Chega on Tuesday challenged the government to set a calendar for reinstating teachers’ tenure, hire missing operational assistants in schools and suspend projects that put a “bureaucratic burden” on teachers.
During a press conference in Parliament at the start of the school year and after meetings with sector representatives, André Ventura challenged the government to come up with “three simple measures that could be implemented in fifteen days” and yet “can save the economy”. the school year”.
“Proper planning for teacher service recovery so that all teachers can have clarity and predictability; the immediate recruitment of an extraordinary package of operational assistants to meet the needs of schools and the suspension of all projects that currently place a bureaucratic burden on teachers,” he listed.
When asked what timetable is recommended by Chega for the reinstatement of service, Ventura said he wants a full restoration of the six years, six months and 23 days of service which the party understands can be done in four years.
“It has become clear that the chaotic year we have started has a major responsibility: it is the government. Between 60 and 100 thousand students are without teachers at the beginning of the school year, schools continue without operational assistants and hundreds of thousands of families are in a difficult situation of despair, given this chaotic start,” he criticized.
Ventura appealed to the Minister of Education, João Costa, to “fulfill what he promised” and avoid the already announced strikes in schools “with damage to families and students”.
The leader of Chega regretted that the government had not taken advantage of the summer months, since the veto of the President of the Republic on the diploma that did not contain any provision on the reinstatement of teachers’ service, to propose a proposal prepare.
“Two people are responsible for this chaos: the Prime Minister, who did not want to get involved in the negotiations to protect himself, and his Minister of Education, who is probably the worst education manager we have had in Portugal,” he stressed.
The 2023/2024 school year starts today for around 1.3 million students from Years 1 to 12, but many will not yet have all subjects due to a lack of teachers in schools.
However, the shortage of teachers may not be the only factor preventing students from receiving lessons. The school year is expected to start in the same way as the previous one, with strong opposition from school professionals.
At the end of last week, even after almost three thousand teachers had been placed, schools still had about 1,300 empty class schedules and on Monday the National Federation of Teachers (Fenprof) spoke of more than 100 thousand students without a teacher.
Source: DN
