INTERNET AND IT IN THE TMAD REGION
A Methodology to Promote their Use by General Communities
Gina M. M. C. Santos, Maria G. A. D. Reis, Nuno M. V. Vieira
Dept. Engenharias / CI, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal
Manuel J. C. S. Reis
Dept. Engenharias / CETAV, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal
Keywords: Teaching/learning strategies; country-specific developments; learning communities.
Abstract: This paper summarises our experience in furthering the use of the Internet and IT by general communities of
northeast Portugal. We discuss the problems and constraints that we faced and the approach taken. Some of
the resources made available and the most relevant results achieved are described and discussed.
1 INTRODUCTION
In 2004 the Portuguese government approved,
through the Operational Programme for the Society
of Knowledge (Programa Operacional para a
Sociedade do Conhecimento), the funding of the
Basic Skills Teaching and Certification project
(Formação e Certificação em Competências Básicas
– FCB). Its goals included motivating and increasing
the general level of awareness of all citizens in the
Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (TMAD) region, in
northeast Portugal, to the potential of Information
Technologies (IT) in general, and the computer and
the Internet in particular, thus lessening and
counteracting the lack of information that existed in
the region at the time.
The project has two main objectives (two
different actions) intended for the general
community: promoting, training and raising
awareness towards the use of IT, and the Internet in
particular; and award a Certificate in Basic Skills in
Information Technologies to individuals.
The need to train, motivate and involve the
community in general towards a correct use of IT
tools entails a number of technical and cultural
difficulties.
The sensitization and preparation to a new
Digital Culture of the TMAD population is the main
aim of the project. To this end two different kind of
actions were implemented: one that teaches and
certificates IT use by individuals (citizens), and
another that only certificates IT use by individuals
that already know how to use it.
Consequently, there exist two different sets of
actions working simultaneously: one of teaching,
where the fundamentals of informatics and IT are
mastered (Fundamentos Gerais de Informática); and
one of certification, where only a final exam is
applied to the individuals (Atribuição de Diplomas
de Competências Básicas).
The new challenges shaped by the Information
and Communication Society demand the preparation
of individuals with the right skills to the moment. So
we have implemented a programme that tries to
teach and certify directors, technicians, public
employees, students, un-employees, and the civil
society in general, trying to democratise the access
to digital information sources and new digital
services. We think that this constitutes an important
contribution to the information society programme,
because without the necessary skills the individuals
cannot use the new digital services and reach the
digital information. In an abstract way, we want to
contribute with the formal validation of basic skills
in IT that may add to a complete exercise of
citizenship.
It is around these problems and the solutions
found to circumvent them that this paper turns.
121
M. M. C. Santos G., G. A. D. Reis M., M. V. Vieira N. and J. C. S. Reis M. (2007).
INTERNET AND IT IN THE TMAD REGION - A Methodology to Promote their Use by General Communities.
In Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies - Society, e-Business and e-Government /
e-Learning, pages 121-128
DOI: 10.5220/0001272101210128
Copyright
c
SciTePress
2 CONSTRAINTS
The physical and human geography of the TMAD
region had a major impact on the project, and in a
sense determined some of the directions that we
followed. The brief outline of the relevant
characteristics of the region is necessary to fully
understand how the project evolved, and the extent
to which it was shaped by the constraints and
challenges raised by the characteristics of the target
region.
The TMAD region is located in northeast
Portugal, and consists mostly of steep hills (slopes
reaching 15%) and narrow valleys that flatten out
into plateaux above 400m. The Douro river dug
deeply into the mountains to form its bed, and the
dominant element of the landscape are the
vineyards, planted in terraces fashioned from the
steep rocky slopes and supported by hundreds of
kilometres of drystone wall. The region includes one
of the most ancient winemaking regions in the
world, and has been recognized by UNESCO as a
World Heritage Site.
Despite its unique beauty, the terraces and steep
slopes of Alto Douro do not contribute to make the
transportation across the region easier. The distances
between towns are usually long, and the roads
connecting them are twisty and difficult to travel,
especially in the winter. It is the vine that drives and
sustains the economic activity in the region, which
remains deeply rural and sparsely inhabited to the
present days. The region covers over 60% of
Northern Portugal, yet it contains only 13% of its
population. The population density of Northern
Portugal is approximately 173 people per square
kilometre, whereas that of the TMAD region is close
to 38. In fact, the least densely populated areas of
the TMAD region average only 10 to 15 people per
square kilometre.
