Centenary of higher educations institutions

Stamps

First Day Cover

Education reform was a priority of the 1st Republic. As evidence of that fact, six month after the 5 October 1910 Revolution, the Government decreed a number of laws to re-shape the entire education system. Urgent measures were required as more than 70% of the population was illiterate. At the basis of the many reforms implemented in this field was the conviction that civic education was supposed to involve the physical, intellectual and moral development of the individual, and that it was in Primary School that the ‘spirit of the republican fatherland’ would be shaped. This reforming impulse also became evident in the construction of schools, improvement of conditions for teachers, creation of normal higher education schools and in the creation of higher technology education institutes. As far as higher education is concerned, it is worth highlighting the creation of the Universidade de Lisboa and Universidade do Porto (incorporating the existing higher education institutions) and of the Instituto Superior Técnico and Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão that will be celebrating their 100th anniversary in 2011. By these measures, the Universidade de Coimbra was no longer the only university in the country, while the technology and scientific components were built up in the recently created universities.

The Universidade Portuguesa was founded in Lisbon in 1288-1290 where it remained between the 13th and 16th centuries. In 1911 the Republic created, once again, the Universidade de Lisboa, which incorporated several higher education institutes: Real Escola de Cirurgia (1825), Escola Politécnica (1837) and Curso Superior de Letras (1859). Today, the Universidade de Lisboa cultivates all areas of knowledge and enjoys considerable international prestige. With 23 thousand students and 2 thousand teachers and researchers organised in 11 faculties and institutes, 60 research centres and associated laboratories, the Universidade de Lisboa is one of the main teaching, science, culture and development centres of Portugal.

The origins of the Universidade do Porto can be traced back to the founding of the Aulas de Náutica (1762) and Debuxo e Desenho (1779), created by King Dom José and by Queen Dona Maria I, respectively. There were other institutions at the root of the University, viz. Academia Real da Marinha e Comércio (1803), Régia Escola de Cirurgia (1825), Escola de Farmácia (1836), Academia Portuense de Belas Artes (1836) and Academia Politécnica (1837). The republican reform led to the creation of the university, which incorporated the Faculdade de Ciências and the Faculdade de Medicina. As present it has 30 thousand students and 2 thousand teachers and researchers in its 14 faculties and 60 scientific research centres and enjoys considerable reputation on account of the excellence of its teaching and researching projects.

The Instituto Superior Técnico is the result of the splitting in 1911 of the Instituto Industrial e Comercial de Lisboa. For its installation, the construction of the first university campus was initiated in 1927, on the Alameda, under the direction of Duarte Pacheco and based on a project by Pardal Monteiro. In 1930, the IST was incorporated in the Universidade Técnica de Lisboa. With more than 10 thousand students, it is a reference school in the fields of engineering, architecture, science and technology and incorporates top-ranking laboratories, and also research, development and technology transfer institutes.

The separation of the Instituto Industrial e Comercial de Lisboa also led to the creation of the Instituto Superior de Comércio, which in 1930, under the name Instituto Superior de Ciências Económicas e Financeiras, was integrated in the Universidade Técnica de Lisboa. Having changed its name in 1989 to Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão, this school trains specialists in Economics, Management, Social Sciences and Math. In the words of its Chairman, the ISEG, which is an institution of international level, ‘is one of the institutions with major responsibility in the education of the elite of thought, economic and entrepreneurial decision making in Portugal’.

Technical Details

Date of Issue: 22 March 2011

Values: two stamps of €0,32 and two stamps of €0,80

Designer: José Brandão / Susana Brito

Printer: Joh. Enschedé

Process: 4-colour offset lithography

Size: stamps 40.0 mm x 30.6 mm

Perforation: Cross of Christ 13 x 13

Paper: White TR CPST331 110g/m2

Watermark:

Sheet: sheets of 50 stamps