Portugal

Administration: The Ministry of Education centralizes the educational system in Portugal, although autonomy has been given to the islands of Azores and Madeira. The Ministry has several departments and institutes, including departments for basic education, secondary education, and higher education. There are other departments or directorates for special education; adult education; technological, artistic, and vocational education; distance education; and educational technology. Councils and consulting bodies complement this structure. The advisory bodies are the National Education Committee, the Private and Cooperative Education Coordinating Committee, the Committee of Higher Education, and the National School Sports Committee. The technical and planning bodies are formed by the General Secretariat, the Planning and Research Bureau, and the Financial Management Bureau. The Institute for Educational Research is responsible for research and educational development. The Ministry of Education also works in conjunction with other ministries such as health, labor, and social welfare; culture; and public works.

Since decentralization and regionalization was established in 1976 and effectively implemented in the 1990s, Portugal has been divided into central and regional bodies, each with its own directorate. There is one directorate for each of the five regions of Portugal (Direcção Regional de Educação do Norte, Direcção Regional de Educação do Centro, Direcção Regional de Educação de Lisboa, Direcção Regional de Educação do Alentejo, and Direcção Regional de Educação do Algarve). The Ministry of Education is responsible for educational guidelines, administrative and planning support, coordination of developmental research, and social policy.

Finance: The GEF, or Gabinete de Gestão Financeira (Financial Management Bureau), is an autonomous branch of the Ministry of Education in charge of financial programming and management of projects cofinanced by the European Union. The budget of the Ministry of Education in the year 2001 was about US$6.8 million, which represents an increase of 9.8 percent in comparison to the previous year.

The Ministry of Education pays the salary of teaching staff and faculty for public schools and universities. Municipalities are in charge of elementary schools for administration and construction. The Ministry of Public Works is responsible for other construction. Tuition is free for students, but they must pay for books and school materials. Grants for needy students are available from social services.