The climate is characterised by the scant rainfall,
long cold winters and very hot summers (“nine
months of winter and three months of hell”). Neither
the climate nor the landscape of the TMAD region
invite human settlement, but their combined
potential for winemaking has attracted people for
centuries. At the present time, however, the region is
no exception to the generalised population decline
and ageing that has been felt in the inland regions of
Portugal in recent years. According to the
Portuguese Institute of Statistics (http://www.ine.pt),
the largest decrease in population in the period
between 1991 and 2001 was registered in the TMAD
region (about 6%). On the other hand, the fraction of
the population aged 65 and over has been steadily
increasing, and in the TMAD region it increased by
more 20% in the same period, in sharp contrast with
the 33% decrease in the age group 0-14. These facts
have further aggravated the isolation in many
communities.
We were aware of these constraints from the start
and soon realised the impossibility of regularly
bringing a large group of citizens to the University
for training sessions. It would have been impossible
to work with the many hundreds of citizens in the
TMAD region in this way.
Being deeply rural, relatively isolated, and with
an ageing population, the communities of TMAD
were largely unaware of the full potential of IT in
general, and the computer and the Internet in
particular. To promote and encourage an effective
use of IT by the community in general, we felt the
need to shift the centre of the training effort from the
University Campus to the communities themselves.
The method that we employed, discussed in the
next section, was shaped by the constraints so far
mentioned, and follows in a natural way from them.
3 METHODOLOGY
Setting-up infrastructures is a relatively simple
process in comparison with their actual usage, since
both the necessary training and the change of habits
that lead to routine usage are the result of slow and
gradual processes.
We decided to centre the training process in the
communities themselves. The methodology
implemented is distributed rather than centralised,
and consists of a series training and awareness
raising sessions.
Bearing in mind some social, economic and
geographic factors that we faced in the TMAD
region and the goals we wanted to achieve, we have
tried a methodology that would allow every citizen
to access the formation and certification sessions.
Consequently, we have contacted the Town Halls
and Board of Villages that have been our partners
during the Trás-os-Montes Digital project (please
visit http://www.espigueiro.pt for details), as well as
some priests that have announced these sessions by
the end of the mass, charitable institutions, fire-
brigade volunteers, recreation and social
associations, medical care centre, prisons (jails),
teachers and schools from the first-cycle of teaching,
etc.. As it can be seen, we have tried to contact as
many as possible different types of institutions, in
order to reach different groups of citizens.
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122
Although our strategy was also shaped by the
human and physical geography of the region, as
explained in the previous section, it has a number of
other advantages that we now discuss.
One of the advantages is that it allows working
with the people in their “natural habitat”, i.e., in the
places they used to know.
The possibility of increasing or decreasing the
frequency of the training sessions to meet the needs
of each community or to adjust the workload to the
available human resources is another advantage of
the approach. Because the communities have
markedly distinct backgrounds on the use of IT,
there was a pressing need to adjust the schedule of
the training and awareness raising sessions to the
demands, as these varied from one community to the
other.
Because the communities are often located in
remote and sparsely inhabited areas, as it follows
from the human and physical geography of the
region and the population drainage felt in the inland
areas of Portugal in the past years, the training and
awareness raising sessions allow for some outside
contact, thus breaking the daily routine and isolation.
A centralised solution, involving training at the
University campus, would not make that possible.
3.1 Training and awareness raising
sessions
The main goal of the training and awareness raising
sessions is to make the ordinary individual aware of
the potential of the computer and the Internet as a
source of information and knowledge and as a
means of communication. In so doing we are
contributing to the development of an information
society in the TMAD area. Therefore, one of the
noblest objectives of any higher education institution
was accomplished – that of making knowledge
accessible to the community at large.
The “learning-by-doing” approach was present
throughout the whole process, and all sessions were
of a practical nature. According to Georg
Kerchensteiner, “(...) theory comes naturally out of
practice, or rather, both are involved in a process of
continuous reciprocity and exchange (Savioz, 1956,
p. 268)”.
