Portugal has one of the highest percentages of young people who want to continue their studies but do not have the money to do so.
According to an EC-backed study by global strategic management consultancy McKenzie, approximately 38% of youngsters quizzed in Portugal explained that they did not have the financial wherewithal to pursue studies at university.
The poll focused on 5,300 young people, 2,600 employers and 700 schools from eight countries within the European Union – France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Sweden and the UK. Together, these countries account for nearly 75% of all of the EU’s youth unemployment.
And yet again, Portugal stood out from the crowd. Over a third of the Portuguese queried – 31% – admitted that they did not have time to study because they had to work. No other country registered such a high percentage.
Besides the fact that yearly university tuition costs over €1,000, nearly half of Portuguese students have to leave their hometown if they wish to continue studying.
This extra financial stress adds to the belief shared by 53% of those queried that a higher education will not lead, per se, to better chances of finding a job.
But 30% of employers stated that they are not finding candidates with the qualifications they need.
“Things are obviously broken in the education-employment path in Portugal,” the creators of the study said.
This may well be true as 86% of those queried admitted that they feel they do not receive enough information about job opportunities before they finish secondary school.
“The social stigma concerning vocational studies does not help either,” said the study.
Further data shows that 85% believe that vocational education – which prepares students in specific areas – is more useful in finding a job than traditional education, while only 44% of those who would like to give this method of education a try end up doing so.
“Not only are youngsters studying the wrong things, but they are also not taking in what they should in the process,” the study adds, suggesting it may be why employers are having difficulty hiring adequately qualified staff.
Currently, 40% of youngsters queried in the study said they are working jobs they see as temporary while they find a position more in keeping with their line of expertise.
