Jorge Carvalho, the regional secretary for Education, stressed that the usual criteria are called into question “from the moment” it becomes necessary “to bring together students from different years in the same classroom”.

The regional secretary for Education, Science and Technology was speaking at a meeting of the Education Commission of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira, in which he was heard about “the process of merging and closing schools in several municipalities in the region”, at the request of the PS parliamentary group.

“In the last decade, Madeira lost almost 5,000 students in the 1st cycle”, said Jorge Carvalho.

Speaking at the session, PS deputy Rui Caetano began by mentioning that the party is not against the closure of schools, “provided that the criteria are clear”, and explained that he asked for this hearing considering that there has been a “lack of dialogue” on these issues.

According to the PS parliamentarian, the largest opposition party in the Madeiran parliament, there have been “decisions already taken”, without the knowledge of families and municipalities, a situation he criticized.