The training and awareness raising sessions were
divided into groups. The type of language, material,
strategies, and so on, employed for each group was,
therefore, adapted to meet its specific needs. These
sessions were supported by Netmobiles
(Netmóveis). A Netmobile consists mainly of two
trainers, one technician and a van, adequately
identified and equipped with twelve laptops, a
printer, a digital camera, a Router, a Hub, a
multimedia projector, a screen projector and a video-
conference system among other equipment. Further
details can be found in (Reis et al., 2002a, p. 1494).
One of our aims, as already been mentioned, was
to promote basic skills training and awareness
raising in informatics, in order to set up some
practice using computers to the general citizens.
These sessions tended to be 12 hours practical
sessions, during the working hours or not, and were
free of charge. The contents usually introduced were
Windows, Word and Internet (Internet Explorer and
Outlook Express). By the end of the sessions a final
exam was applied in order to certify (or not) the
citizens in their Certificate in Basic Skills in
Information Technologies (CBIT).
3.2 Certification sessions
At this stage the emphasis was placed on the training
and awareness raising of the community in general
towards the possibility of obtaining a CBIT
(www.diploma.umic.pcm.gov.pt). This certificate is
part of the national policy towards the increment of
widespread access to IT. The certificate represents
an official recognition of the individual’s acquisition
of skills in word processing, Internet browsing and
the use of e-mail.
These certification sessions have a maximum
duration of one hour, during the working hours or
not. These sessions are intended to certify (or not)
the citizens in their CBIT. Any citizen may apply to
this exam. The citizens that do not pass this exam
can apply to another exam.
During this exam the citizens are asked to answer
correctly all the following questions: create a new
folder in the desktop and rename it; tape, save and
print some given text; browse the internet, search
and print some specific contents; electronic mail –
email (print, read and send messages with and
without attaches).
This exam can only be applied by government
certified entities.
3.3 Other type of sessions
Also using the Netmobiles, the research team
participated in several events organised by the Town
Councils, such as Book Fairs, Home-Grown Produce
Fairs and Arts and Craft events among others. This
enabled further promotion of the computer and the
Internet and their use amongst the community in
general. It should be stressed that the presence of the
INTERNET AND IT IN THE TMAD REGION - A Methodology to Promote their Use by General Communities
123
Netmobiles and their teams in such cultural events
was intended to raise awareness and to familiarise
the communities with the computer and the Internet.
The response was very noticeable, with active
participation of people from all ages and
backgrounds in both the events and the sessions. The
aim was to reach as many people and entities as
possible.
In cooperation with the University of Trás-os-
Montes and Alto Douro university and the project
Utilização Educativa da Internet no Distrito de Vila
Real (Educative use of the Internet in the Vila Real
district) we have organized the Cibersemana (cyber-
week). This activity had a duration of one week, as
the name suggests, in the morning or afternoon, and
was aimed at children raging from 6 to 18 years old.
The children were organized in groups of 10,
according to the following ranges: 6 to 10 years old;
11 to 14 years old; 15 to 18 years old. They were
invited to the University Campus, where they
participated in a set of activities, not exclusively IT
ones, but also guided tours to the Geology Museum,
Veterinary Hospital, and University Gardens. Other
activities also include the Docelândia (a kind of
pastry making), Transformex (where some materials
were transformed), painting, drawing, and some
other basic experiments.
4 RESOURCES
There are some resources developed during the
execution of other projects, namely SCETAD–AEP
project in 2000 (Santos and Reis, 2001), Trás-os-
Montes Digital–AE project in 2001-2003 (Reis et
al., 2002a), and Utilização Educativa da Internet–
UEI in 2003-2005 (Vieira et al., 2005). These
resources were used during the training and
awareness raising sessions, especially the ones
involving teachers and students, but there is also a
resource especially devoted to the general
community, namely the site
http://www.espigueiro.pt/fcb.
In these resources it is included a site intended to
make web browsing easier for teachers in the
TMAD, named “Espiguinha”, and can be found at
http://www.espigueiro.pt/espiguinha. The site
consists basically of a set of links to useful sites and/
or services of interest to teachers and pupils, tutors
and the whole educational community as potential
users. This site was used by teachers and pupils as a
starting point to the web. The site was accessed
more than 673 500 times since its creation in
September 2000. This figure is highly significant
when compared with the total number of teachers
and pupils in the TMAD area — 29 200). The site
contains a series of links organised according to
topics/areas of interest, including “Teacher’s
Support”, “Resource Centre”, “Christmas at
Espiguinha”, “Carnival at Espiguinha”, “Father’s
Day”, “Easter at Espiguinha” and “Mother’s Day”.
