State schools in Portugal are ‘dying’, according to protesters who blame the country’s leadership for the poor working conditions and injustices that teachers in state schools have witnessed over the years.
Protests bemoaning the state school system were called by the All Education Workers Union (Stop) and made their way to the parliament building.
“State schools are dying, but it’s not the fault of the teachers, but because of our leaders who don’t have the slightest consideration for us”, Lúcia who has been a teacher for about 40 years told Lusa.
This is the fourth demonstration organised by Stop since December 2022, but Lúcia gave Lusa a guarantee: “We will continue to demonstrate until they hear us.”
Rita Romba, another protestor said, “In my first year, I had a schedule with 10 hours, it paid to work. Things are better, but also because I did it for that and because I have the support of my family, if not, it would have been impossible,” she said, emotional.
“Schools in the street, government’s fault”, “Frozen years deserve to be counted”, “The fight continues, in school and in the street”, or “The school is for learning, not for entertaining” are some of the phrases shouted by the teachers and other protestors.
(Susana Venceslau | Lusa.pt)
Source: euractiv.com
