Lisbon decides to cut the price of school meals by 50% and distribute calculators to 10th grade students.

The Lisbon Chamber approved this Friday a 50 percent reduction in the cost of school meals for non-tipped children in public schools and the allocation of graphing calculators to all 10th grade students.

This support is part of the School Social Action (ASE) measures in the 2023/2024 academic year that were discussed and made possible unanimously by the Lisbon City Council (CML) in a closed session at the suggestion of Educational Adviser Sofia Ataide (CDS-PP), who welcomed the contributions of PS, PCP and BE.

The CML statement said the approved measures represent “an amount of more than €1.4 million for ASE as early as the 2023/2024 academic year”, indicating that it is “the largest funding package in this area”, which includes new support for student guardians in the Lisbon school network.

At the suggestion of PS Councilors, the chamber includes as a new support measure a “50% reduction in the amount paid for school meals for all children” attending state kindergartens, 1st, 2nd, 3rd cycles and the secondary education network, while maintaining the total amount of tips for families at levels A and B of the ASE.

“The cost of lunch charged to students is determined by order of the Ministry of Education and is currently 1.46 euros” in accordance with the criteria set for the previous academic year, namely 2022/2023. If the value is maintained, the municipality offers students to pay 0.73 euros for each meal.

According to the PS proposal, the financial allocation for the implementation of this support will be included in the Lisbon municipal budget for 2024 and “this measure will be implemented between January and July 2024 as an emergency support in the current inflationary context”, and it is expected that the chamber will subsequently reconsider the need for succession for possible implementation in the 2024/2025 academic year.

In this context, PKP advisers proposed to maintain the provision of school meals during the school break period, it was decided that this would happen in August this year, if possible in schools, and in 2024 the measure would be extended to the whole city under the motto “There is a taste – school meals in August”.

“With the interruption of the school year and school closures in August, some children are being deprived of the school meals they need to develop and grow,” PCP explained.

The chamber also unanimously passed a BE proposal to assign graphing calculators to all 10th grade students, regardless of ASE grade, “according to the Department of Education’s list of computing machines likely to be used in the national GCSEs in Physics and Chemistry A, Mathematics A, Mathematics B, and Mathematics Applied to the Social Sciences.”

According to the BE Council, the measure will benefit 4,400 grade 10 students studying these school subjects, saving families “more than €120 on compulsory school materials for the majority of secondary school students.”

While there are arrangements for ASE in the 2023/2024 academic year, this support will only apply from January 2024 “for budgetary reasons.”

In addition to maintaining the measures in place for ASE, namely: clothing, school supplies, study trips, support sheets for school allowances and learning support centres, the educational adviser proposed to allocate an additional support of 24 euros per year for each student with special health needs (SEN), based on the technical and pedagogical report that visits the 1st cycle of assistive technologies, as a learning facilitator.

The new measures are in addition to the €30 million CML already approved this week for school meals until 2025, representing an increase of €4.5 million.

“We are well aware of the adverse socio-economic conditions that the country is experiencing and that are creating severe hardships for many families who need support and security to ensure, in many cases, the basic needs of their children,” said CML President Carlos Moedas (PSD), quoted in the statement, highlighting the increased support that is part of building a “local welfare state capable of providing concrete answers to the needs of citizens.”

The Executive Director of the CML consists of 17 members, seven of whom are elected from the Novos Tempos coalition (PSD/CDS-PP/MPT/PPM/Aliança) – the only ones with responsibilities – four from PS, two from PCP, two from Cidadãos Por Lisboa (elected by the PS/Livre coalition), one from Livre and one from BE.