In Portugal, more than 400,000 students come from socio-economically vulnerable backgrounds. Regardless of their abilities, the number of students from this group progressing to higher education was, in 2021, almost 65 percentage points lower than the number recorded among students not receiving social support. It is also worth noting that, in 2022, only 10% of children from poor and low-qualified families reach higher education.

According to OECD data, in 2025 only 23% of young people whose parents did not complete upper secondary education went on to complete a higher education degree, compared with 73% among those whose parents have a higher education qualification. This represents a gap of 50 percentage points, above the OECD average.

In response to this reality and to promote equal opportunities, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation developed an innovative methodology. Its first pilot is being implemented in the Tâmega and Sousa region, involving 11 municipalities and 38 school clusters.

Equal opportunities in education

Educational and material support will be offered on an ongoing basis from Years 5 to 12 to children and young people with outstanding academic performance from vulnerable backgrounds who receive school social support. The programme will initially support 150 students, with plans to expand to 400 beneficiaries per year from the third year onwards.

The initiative comprises five integrated strands of action, designed to address the main challenges affecting students’ educational success:

• Individual educational support, through a programme to develop core academic skills (reading and writing clubs, English and mathematics);
• Mentoring, fostering self-regulation, metacognition, communication skills and career guidance;
• Social and cultural enrichment, through socio-educational experiences such as summer camps, study visits and exchanges, exposing students to new social networks and diverse cultural and geographical contexts, and equipping them with the knowledge and social resources needed to make informed and independent choices;
• Material support for families, through a grant to help meet basic needs in education, health and access to culture (including school materials and equipment, as well as dental and ophthalmological care, among others);
• Parenting support, through a parental skills development programme focused on promoting healthy routines and lifestyles, including rules and boundaries, nutrition, sleep, study conditions, physical activity, communication and interpersonal relationships.

With this initiative, the Gulbenkian Foundation aims to create opportunities that enable young people to make educational and career choices independent of their socioeconomic background, so they can reach their full potential and become positive agents of change in their communities. The initiative also seeks to test and validate approaches that can later inform public policies aimed at advancing equity in education.

The Gulbenkian Aprender initiative is delivered through a broad partnership involving local authorities, schools, universities, organisations and local businesses, with regional coordination led by the Instituto Empresarial do Tâmega.