البرلمان يرفض الكتب المدرسية المجانية للطلاب الخاصين

The diplomas only had the support of the three proposing parties and the abstention of the PAN, with votes against from the PS, Bloco de Esquerda, PCP and Livre.

The issue had already divided parliament on Wednesday, when the initiatives were under discussion, with PSD, Chega and Iniciativa Liberal arguing that the gratuity currently applied only to state schools is discriminatory.

On the left, PS, Bloco de Esquerda and Livre responded that the State has the responsibility of ensuring the free and universality of compulsory education and that it does so through the state sector, while the PCP accused the proponents of hypocrisy for not making the books free of charge to all.