The Setúbal Municipal Council inaugurated the new Barbosa du Bocage School Centre, at a ceremony that brought together more than 600 people, mostly students. The event was attended by the Vice-President of the Council, Maria do Carmo Tiago, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, Education Minister Fernando Alexandre, Vice-President of the Parliament Teresa Morais, and several Secretaries of State. The municipality's Vice-President considered the day very special for Setúbal and thanked the Government for choosing the city for the solemn session opening the school year.
The new school centre serves 253 students this year, of which 164 in eight primary school classes, 80 in four pre-school groups, and nine in the Learning Support Centre. The total investment was 5,359,890 euros, of which 4,224,905.32 euros were funded by the PRR through the NextGenerationEU fund, with the municipality covering 1,134,984.68 euros. The school eliminates the dual system existing at Escola Básica de Santa Maria, contributing to full-time schooling.
The building, with approximately 2,300 square meters distributed over two floors, includes eight classrooms for primary school, four activity rooms for pre-school, a Snoezelen room for multisensory stimulation, a Learning Support Centre, a cafeteria for 275 students, a kitchen with on-site cooking, a multi-purpose pavilion, and outdoor sports areas. Maria do Carmo Tiago stated that investing in education is investing in people and in the future.
The Prime Minister said the municipality submitted applications for the requalification of four schools worth a total of 91 million euros and announced the goal of rehabilitating 35 establishments in the Setúbal Peninsula with a total investment of 170 million euros through the European Investment Bank. The school cluster's director, António Caetano, highlighted that the school has more than 2,300 students from 41 nationalities and is a reference for the autism spectrum.
