We are witnessing, after decades of recurring returns to the debate, the return of the proposal, apparently endorsed by this Government, of merging the first two schooling cycles into a single six-year cycle. An idea that has been around since the last decades of the 20th century, returning now because it is allegedly done this way in other European countries, without any empirical demonstration of its validity and many practical problems to be resolved: from the reconfiguration of recruitment groups (which is not even under discussion) to an inadaptation of the school network (with the exception of the so-called Integrated Basic Schools), through to the current review of the essential learning of the different subjects, which will need to be re-reviewed, if the idea goes ahead.
Therefore, a sensible person will leave this discussion until when the proponents start banging their heads against the walls that are visible to everyone.
I prefer to address a topic that seems to me to be of much greater urgency, especially because it is a reality that schools are increasingly forced to face, with scarce resources and diminished autonomy for desirable solutions, and which involves the late integration of students coming from abroad, not even necessarily thinking about those arriving from countries with other official languages, as this is an even more dramatic situation that no, there is a mediator per group to resolve.
I am referring to students who, although from countries with Portuguese as their official language, have a different calendar or curriculum than ours and who, when they arrive at our Education System already well into the school year, have enormous difficulty fitting in, when they are literally “dumped” into classes with work carried out over months, with no goodwill that allows – apart from occasional specific cases – to welcome newcomers in the way that best suits their needs.
I identify just two of the most evident situations, for which the “eviction” of students into the System, as practiced, is a mistake that harms them and, when associated with the pressure to ensure them success in the name of a decreed “inclusion”, encourages practices that only mask (pre)-existing problems.
The first is that of students who arrive in Portugal with a curriculum with a different structure from ours, with different subjects, different content and even different assessment models. What’s the point of placing a student in a 6th or 8th grade class, for example, in subjects they’ve never taken in their school career? I have received students who have never taken History, English or even “our” Geography, but who, based on their original certifications, were placed in classes in those years, without any preparation period of the “year zero” type.
Another situation is that of students who arrive from countries with different school calendars, whose academic year begins in February (Brazil, Mozambique), when here we are in the middle of the 2nd period or starting the 2nd semester, so their integration is a perfect utopia, especially when associated with the aforementioned diversity of curriculum and content.
If the integration of these children and young people, upon arrival, into our School System is imperative, it is equally important that this is done appropriately and that they are able to adapt before entering our model of widespread pretense.
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