Portugal's education minister says staff development is key to transforming higher education

The future of higher education depends on the impact of staff development in transforming education, Portugal's minister for education told delegates at an European University Association (EUA) event.

Speaking at the opening session of the Learning and Teaching Forum in Lisbon organised by the EUA on 12/02/2026, Cláudia Sarrico, Portuguese Secretary of State for Higher Education, said: "Transforming higher education is not an option; it is a responsibility. Yet transformation cannot be achieved by decree. It is achieved through people. There can be no sustainable pedagogical innovation without structured investment in the professional development of academic staff."

Isabel Capeloa Gil, Rector of Universidade Católica Portuguesa in Lisbon, which is hosting the event, said: "Learning and teaching must be dynamic and experimental. But experimentation requires leadership. It requires us, rectors, vice-rectors, deans and institutional leaders, to create the conditions in which innovation in teaching is valued, supported and recognised".

Capeloa Gil said that experimentation depended on…