President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa warned that the public’s current sympathy towards teachers on strike may turn bitter as the first day of strikes began on Wednesday and minimum services were required in impacted government-run schools.
“A time when the sympathy that in fact exists in public opinion in relation to the cause of teachers can turn against them,” said de Sousa.
In response to questions from journalists, the president reiterated his call for an understanding to be reached between the government and teachers’ unions, expressing concern over the consequences of the prolonged period of industrial action for pupils and their families.
When asked how long the public education system can endure the situation, which began in December, the head of state replied: “It is not a problem of the education system enduring, it is the problem of being a school year substantially lost or not.”
“And that is the assessment that everyone has to make, not least because of this: there is a moment when the sympathy that in fact exists in public opinion towards the teachers’ cause may turn against them,” he said, adding that “as [with] everything in life, also in these processes, which are social but also political processes, there is a political assessment that the government on one side and the teachers on the other side and the unions on the other side have to make.”
(Inês Escobar Lima | Lusa.pt)
Source: euractiv.com
