Funding

Funding of pre-school education

The public funds allocated to pre-school education settings are the joint responsibility of the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MECI), Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security (MTSSS), and local authorities. The public pre-school education network is totally funded by the state.

With regard to the  solidarity network, which includes the Private Social Solidarity Institutions (Instituições Particulares de Solidariedade Social - IPSS) charities and mutual associations, the state provides the institutions with financial support, paying the cost of the educational component and pedagogical quality, also contributing to family support and socio-educational activities.

On the private for profit network, which includes private and cooperative schools, funding is based on the monthly fees paid by families, who may receive financial help, depending on family support contracts and their income.

Crèche attendance is free for all children up to the age of three, born on or after 1 September 2021, who attend nurseries within the solidarity, public and private-for-profit networks that are part of the nursery grant scheme (Ordinance No. 426/2023, 11 December and Ordinance No. 158/2024/1, 6 June), with a set of priority criteria defined for the allocation of existing places (Annex to Ordinance No. 198/2022, 27 July).
Public financial support granted to childcare establishments is the responsibility of the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security (MTSSS), and is provided for the entire duration that children attend a nursery or are looked after by a childminder. Free attendance includes all activities and services, meals, the registration process and insurance, as well as attendance during extended hours and weekly extensions (Ordinance No. 305/2022, of 22 December).
 

Funding of basic and secondary education

Public schools at primary (1st and 2nd cycles of basic education), lower secondary (3rd cycle of basic education) and upper secondary levels are funded primarily through the State Budget, supplemented by European funds and the schools’ own revenue, with the funding model varying according to the level of education and the type of school network. In the private and cooperative sector, schools are funded mainly by parents’ school fees, and may also receive state support through association or development contracts

In what  the 1st cycle of basic education is concerned (grades 1-4), according to Decree-Law No 21/2019, 30 January, in its current wording, municipal bodies have powers previously used by central government regarding investment in basic equipment in the 1st cycle of basic education. For this transfer of responsibilities, the State transfers an amount to the local authorities, which varies each school year according to the number of children and pupils enrolled and the number of classes in each school cluster or non-clustered school.

Every year, an individual budget is allocated to public schools and school clusters in basic (2nd and 3rd cycles) and upper secondary education calculated annually and based on the comparison between the budget proposed by the school and the criteria applied by the department responsible for the MECI’s financial management. The criteria include the number of students, the number of classes and specific school aspects (students’ social and economic background, local climatic conditions, the type of education, type and size of school facilities, and the number of establishments making up the cluster.)

Municipal funding resulting from the devolution of powers in the field of education is provided through funds allocated from the State Budget, in accordance with the legal framework for decentralisation and the Local Finance Act, thereby ensuring that the costs associated with the new responsibilities assigned to local authorities are covered.

Basic (2nd and 3rd cycles) and upper secondary education establishments are financed with funds from the MECI’s state budget, community funds and own revenues. The running costs are covered via resource allocation mechanisms and differ according to the education level. In basic and upper secondary education, the public school budget includes a range of programmes and projects schools can apply for, which have autonomous funding.

Financial autonomy and control

Public schools’ system of management allows them decision-making power in strategic, pedagogical, administrative, financial and organisational areas within the framework of their educational project and according to the responsibilities and means assigned to them.

Public schools do not have financial autonomy. Their financial management system involves budget management and implementation via an overall allocation of means, the possibility of self-financing and the management of revenues assigned to them.

Autonomy contracts are signed by the school and the central administration regarding the deconcentration of responsibilities.

There are also implementation and inter-administrative contracts signed by central administration and local authorities with regard to the decentralisation of powers.

The levels of powers and responsibilities attributed at each stage of the autonomy process are the subject of prior bargaining between the school, the MECI, municipal administration via participation of municipal education boards. This can lead to an agreement (autonomy contract) between the school, the MECI and any other interested parties. In the discussions, aims are defined and conditions are settled upon that make viable the educational project presented by the school or school cluster leadership and management bodies.

The autonomy contracts process is coordinated, monitored and evaluated on a nationwide and regional scale by the MECI.

The status of private schools, whose pedagogy is overseen by the MECI, is the same as that of private organisations.

