On the reductions of Portuguese teachers by the Instituto Camões

From here in Portuguese, where a group (a 'movement') has been set up to proactively oppose any future cuts by the Instituto Camões in Germany.

"We fear that Germany will be hit by reductions in the number of teachers teaching abroad as announced by the Instituto Camões", said Rui Paz, one of the promoters of the initiative to Agência Lusa.

Recently the Instituto Camoes announced that it would cut 50 teaching posts abroad, particularly in France (20), Switzerland (20), and Spain (9). Although the measure does not affect the network in Germany, the new movement is convinced that this "will be just a matter of time, because the Instituto Camões already said that the elimination of 50 positions was just the beginning".

The movement notes that the number of Portuguese teachers abroad totaled 598 in 2007, but was reduced to 517 in 2011 and will be 468 in 2012.

Of these, 54 are in Germany.

Interesting how this is happening at the same time that the Portuguese language is doing quite well in other parts of the world, particularly in Brazil and Africa. Comparing the GDP of Brazil, Angola and Portugal for 2007 to (estimated) 2012, we have:

Brazil:
2007 - $1.378 trillion (#10)
2012 - $2.616 trillion (#6)

Angola:
2007 - $60.449 billion (#63)
2012 - $122.542 billion (#61)

Portugal:
2007 - $231.277 billion (#36)
2012 - $237.472 billion (#46)