Professor António Teodoro, Director of the Institute of Education at Universidade Lusófona and of CeiED – Interdisciplinary Research Center for Education and Development, published an opinion piece in the Portuguese newspaper Público on 3 April 2026.

The article, entitled "More freedom or more control? A first reading of the new degree and diploma regime in higher education", offers a critical analysis of the draft decree-law submitted by the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MECI) for consultation with higher education institutions. Starting from the modernisation rhetoric that frames the document — flexible learning pathways, micro-credentials, recognition of prior learning and openness to new student profiles — the author argues that the reform extends well beyond expanding opportunities. Instead, it introduces a profound reconfiguration of how the system is regulated, in which the widening of possibilities coexists with a significant strengthening of control mechanisms. The author also highlights the diploma's strong European dimension — its alignment with international qualification frameworks and initiatives such as the European degree — as a vector integrating the national system into a broader political space where benchmarks are increasingly defined in comparative terms. The article contends that the true scope of the reform lies not so much in the surface-level changes to pathways and credentials, but in the way the system itself comes to be conceived, organised and governed.

Read the full article in Público →