The Socialist Party parliamentary group requested a hearing this Friday with the President of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Portuguese Communities. They have asked for this hearing to be scheduled with the President of the Camões Institute to discuss and explain the strategy for teaching Portuguese abroad.
Background of the Request
The request for a hearing with Florbela Paraíba, the President of the Camões Institute for Cooperation and Language, followed after Socialist deputy Paulo Pisco took part in a meeting in Paris. During this meeting, the monitoring of Portuguese language teaching in France was discussed with various entities.
Concerns About Portuguese Language Education
Deputy Paulo Pisco, who represents the European constituency, explained to the media that the discussion focused on the state of Portuguese language education, from primary schools to universities. He said:
“[At the meeting] I asked how many students had no response to attend courses and I was surprised by the size of the number, because 10,000 requests to attend classes, or to open courses is too many.”
The Socialist deputy noted that the number of requests for Portuguese language teaching was already high in the past, but has now grown even larger. He highlighted:
“This means that there is a demand that is much higher than the response and there has to be an adjustment.”
The Need for a Comprehensive Strategy
Furthermore, Paulo Pisco lamented:
“The Portuguese language, in all its aspects and dimensions, is one of the elements of Portuguese foreign policy, and must be valued, but, with this type of insufficiency that exists in the structure of language teaching, it cannot be said that we are valuing it, as we always rhetorically claim.”
Considering the global significance of the Portuguese language — the fifth most spoken in the world — there must be an adequate response from the State, according to the Socialist deputy.
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He emphasized the need for a comprehensive strategy for teaching Portuguese at all levels of education, which is the reason behind the request.
Current Situation and Future Steps
The MP highlighted that, despite a significant presence in France, with 16,000 students learning Portuguese through various teaching methods, including parallel programs certified by the Camões Institute.
However, this number is still below the potential it could reach given the large Portuguese community in the country.
The PS aims to understand the strategies available to address the expectations within the Portuguese community. Through the hearing, they hope to explore potential solutions to these concerns. The MP stated that:
“Pilot experiments were launched in Bordeaux and Strasbourg, with distance learning, to bring together students who are spread across the country, as, in France, there are Portuguese people from North to South, from East to West.”
He further declared that:
“In addition to the teaching supervised by the Camões Institute, there are other types of problems that have to do with support for courses and lecturers [teachers] at universities, because there is a need for greater diversification in relation to the activities associated with Portuguese courses, so that students feel this motivation.”
Moreover, one concerning indication is that this year there were no applicants for lecturer positions in Portuguese courses at universities. The MP noted that this is likely due to unattractive career and salary conditions, which he described as worrying.
Goals of the Hearing
In the requested hearing, the PS seeks to understand the direction the Camões Institute intends to take with its new management. They also want to know what solutions the institute has for addressing the identified issues, the MP added.
Paulo Pisco emphasized the importance of reviewing the education agreement signed between the two nations in the 1970s, despite some later revisions. He also called for a diplomatic effort to ensure that the Portuguese language gains official recognition from the French authorities.
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