Madeira's Regional Government Shake-Up: First Reshuffle in Five Months as New Education Secretary Takes Office

Major Change in Madeira's Government

Exactly five months after taking office, the XVII Regional Government of Madeira undergoes its first alteration today, with Elsa Fernandes replacing Jorge Carvalho as head of the Secretariat for Education, Science, and Technology.

This change is motivated by Jorge Carvalho's candidacy for the presidency of the Funchal Municipal Council. To formalize the reshuffle, the president of the Madeiran executive, Miguel Albuquerque, will be received by the Representative of the Republic at 09:30 at the Palácio de São Lourenço. The swearing-in ceremony will take place at 16:00 in the noble hall of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira.

Profile of the New Secretary

Elsa Fernandes is an associate professor at the Faculty of Exact Sciences and Engineering of the University of Madeira (UMa). She holds a degree in Mathematics (Teaching Branch), with a master's and doctorate in Education - Didactics of Mathematics. She has conducted research to understand the learning process and the integration of technologies in knowledge areas. From May 2017 to May 2025, she served as vice-rector of UMa, overseeing internationalization, research, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Between 2017 and 2025, she was a member of the Management Council of Startup Madeira, the board of directors of ARDITI, the Monitoring Committee of the Madeira 14-20 Regional Program, and the Madeira 2030 Regional Program. She also integrated the Regional Innovation Council of Madeira, which coordinates the Regional Strategy for Smart Specialization (EREI).

Other Events on Today's Agenda

• 11:00 - Meeting of the 4th Permanent Specialized Committee on Housing, Energy, and Infrastructures of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira
• 11:30 - Political action by JPP, with spokesperson Élvio Sousa, in the regional parliament's press room
• 17:00 - Presentation of the new artistic season at the Baltazar Dias Municipal Theater

