On 25th April 1974, Portugal’s Carnation Revolution, led by the military, marked the end of the authoritarian dictatorship known as the “Estado Novo”. In early September of the same year the new Minster for Education and Culture Vitorino Magalhães Godinho (who served from 18th July 1974 to 30th November 1974) sent out guidelines to the relevant authorities in charge of education in Portugal’s overseas possessions requiring significant changes to the curriculum. “The fall of the Fascist regime and the democratic process commenced in Portugal on the 25th of April means that most primary and secondary educational programmes are now unusable,” he wrote. “In truth, the content of these programmes was imposed by the ideology of the former regime. They suffered from serious distortion due to political motives, and were often flagrantly anachronistic, contrary to a scientifically-based openness to cultural creation in a modern world”. Since the programmes could not be retained in the post-revolutionary environment, the Minister was insistent that schooling should support the national transformation and create conscientious citizens and responsible workers. The adjustments to the curriculum were intended to be piloted for the 1974-1975 school year, during which time feedback would be gathered in preparation for a fuller reform of the entire educational system. Still under the remit of Portugal’s administration, the changes would be brought into effect in the public schools of Macao, influencing the educational experience of many youngsters in this part of the world.
