Responding to yet another protest by teachers in Vinhais this Friday, Education Minister João Costa stated that he did not see demonstrations when they ran out of subsidies and had to pay a surcharge.
“A group of teachers from the North”, as the participants presented themselves, shouted words like “dismissal” and “respect” this Friday in this village in the district of Bragança, concentrated at the entrance of the headquarters of the Grouping of Schools of Vinhais, where the minister inaugurated the rehabilitated facilities with almost four million euros.
“Those who stood there at the door went through periods when they had no holiday allowance, a Christmas subsidy, they had an allowance from the tax authorities. I can’t remember any demonstrations at that time.”the minister answered questions from journalists about the protest.
João Costa reiterated that the government has already approved “something that was not even foreseen”, namely “an instrument for accelerating careers that now allows the construction of a parallel legislative instrument for the remaining careers in public administration”.
The lack of agreement with teachers, the minister said, “does not prevent the government from moving forward” and pointed to the thawing of careers, noting that “virtually all teachers are already two steps ahead with the ensuing paychecks , while “there has been no equivalent progression in other careers”.
The demonstrators’ spokesman, Rui Feliciano, explained that those present are “a group of teachers from the north of the country” who are concerned about “this government’s education policy” and “the future of public schools”.
“And we are continuously present, where the minister is, where the government is, in the sense of our outrage at the country’s education policy,” he said.
The group of protesters entered the school’s opening ceremony and left the premises as the education minister began to speak.
Before speaking, the governor heard the president of the D. Afonso III de Vinhais School Grouping, Rui Correia, ask for “a strong signal” from the government “so that peace returns to the schools”, denouncing the “widespread malaise among teachers and staff.”
The renovated and enlarged school has been open to the approximately 500 pupils since the beginning of the third period, after completion of the works expected at least 25 years ago, who have given various demonstrations over time, namely because of the cold .
The school now has all the prerequisites and concentrates the majority of students in the commune, where children are still learning in some of the commune’s 105 villages and many others who are transported to the village on a daily basis.
Transport accounts for the largest share of the municipality’s annual spending of one million euros on education, due to the territorial expansion and fragmentation of this municipality.
The Mayor of Vinhais, Luís Fernandes, asked the Minister of Education for differential treatment for municipalities such as these, which have a greater financial burden, compounded by the transfer of powers from the Central Administration to the Local Administration.
The minister replied that the government takes into account the specificities of the municipalities and that there is a committee that monitors the transfer of powers, paying attention to the evolution of the process.
Source: DN
