The Vila Real City Council has presented, at a press conference, the Intermunicipal Plan for the Promotion of Academic Success (PIPSE), entitled “VR Educa ProSucesso”, which is already being implemented in the municipality.

The mayor, Alexandre Favaios, said that the action plan is outlined, extends until June 2028, and covers all students in the municipality of Vila Real's public education network, from preschool to the 12th grade.

The Vila Real PIPSE has €920,000 in financing from the Norte 2030 program, with €656,000 allocated to the technical team, composed of 9 technicians, and €262,000 allocated to other activities.

Alexandre Favaios emphasised that one of the program's objectives is to contribute to academic success.

“And this is an aspect that seems particularly relevant to me. Previous plans focused heavily on combating failure; currently, the emphasis is on valuing educational success and promoting activities that actually improve results, not so much linked to dropout rates or failure rates, but rather on improving success and its quality,” he highlighted.

The PIPSE program also aims to enrich school learning, improve the personal and social conditions of school attendance for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, promote community involvement, reinforce equity in access to pre-school, primary, and secondary education, and reduce early school leaving rates.

“Vila Real ends up being an oasis insofar as early school leaving rates are relatively low,” added Alexandre Favaios, who emphasised that the project aims to be “a facilitating factor in the full integration of these students.”

Divided into four axes – reinforcement of learning, emotions, life project, and digital skills – PIPSE includes activities in the areas of language, science, culture, environment and society, emotional intelligence, mental health, parental/family education, vocational guidance/labour market, technological resources, digital environments, programming, and artificial intelligence.

The plan covers approximately 8,500 students from the Diogo Cão and Morgado Mateus school clusters, and the Camilo Castelo Branco and São Pedro secondary schools, with the Music Conservatory as an indirect beneficiary, and aims to ensure that at least 85% complete their studies on schedule.

The PIPSE programs are integrated into a national and regional strategy to promote equity and quality in education.