In creating the site/link “Teachers’ Support”, for
example, the aim was to compile and gather a series
of links covering the three major study areas of the
first cycle (primary school): Portuguese Language,
Mathematics and Social Studies.
The web site “The Barn of Espiguinha” (Celeiro
do Espiguinha) which can be found at
http://www.espigueiro.pt/celeirodoespiguinha
represents an attempt to develop knowledge and IT
skills, and has been crucial for support teachers,
pupils and parents throughout the educational
process.
Barns were very important in the TMAD region
in bygone years. They were used mainly to store
cereals, which were a major part of the wealth of the
region. The “Barn of Espiguinha” stores information
rather than cereals, and offers a number of activities
useful to teachers and pupils alike.
The goal was to contribute with content which
would enable pupils to learn by playing. The
entertainment is designed to be educational, so that
the pupil might develop skills either with the help of
the teacher in the classroom or with the parents or
tutors at home or anywhere else.
Time constraints to cover the whole curriculum
were one of the most frequent reasons advanced by
teachers for not using the computer and the Internet.
The site meets the requirements of the school
curriculum set by the Ministry of Education, and
renders the task of the teacher easier. The site offers
several activities and interactive exercises that cover
the various study areas in each of the four years of
primary school teaching. It has become extremely
useful to the teachers, who have since contributed to
its updating (Resource Centre). The content
contributed by the teachers includes a set of
worksheets for the pupils.
This site is structured according to a series of
topics of interest to the whole school community,
organised in “pages”. There are pages directed at the
teachers, and pages aimed at the pupils, which
renders the navigation easier for both. The contents,
the approach (pedagogic component) and the
language meets the needs of the readership, either
teacher or pupil. The pages intended for teachers and
those targeted at the pupils may share content, but
that content is likely to be described by distinct
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expressions, such as “exercises” or “games”.
Whereas the word “exercises” draws the teachers’
attention, the word “games” appeals to pupils.
The Barn also allows for the creation of links of
interest for the primary schools—like those in
“Espiguinha”. To encourage the exchange of
experiences, ideas, opinions, etc., among the virtual
community, an opinion forum and the site “e-
@migo” (is-@-friend) was also developed.
Bearing in mind the targeted audience, i.e.,
children aged between six and nine years old, four
characters were created. These characters, which
appear throughout the site, represent the children’s
imaginary world. Empathy between children and the
characters is consequently established. The fact that
the characters have different interests, personalities
and nationalities attempts at making children aware
that being different can actually constitute a positive
and enriching experience.
Given the teachers’ contribution and feedback as
well as the number of accesses, the site “The Barn of
Espiguinha” can certainly be regarded as highly
accepted by the school community. From November
2003 the site has been accessed more than 96 600
times, and the rate of access has been increasing
steadily. The exceptions are the months of July,
August and September during which the number of
accesses falls sharply due to the summer holidays.
Aiming at support and elucidate the general
community of TMAD about the Basic Skills
Teaching and Certification project we have
developed the site http://www.espigueiro.pt/fcb. So,
this site contains introductions about the projects’
objectives, certification and training and awareness
raising sessions in IT, the contents to be learned
during these sessions, the final exam model,
subscription model, contacts, FAQs, legislation,
useful links, etc.. These links are grouped according
to thematic areas.
Also, the handbook “The Internet ABC” (B-A-
B@ da Internet) was written (Reis and Santos,
2002b) to consolidate the topics dealt with in the
training and awareness raising sessions. It presents
the topics in a simple and clear way so that it may
serve as a support tool for teachers, parents and
tutors in their first attempts at using the Internet.
The Internet ABC is divided into three chapters:
The World Wide Web, Electronic Mail and
FrontPage Express. The programs discussed in the
handbook can be downloaded free of charge.
The first chapter defines the Internet, its services
and some of the advantages of using it as an
educational resource. Web browsing with Internet
Explorer 5.0 is also explained with the help of
pictures depicting various functions of the program.
The chapter also includes examples, a set of
exercises and a list of useful addresses.
The second chapter deals with e-mail. It explains
it clearly and concisely and teaches how to use it
through Outlook Express 5. The topics are illustrated
with pictures depicting the functions of the program.