Historical Events on September 15

• 1276 - Portuguese Pedro Hispano, Pedro Julião, is elected Pope with the name John XXI.
• 1765 - Birth in Setúbal of the poet Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage.
• 1830 - Opening in the UK of the railway line between Liverpool and Manchester.
• 1890 - Birth of English suspense writer Agatha Christie, creator of detective Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.
• 1894 - Birth of French filmmaker Jean Renoir, director of "The Rules of the Game". Son of painter Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919).
• 1911 - Foundation in Porto of the Académico Futebol Clube by a group of students.
• 1917 - The provisional government led by Menshevik Aleksandr Kerensky proclaims Russia a Republic.
• 1935 - Nazi Germany. The Nuremberg Laws are applied, definitively excluding Jews from citizenship rights.
• 1942 - World War II. German forces attack Stalingrad in the Soviet Union.
• 1949 - Konrad Adenauer is elected the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany after World War II.
• 1963 - Attack by the secret racist and neo-Nazi American group Ku Klux Klan on a Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama, kills six children.
• 1971 - First action of Greenpeace. Twelve Canadian volunteers hoist a peace flag and depart from Vancouver in an old fishing boat, the "Phyllis Cormack", to stop a US government nuclear test on Amchitka Island off Alaska.
• 1979 - Law No. 56/79, issued by the Assembly of the Republic and published in the Diário da República No. 214/1979, creates the National Health Service under the Ministry of Social Affairs, as a state instrument to ensure the right to health protection under the Constitution. Access is guaranteed to all citizens, regardless of economic and social condition, as well as to foreigners under reciprocity, stateless persons, and political refugees.
• 1988 - The European Parliament approves the report condemning the occupation of East Timor by Indonesia.
• 1989 - The urn with the remains of Portuguese writer Eça de Queiroz, who died in Paris in 1900, is transferred from Lisbon to the family tomb in Tormes, Santa Cruz do Douro, Baião municipality.
• 1998 - Optimus, the third Portuguese mobile network operator, begins operations.
• Registration of the domain Google.com.
• 1999 - The Central Department of Investigation and Criminal Action (DCIAP) begins functions.
• 2003 - The new regime for enforcement actions on seizure and debt collection processes comes into effect, and the new profession of "enforcement solicitor" is created.
• Death at 91 of Monsignor Manuel Teixeira, last representative of missionary Macau. Among the decorations he received are Officer of the Order of the Empire, and Commander of the Order of Infante D. Henrique and the Military Order of Santiago and Sword.
• 2004 - Scientist Maria Arménia Carrondo from the Institute of Chemical and Biological Technology of the New University of Lisbon is awarded the European Medal in Bio-Inorganic Chemistry by a commission of 14 renowned European scientists in the field during the Eurobic7 Congress in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
• Death at 55 of Johnny Ramone, guitarist and co-founder of the band The Ramones.
• 2005 - The Assembly of the Republic approves, in a final global vote with favorable votes from PS, PSD, PCP, BE, and PEV, the government proposal to end the privileges of political office holders, such as lifelong subsidies.
• Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declares at the UN World Leaders Summit in New York that Palestinians have the right to their own state and that Israel does not wish to govern them.
• 2007 - 115 pre-trial detainees are released and subject to alternative coercive measures under the new Criminal Procedure Code, which restricts pre-trial detention to crimes with a penalty of more than five years.
• Death at 90 of Cuban trombonist Generoso Jiménez, who collaborated on the album and documentary "90 millas" by his compatriot Gloria Estefan.
• Death at 39 of Colin Steele McRae, Scottish rally driver, five-time champion of the UK Rally. Won the world driver's title in 1995, was runner-up in 1996, 1997, and 2001, and third in 1998.
• 2008 - US investment bank Lehman Brothers, one of the giants of global investment banking, declares bankruptcy, causing a fall in all financial markets and marking a change in the global financial system.
• Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and his rival Morgan Tsvangirai sign a power-sharing agreement in Harare after five months of violence and difficult negotiations, ending nearly three decades of Mugabe's monopoly on power.
• Death at 65 of English keyboardist Richard Wright, one of the founding members of Pink Floyd.
• 2011 - The government announces the creation of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage, integrating the institutes of museums, architectural and archaeological heritage - IGESPAR and IMC - as well as the Regional Directorate of Culture of Lisbon and Tagus Valley.
• 2012 - By initiative of the movement "Screw the troika! We want our lives!", demonstrations take place across Portugal, gathering thousands of people. In Lisbon, protesters marched from Praça José Fontana to Praça de Espanha.
• 2015 - In Brazil, as part of Operation Lava Jato, former minister José Dirceu, former PT treasurer João Vaccari Neto, and 13 others are accused of corruption and other crimes.
• North Korea announces it has restarted the Yongbyon nuclear reactor, considered the main source of plutonium for Kim Jong-un's regime to supply its nuclear weapons development program.
• 2017 - Financial rating agency Standard and Poor's upgrades Portugal from 'junk' status, raising the sovereign debt rating from 'BB+' to 'BBB-', the first investment grade level.
• Death at 91 of Harry Dean Stanton, American actor, musician, and guitarist, star of the film "Paris, Texas".
• 2018 - Benfica's men's team wins the European Under-20 Track Champions Club Cup in Castellón, Spain.
• Judoka Patrícia Sampaio becomes European junior champion in the -78 kg category by defeating Germany's Christina Faber by 'waza ari' in the final in Sofia, Bulgaria.
• 2019 - Death at 67 of Luso-Brazilian singer Roberto Leal, artistic name of António Joaquim Fernandes. He achieved his first major success with "Arrebita".
• Death at 75 of Ric Ocasek, American musician and writer, vocalist of the band The Cars.
• 2020 - The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain sign normalization agreements with Israel in Washington at the White House, considered by Palestinians as a "stab in the back".
• COVID-19: Mainland Portugal enters a contingency situation until September 30.
• Death at 75 of Momcilo Krajisnik, former leader of Bosnian Serbs, convicted of war crimes by an international tribunal.
• Death at 83 of Moussa Traoré, President of Mali between 1968 and 1991.
• 2022 - Angolan head of state João Lourenço promises to "be the President of all Angolans" and promote economic development and population well-being in his inauguration speech for his second term.
• 2023 - Death at 91 of Fernando Botero, Colombian plastic artist, who made his own voluminous interpretation of "La Gioconda" by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). Throughout his career, he received several awards and honors, such as the National Arts Prize of Colombia in 2000 and the National Order of the Legion of Honor of France in 2004.
• 2024 - Death at 70 of Tito Jackson, American musician and guitarist, one of the members of The Jackson 5, band of the 'king of pop' Michael Jackson (1958-2009).

Thought of the Day

Even the starless nights can herald the dawn of a great achievement

— Martin Luther King (1929-1968), American priest.