The PSD parliamentary group questioned the Government this Friday about how many new places will be available for students in residences in the 2022/2023 academic year, accusing the Executive of “total failure” in this matter.
In a consultation addressed to the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Elvira Fortunato, the PSD points out that the Government launched the National Housing Plan for Higher Education (PNAES) in 2018, “with the aim of doubling the supply of beds in public residences, compared to the existing 15,000” in that year.
The PSD writes that the then Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Manuel Heitor, said that the PNAES “aims, from now on, to double the accommodation offer for higher education students in the next decade, creating in the period 2019-2022 around 12 thousand new beds, distributed throughout the national territory”.
However, to date, and according to official information available in the Website of the PNAES, at the end of 2021 there were 15,073 beds in public residences. Today, after four years, the same government that intends to reach 30,000 beds in the public residence network by 2026 has still not been able to increase supply, and the country continues with the same supply of 15,000 public beds that it had in 2018. For the PSD, these results represent a total failure of the Government’s policy in terms of accommodation for students”, they accuse.
In the opinion of the Social Democrats, this government plan “is nothing more than a gigantic plan of unfulfilled promises and with known results.”
In this context, the PSD wants to know “how many new places will be available in the 2022/2023 academic year for residence accommodation”, what is the “geographical distribution of new places available from the next academic year” and “what are the reasons that justify the non-execution of the multi-year goals previously established in the National Student Housing Plan”.
“What alternatives are being considered to meet the needs of students who do not obtain a place in higher education residences, nor do they fit into the income brackets that allow access to supplements to benefit from the housing subsidy?”, is another of the left questions. . to the executive.
For the Social Democrats, the executive “should replace plans and announcements by building more houses and improving existing houses”and contract with the social sector, municipalities, IPDJ and the private sector to enable more beds.
The objective is “obtain a better price per bed through protocols between the central State and these partners, leaving aside any ideological prejudice, which only leaves more students without accommodation”.
The PSD also warns that “it is important to consider the need for more time between the result of the students’ internships in Higher Education and the beginning of the academic year”, since currently students only know which educational institution they will attend and where only. “one or two weeks before the start of classes”.
The Prime Minister assumed this Thursday the Portugal’s goal of having 26,000 beds for students in 2026in a speech in which he considered the issue of housing as one of the biggest obstacles to accessing higher education.
This objective was conveyed by António Costa at the Academy of Sciences, in Lisbon, at the end of a session aimed at signing 119 residency projects for higher education students, which was attended by the Ministers of Higher Education, Elvira Fortunato , and the Presidency. , Mariana Vieira da Silva.
Source: Observadora
