Fernando Alexandre explained that the audit was requested from the Court of Auditors on May 26th and covers all CPLP (Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries) schools: Angola, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, Dili (East Timor), and Macau.

“Portuguese schools abroad are very important for the Portuguese Government, they are perhaps the Portuguese Government’s most important instrument of cooperation. The network has grown a lot in recent years and has not grown in the structured and organised way that, given the size it already has, it should have.”

The minister said that, based on the information he received, he considered that the best way to clarify the financial and administrative management of these schools would be through an audit by an independent entity, without providing details.

When asked if there were suspicions of mismanagement, he simply stated that “there is no guarantee that there is good management”.