Since 2009, school attendance in Portugal has been mandatory for children aged 6 to 18 (1st to 12th grade). Within this framework, education is both universal and free, which is crucial for democratizing access to science. For many children and teenagers, this might be their only chance to engage with astronomy: awareness is a precondition of interest and enjoyment with this science. Moreover: several research indicate that interest in astronomy is often shaped at an early age.

In this context, the inclusion of astronomy content and processes in the Portuguese national syllabus is vital, not only for astronomy education but also for the future of astronomical research in the country. Indeed, as astronomy is an interdisciplinary field, its use as a gateway science for teaching several school subjects, is well documented. However, over recent years, as new curriculum documents have been introduced, astronomy topics have gradually diminished.

Therefore, in this work, we present a qualitative study which analyses each curricular topic - named Aprendizagens Essenciais [Essential Learnings - ES] - of the Portuguese compulsory school curriculum. It was made with 71 teachers of mathematics, chemistry, physics, geology, biology and geography who participated in the continuous training at the Porto Planetarium - Ciência Viva Center. Those teachers were asked what ES, from their scientific syllabus, they believe are directly related to astronomy and what topics can be taught using astronomy as a gateway science. The answers were then processed and validated by astronomy education researchers and that work led to a full list of ES directly related with astronomy but, also, the ES that could be learned using astronomy as a gateway science. The results revealed that astronomy content is explicit in only a few school years, in a fewer number of school subjects and with a sporadic and superficial approach, of limited astronomy themes, some of which considered, by researchers, as less relevant. The only exception is the theme “Solar System & Universe” in the 7th grade (which has approximately four times more ES involving astronomy directly than the subject in second place). This context is even more dramatic, when we realize that those ES are the national benchmarks for external assessment, the national exams, implying that essential learnings are the only contents worked in the Portuguese classrooms. The results also reveal that there are more ES that can be learned, using astronomy as a gateway science, on the Biology and Geology school subjects.

These results could, now, frame educational resources, based on the most updated scientific results and processes democratizing, through schools, access to contemporary science. However, knowing the status quo of astronomy content in the national curriculum is only the first step to address a potential major problem for the future of Portuguese astronomy. The consequences of the current context for astronomy education are clear, but it also impacts strongly on astronomy dissemination in science centers and, at the end of the chain, it impacts astronomy research itself, as the option of following a career path in astronomy research becomes less probable. It is not possible to develop a strong technological and industrial development component, without a strong community of professional astronomers, which in turn, depends on effective astronomy education and dissemination practices throughout all school years.

Keywords: Astronomy, Science Education, Curriculum, Syllabus.