1. Introduction
This report is the outcome of the work carried out by the Ad Hoc Specialised Committee (Comissão Especializada Eventual — CEE), established by Dispatch 2/PR/2024 of the President of the National Education Council (Conselho Nacional de Educação — CNE), Domingos Fernandes, pursuant to Article 16 of Decree-Law No. 291/1996 of 17 December (the CNE Organic Law), with the purpose of analysing and prospecting the development of music education in mainland Portugal, encompassing general education, specialised artistic education, and vocational education. The specific circumstances of the Autonomous Region of the Azores and the Autonomous Region of Madeira are excluded from this analysis,¹ as they constitute distinct realities, particularly in normative and legal terms, from those prevailing in mainland Portugal. Accordingly, any reference to Portugal throughout this document applies exclusively to mainland territory.
The establishment of this committee takes place at a particularly significant moment in national education policy. On the one hand, the extension of compulsory schooling and the consolidation of the Student Profile at the End of Compulsory Schooling (Perfil dos Alunos à Saída da Escolaridade Obrigatória) have reinforced the centrality of aesthetic and artistic dimensions in the holistic formation of young people. On the other hand, the developments of recent decades in the field of specialised artistic music education — notably the expansion of the school network, the increase in student enrolment, and the strengthening of the sponsorship contract (contrato de patrocínio) — have brought with them new structural challenges and the need for strategic reflection.
The National Education Council (CNE) has been issuing opinions and contributions on the state of general and specialised artistic music education since 1989, with particular emphasis on course typologies and teacher qualifications for both general and specialised artistic music education. For more detailed information, please refer to Annex VI.
The first meeting of the CEE took place on 25 June 2024 and was attended by the President of the CNE, who contextualised the committee's mission, objectives, and expected outcomes. At that session, a guiding timeline was presented, structured around five key phases: data collection; definition of the desired development framework; identification of measures; conduct of hearings; and drafting of the final report. This timeline, understood as a flexible working instrument, guided the subsequent development of activities.
From the outset, the CEE adopted as a fundamental methodological principle the need to ground its deliberations in objective data and in qualified consultation with practitioners in the field. To this end, institutional meetings were held with the Directorate-General for School Establishments (Direção-Geral dos Estabelecimentos Escolares — DGEstE) and the National Agency for Qualification and Vocational Education and Training (Agência Nacional para a Qualificação e o Ensino Profissional — ANQEP), with a view to identifying and obtaining existing data, as well as establishing mechanisms for the additional collection of information. Coordination was also considered with the Directorate-General for Education and Science Statistics (Direção-Geral de Estatísticas da Educação e Ciência — DGEEC) and the Directorate-General for School Administration (Direção-Geral da Administração Escolar — DGAE), for the purposes of statistical deepening and teacher census work.
With regard to data collection, a questionnaire was developed and directed at general education schools and schools offering specialised artistic education, administered through the DGEstE platforms. In the case of specialised artistic education, coordination with the management systems used by schools was also considered, in order to facilitate the extraction and processing of information. Throughout 2025, the collected data were analysed, and inconsistencies and gaps were identified that required additional verification with schools and cross-referencing of sources.
Beyond the collection and processing of quantitative data, the Committee organised hearings with specialists, school principals, and institutional representatives, as well as consultations with foreign academics, whose contributions were incorporated into the deliberations. In organisational terms, the CEE operated in both in-person and hybrid (in-person and online) formats, meeting regularly throughout its period of operation. The working methodology was structured around three complementary levels:
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Plenary work, involving the joint analysis of data, the definition of structuring domains, and conceptual discussion;
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Formation of thematic working groups — one dedicated to music education within general education, and another dedicated to specialised artistic education and vocational music education;
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Collaborative drafting, through the electronic sharing of texts to which each member was invited to submit proposed amendments, which were subsequently reviewed, amendment by amendment, in plenary sessions.
In the final phase of its work, the report texts were subject to detailed analysis and collective discussion, with immediate recording of proposals for amendment and improvement, thereby ensuring internal coherence and alignment with the Committee's mandate. The formal process for the elaboration of a Recommendation, in accordance with the CNE's procedural rules, was also initiated.
This report is therefore the result of a structured, participatory, and progressively deepened process that combined systematic data collection, critical analysis of existing legislation and practices, hearings with specialists, and pluralistic debate among members holding different institutional responsibilities. The work undertaken aims to contribute to a strategic vision for general and specialised music education in Portugal, grounded in principles of quality, territorial equity, and coherence across educational levels and provision.
The committee trusts that this report will assist the National Education Council in establishing a sound basis for the formulation of guidelines and recommendations in the domain of public education policy.
The Dispatch establishing the committee defined its remit as encompassing the development of general music education for children aged 3 to 12 years and specialised artistic music education, providing for the production of two summary reports — one concerning general education and another concerning specialised artistic education (including vocational music education) — which are now presented together in a single document, while preserving the distinct identity of each component. The CEE is likewise charged with preparing the submission of a draft Recommendation to the plenary of the National Education Council.
¹ Notwithstanding this decision, a case study on the Autonomous Region of Madeira was included, and a number of schools in this autonomous region participated in the survey on music education in general schooling.