The Prime Minister stated this Wednesday, September 13th, that "no matter what" the public supply of student accommodation must double by 2026 and recognized that the "biggest challenge" facing access to Higher Education is the housing cost.
«No matter what, it is really by that date that we have to achieve this very challenging objective of multiplying by two the number of beds in university residences», guaranteed António Costa, speaking at the welcoming ceremony for students at the University of Porto, which took place in Jardim da Cordoaria.
The head of Government recalled that the National Student Accommodation Plan, launched in 2019 and which aims to double the number of beds in public residences, is being fulfilled using funds from the Resilience and Recovery Plan (PRR), which implies some rules.
«The PRR has an enormous virtue, not only did it make available the funds that did not exist to execute this accommodation plan, but it imposes a deadline. Only pay for works that are completed by midnight on December 31, 2026», he explained.
In front of hundreds of students, António Costa recognized the difficulties young people have in accessing universities: «we are well aware that today the biggest challenge facing access to Higher Education is not the tuition fees paid, but it is really for displaced students, the cost of rooms and student accommodation,” he said.
António Costa also pointed to scientific knowledge as the “most important investment to be made”.
«If humanity overcame the challenge of the pandemic, this is due to science and demonstrates to all those who have doubts that there is no more important investment to make than the investment in scientific knowledge», he said.
Another example of the importance of research is, according to António Costa, Portuguese wine: «today it is difficult to find a bad wine in Portugal. A few years ago it was difficult to find good wine in Portugal. What changed the wine from 30 years ago to the wine we drink today has nothing to do with the land, which was already there, the grapes, which already existed, the sun, perhaps it was milder, but all the natural conditions were there", he pointed out.
«Wine started to have a fundamental thing which is scientific knowledge, which knows how to make better use of the territory, better grape varieties, better sunshine and that is why our wine is much better today», he explained.
On the students' side, the president of the Academic Federation of Porto Gabriela Cavilhas called for "more ambition" and for the problem of student accommodation to be "discussed in the State Budget, an appeal repeated by some students who demonstrated at the end of the ceremony".
«It is unbearable to be from another city and have to come and study here. It's the bribe, it's the food, it's the transport and it's above all the price of housing, only if you're rich», Ana Pinto, a Biochemistry student, told Lusa.
The Prime Minister then continued, accompanied by the Minister of Science and Higher Education and the Minister of the Presidency, to the inauguration of one of the three student residences created under the National Student Accommodation Plan.
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