 2009. 1-to-1 laptop distribution schemes for teachers and students were successfully deployed and acknowledged abroad.
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
) is a Portuguese university professor of Sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
and politician.
MLR is associate professor at ISCTE - Lisbon University Institute, where she has taught since 1986 and received her PhD in Sociology in 1996. She was the national representative at the Eurostat
Eurostat
Eurostat is a Directorate-General of the European Commission located in Luxembourg. Its main responsibilities are to provide the European Union with statistical information at European level and to promote the integration of statistical methods across the Member States of the European Union,...
's Working Party of R&D and Innovation Survey (1996-2002), President of the Observatory of Sciences and Technologies at the Ministry of Science and Technology (1997-2002) and the national representative at the OECD Working Party on the Indicators for the Information Society (1999-2002). She also worked in the consultancy and human resources management and training areas.
MLR has authored dozens of scientific papers and books chapters and published three monographs: Sociologia das Profissões [Sociology of Professions] (1997), Os Engenheiros em Portugal [Engineers in Portugal] (1999) and A Escola Pública Pode Fazer a Diferença [Public School Can Make the Difference] (2010).
Minister of Education
As Minister of Education of the 17th Constitutional Government (Prime Minister José SócratesJosé Sócrates
José Sócrates Carvalho Pinto de Sousa, GCIH , commonly known by José Sócrates , is a Portuguese politician who was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 12 March 2005 to 21 June 2011....
's first Government) from 2005 to 2009, Maria de Lurdes Rodrigues launched a wide range of policies, some of which particularly controversial among teachers, unions, and even some sectors of the then ruling Socialist Party, such as the teacher career and performance assessment reform. These policies were assessed by the OECD.
During her mandate school results improved and school dropout rates fell significantly.
In 2009, the Portuguese pupils performed the highest combined increase in the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment
Programme for International Student Assessment
The Programme for International Student Assessment is a worldwide evaluation in OECD member countries of 15-year-old school pupils' scholastic performance, performed first in 2000 and repeated every three years...
exam scores as compared to 2006 results. Portugal ranked among the OECD average countries for the first time.
Main policies as Minister of Education:
Primary education reform
Primary education reform had two main goals: to broaden the scope of learning activities and to build modern school environments. The former goal was achieved by the Full Time School Programme, that brought to schools curriculum enrichment activities such as English, Music, and Sports. The latter goal was fulfilled by closing down more about 2500 very small schools (less than 10 pupils) across the country and by building or refurbishing more than 400 fully equipped primary schools with kindergarten. Both policies were implemented in close partnership with municipalities. Primary education reform was assessed by the OECD.
Pupils' Legal Status
A new pupils' legal status was set, forbidding grade retention due to unjustified school absence. This measure was taken upon research evidence that grade retentions do not promote success and are a step towards early school leaving.
Adult Education and Training Reform
In 2006, Rodrigues together with the Minister of Labour launched the New Opportunities Initiative, to foster adult education. Three years later, more than 1 million citizens had joined the initiative and 300.000 had received a school certificate.
Curricular reforms
MLR pushed public schools into vocational upper-secondary education, and from 2005 to 2009, the number of pupils attending vocational education grew from 30.000 to 126.000. As for basic education, nuclear subjects (Portuguese and Maths) were reinforced with an Action Plan for Maths and a National Reading Plan.
Schools' modernization
A National Secondary Schools Modernization Programme, run by Parque Escolar, was launched in 2007. The programme aims to rebuild more than 330 out of the 500 Portuguese public schools with secondary education. The first phases of the programme were assessed by the OECD.
Schools' ICT capacity was boost by the 2007-2010 Technological Plan for Education. As a result of the plan, the ratio of pupils per computer with broadband connection fell from 18:1 in 2005 to 5:1 in 2009. 1-to-1 laptop distribution schemes for teachers and students were successfully deployed and acknowledged abroad.