The chapter also contains examples and exercises,
including the use of e-mail with Megamail services.
The third chapter focuses on the use of
FrontPage Express and the construction of web
pages. It makes use of pictorial representations,
illustrating the various commands, menus and steps
that are necessary to create a web page. The chapter
also includes a section on WS_FTP.
5 SOME RESULTS
In order to facilitate the interpretation of the data
that follows, table 1 presents a comparative analysis
of the educational systems in two different countries:
Portugal and United Kingdom. A systematic
representation of how the educational system is
organised in Portugal can be found in
http://www.eurydice.org (EURYDICE, 2003).
5.1 Training and awareness raising
sessions
A vast number of sessions were conducted: 359
training and awareness raising, reaching 4172
citizens from TMAD region. From these 4172
citizens, ranging from 5 to 92 years old, 1133 are
less than 15 years old, 712 are between 35 and 44
years old, and 699 are between 25 and 34 years old
as can be seen in table 2. In what concerns to gender,
2350 were females and 1822 males.
From the grand total of 4172, 3464 have been
succeed in the CBIT, 292 already awarded the
Certificate, 14 are still waiting for identification
documents, 348 were not present in the final exam
or quit and 46 have not been approved in the final
exam. Note that all these 46 citizens have more that
65 years old, and that some cannot even write or
read.
In what concerns to the scholar studies (grade)
we have noticed that 1176 citizens have the 3rd
stage of the first cycle, 941 the 2nd stage of the first
cycle and 849 only the 1st stage of the first cycle
(table 3). As for professional qualifications we may
see, table 4, that 1673 were students, 734 unqualified
workers (that do not have a skilled profession), 227
INTERNET AND IT IN THE TMAD REGION - A Methodology to Promote their Use by General Communities
125
house-wife, 221 administrative personal, and 208
unemployed.
Table 2: Groups or ranges of age.
Less than 15
1133 27,2%
15-19 522 12,5%
20-24 278 6,7%
25-34 699 16,8%
35-44 712 17,1%
45-49 330 7,9%
50-54 199 4,8%
55-64 215 5,2%
Older than 64 84 2,0%
TOTAL 4172 100%
Table 3: Scholar studies (grade).
Less than 4 years
63 1,5%
1st Stage (1st Cycle) 849 20,3%
2
nd
Stage (2nd Cycle) 941 22,6%
3
rd
Stage (3rd Cycle) 1176 28,2%
Secondary education 745 17,9%
Diploma or BA/BSc 392 9,4%
Master or PhD 6 0,1%
TOTAL 4172 100%
We have reached 33 councils of the grand total
of 38 in the TMAD region, reaching 190 institutions.
5.2 Certification sessions
Since January 2004 until September 2006 we have
fulfilled 23802 certification exams, and form these
21018 citizens have been succeeded. From the
remaining 2532, 252 are still waiting for personal
identification (such as identity card) and 2532 had
already a certificate or they have failed the final
exam or they have desisted during the exam. From
the 23802 citizens that have applied to the final
exam 13401 have less than 15 years old and 6297
have between 15 and 19 years old (table 5).
In what concerns to the scholar studies (grade)
we have noticed that 9311 citizens have the 3rd
stage of the first cycle, 6781 the 2nd stage of the
first cycle, 1817 only the 1st stage of the first cycle,
and 42 less than 4 years of scholar-ship (table 6).
In what concerns to gender, 12233 were females
and 11569 males.
As for professional qualifications we may see
(table 7) that 20154 were students, 851 unqualified
workers and 636 teachers.
Table 4: Professional qualifications.
Administrative people 221
5,3%
Agriculture and Forestry 117 2,8%
Building construction 135 3,2%
Entertainment 7 0,2%
Firemen 16 0,4%
House-wife 227 5,4%
Medical/ health professional 87 2,1%
Middle range professional 14 0,3%
Others 31 0,7%
Preschool teacher 54 1,3%
Protection and safety 141 3,4%
Qualified professional 48 1,2%
Retired 122 2,9%
Services 173 4,1%
Student 1673 40,1%
Teacher 164 3,9%
Unemployed 208 5,0%
Unqualified professional 734 17,6%
TOTAL 4172 100%
We have reached 46 councils, reaching 570
institutions (primary schools, secondary schools,
recreation and social associations, medical care
centre, prisons (jails), Town-Halls, etc.).
