The “Agrupamento de Escolas Ferreira de Castro” is a state school that includes several levels of education, from pre-school education up to the secondary school. The main building houses students attending basic and secondary education and is the headquarters of a management unit (Agrupamento, in Portuguese) that includes other schools in the region. The younger pupils (from 3 to 10 years old) attend pre-schools and primary schools close to their areas of residence and these schools are managed from the host school.
Our school is located in Oliveira de Azeméis, a small town between Porto and Aveiro, Northern Portugal. Oliveira de Azeméis produces mainly footwear, metallurgy and metalworking, food processing, glass products, Peel and package of rice, mattresses, clothing, copper and metal sink.
The secondary school offers four courses to engage in university studies (science and technology, arts, economics and languages and Humanities) and three vocational courses in the areas of information technology, arts and management. This year we have around 1500 pupils. The school also offers adult education.
We have a small number of students from ethnic minorities. However, our students are quite familiar with the topic of immigration, since almost everyone has family and friends that they had to leave the country recently to work abroad.
Portugal is a country that has a rich history in what comes to migrations. Portugal has about 10 million inhabitants and there are about 5 million people of portuguese origin around the world. Every person in Portugal has relatives or friends that are working abroad. At the same time, Portugal hosts also large communities of migrants from African countries that were once Portuguese colonies.
The theme of migrations is very relevant to the portuguese students and teachers, because the young generation considers the possibility of emigrating after finishing studies.
Visit our website: www.esfcastro.net