The construction and maintenance of 1st cycle basic and pre-school education buildings is the responsibility of local administration.

Investment in basic education 2nd and 3rd cycle settings is primarily the responsibility of central administration (Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation state budget). These are being transferred gradually to the local authorities through implementation and inter-administrative contracts signed with each municipality.

Fees within public education

Public education is free, with no enrolment fees and no payment necessary for activities related to school attendance and issuing of certificates.

Financial support for learners' families

According to specific criteria based on the income of the families:

• underprivileged families receive a monthly family benefit that varies according to income and number of children.
• students and families are exempt from income tax and receive tax breaks on education and training expenses.
• school transport, meals, textbooks and learning equipment can be subsidised for underprivileged families. This social support is extendable to upper secondary education, but only for students with special education needs.

Municipalities are responsible for providing transport between the student's home and the school they attend, and this applies to all students in compulsory education. Ordinance No. 7-A/2024, 5 January, defined the conditions for awarding free passes to young students, as well as the procedures for making them operational. Following its publication, since 1 January 2024, children and young people (4 to 18 years old inclusive), in the under 18+TP mode, and young people up to and including 23, enrolled in a national educational establishment, in the under 23+TP student mode, will have access to the free school pass.

School textbooks are free for all pupils enrolled in compulsory education at state schools or at educational establishments with a partnership agreement. They are provided via digital vouchers on the MEGA platform, which can be exchanged for textbooks (new or reused) at participating bookshops. This public policy is based on reuse: in most cases, books are returned at the end of the school year, except in primary schools, where they tend to be new and are not returned. The provision of free textbooks applies only to the textbooks themselves; worksheets and other materials are generally paid for by families.

Financial support for families of pupils with special education needs

Pupils covered by additional measures to support learning and inclusion (which may be universal, selective or supplementary) receive, depending on the specific nature of their needs, various types of support, including:

• specific school equipment;
• extra pedagogic aid at no additional cost to families;
• public funding of private special education establishments;
• school transport;
• special education subsidy;
• national early intervention system;
• support products allocation system;
• specific tax benefits for households with disabled dependents.

The MECI's budget earmarks funds for special education:

• to support students through private special education institutions, associations, cooperatives and private social solidarity institutions;
• to support special education / resource centres for inclusion (CRI);
• to support special education taught by basic and upper secondary education teachers, in:
  • education and rehabilitation cooperatives for disabled children;
  • Portuguese association of parents and friends of mentally disabled children;
  • private social solidarity institutions;
  • early intervention.

The families of disabled pupils benefit from specific tax benefits and exemptions.

Financial support for learners

Students may benefit from state funding via school social support (ASE) regarding:

• school equipment
• food
• school trips/transport
• insurance
• accommodation in upper secondary education
• merit based scholarships in upper secondary education

Private education

Exclusively private educational institutions

Private basic and upper secondary education schools can benefit from public funding through grant contracts. The grant criteria is always the student and not the school, which means that all or only some of the students are subsidised.

State funded private institutions

Contracts between the state and private schools may take the following forms:

• standard family support contracts - related to families’ right to choose their children’s education, these contracts facilitate attendance of private and cooperative schools by students in basic and upper secondary education not covered by other type of contract. They cover pupils from 1st cycle to upper secondary education. The support given is according to families' per capita income by income scale.
• family support development contracts - these contracts refer to pre-school education and provide financial support to families. The support given is according to families’ per capita income by income scale.
• association contracts - these contracts make it possible to attend private and cooperative schools where is a lack of public schooling, under the same conditions as the teaching given in public schools, respecting the respective educational project. Classes from 2nd cycle to upper secondary education can be funded.
• sponsorship contracts - these contracts stimulate and support education in areas not covered or insufficiently covered by the public network, the creation of courses with specific syllabi and pedagogical improvement.
• cooperation contracts - these are signed with private and cooperative schools dedicated to pupils with special educational needs resulting from severe or complete disabilities, which are proven to require a type of provision that does not exist in regular schools.

The current model seeks to balance the autonomy of schools and local authorities with central monitoring and control mechanisms, ensuring national consistency, regional equity and the financial sustainability of the education system.