Table 1: Portuguese (PT) and United Kingdom (UK) teaching systems (EURYDICE, 2003).
Years (PT and UK) Æ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Basic teaching
Secondary
teaching
Portugal
Pre-scholar
teaching
1st cycle 2nd cycle 3rd cycle
Superior teaching
Years old 3 – 5 = 6 = 10 = 12 = 15 = 18
Primary school Secondary School United
Kingdom
Pre-primary
school
Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4
Superior teaching
Years old 0 – 5 = 6 = 8 = 12 = 15 = 17
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Table 5: Ranges or groups of ages.
Less than 15
13401 56,3%
15-19 6297 26,5%
20-24 780 3,3%
25-34 1199 5,0%
35-44 1014 4,3%
45-49 486 2,0%
50-54 304 1,3%
55-64 237 1,0%
Older than 64 84 0,4%
TOTAL 23802 100%
Table 6: Scholar studies (grade).
Less than 4 years
42 0,2%
1st Stage (1st Cycle) 1817 7,6%
2
nd
Stage (2nd Cycle) 6781 28,5%
3
rd
Stage (3rd Cycle) 9311 39,1%
Secondary education 4738 19,9%
Diploma or BA/BSc 1090 4,6%
Master or PhD 23 0,1%
TOTAL 23802 100%
6 CONCLUSIONS
According to the evidence gathered throughout the
last few years the introduction of IT in the
communities of the TMAD region has been a
success. As far as we can tell, the methodology used
proved to be highly adequate in the achievement of
our goals. The transfer of the training process from
the University Campus to the communities
themselves allowed for a very high degree of
participation. Our efforts to put theory into practice
were rewarded by a quicker rate of acceptance by
the community in general.
The social role of the visits was important, and
grew with the isolation of the communities being
visited. The prompt availability of the trainer and the
ability to support the citizens by telephone, mobile
phone, fax, e-mail or any other means was also an
important aspect.
The methodology discussed may represent a new
concept in training and a new training model highly
suited to regions sharing the characteristics of the
TMAD region.
According to the results obtained during the
teaching and certificating sessions we can see that
people having less than 19 years old are more
motivated to these kind of actions in the informatics
field. Also we note that people under 19 years old
apply directly to the final exam more frequently than
the older ones, which want first the teaching
sessions.
Having in mind the number of schools were
certification and teaching sessions were organized,
approximately 410 schools from the various levels
of teaching, we may say that the schools in the
TMAD region are motivated to promote this actions
close to their teachers, students, and auxiliary
people. We think that by doing so they recognize the
importance of IT.
The use of the Internet, namely of web services
and e-mail, was addressed through various training
and awareness raising sessions (supported by
Netmobiles) directed at the community in general.
Such sessions enabled many individuals in the
region to have their first contact with and experience
of ITs. This constitutes a sound and valuable
contribute in terms of awareness raising, training
and development towards IT in the region.
Several factors played a very important role in
the achievement of these goals: The training team
was always present or could be easily contacted;
There was a continuous exchange of experiences; A
vast number of individuals and entities participated
in the project. As a result, the process appears to
have become self-supporting, and there is already
some evidence that IT would continue to be used in
the schools and communities even if our efforts were
discontinued at this point. Nevertheless, as it is well
known, education is a complex, lengthy and gradual
process, and persistence and more fieldwork may
well be required before the educative use of IT
Table 7: Professional qualifications.
Administrative people 414 1,7%
Agriculture and Forestry 107 0,4%
Building construction 158 0,7%
Entertainment 30 0,1%
Firemen 16 0,1%
House-wife 233 1,0%
Medical/ health professional 94 0,4%
Middle range professional 62 0,3%
Others 53 0,2%
Preschool teacher 91 0,4%
Protection and safety 166 0,7%
Qualified professional 211 0,9%
Retired 114 0,5%
Services 189 0,8%
Student 20154 84,7%
Teacher 636 2,7%
Unemployed
223 0,9%
Unqualified professional 851 3,6%
TOTAL 23802 100%
INTERNET AND IT IN THE TMAD REGION - A Methodology to Promote their Use by General Communities
127
gathers sufficient momentum throughout the entire
TMAD region.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Work partially supported by POS_Conhecimento
and FSE.
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EURYDICE – The Information Network on Education in
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http://www.eurydice.org [visited at 16/12/2003].
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