Teachers’ unions have rejected allegations of racism and stopped using slurs during a June 10 protest against the government, saying the controversy serves to divert attention from an issue affecting public schools.
“We believe that Prime Minister António Costa intends to divert attention from a very serious problem that affects the public school and which prompted its specialists to ignite the biggest fight in the history of education,” the Union of School Students said in a statement. All Educational Professionals (STOP).
The National Federation of Education (FNE), for its part, warns in another statement that “the use of offensive images and words only serves to polarize the debate and divert attention from fundamental issues affecting teachers and educators.”
We are talking about the controversy surrounding the posters displayed during the teachers’ protest, which took advantage of June 10 to demonstrate in Peso da Régua and which António Costa called “a little racist.”
The posters featured a caricature of the prime minister with a pig nose and a pencil stuck in each eye.
After the National Federation of Teachers (Fenprof) distanced itself from these images, arguing that “to demand respect, you must be able to respect”, FNE also expressed its “total rejection of the use of offensive images and words.”
In a statement posted on its website, the FNE warns that these insults “in no way contribute to the legitimate demands of teachers” and also create a “wrong and unworthy image of Portuguese educators.”
Defending that Portuguese teachers and educators are “dedicated, dedicated and highly qualified professionals” who “deserve respect and appreciation”, FNE “strongly urges all stakeholders to take a stand of mutual respect and promote constructive dialogue”.
STOP emphasizes in its communiqué that the June 10 protest in Peso da Régua “was not convened” on its own, defending that the educators on display there “exercised their right to protest freely, while citizens in full exercised their constitutional rights. “.
“We reject any allegations of incitement to racist sentiment,” the union adds, stressing that its bylaws “clearly reject discrimination based on race.”
Upon arrival at the official military ceremonies for the Day of Portugal, Camões and the Portuguese Communities, which were held this year in the city of Regua in Vila Real district, the wife of Prime Minister Fernanda Tadeu was delighted by some of the teachers’ comments in protest.
At first, António Costa asked the woman not to respond to the comments, but then he turned and shouted “racist”, obviously flustered.
Later, in statements to the people who were waiting for him, the prime minister considered that the protests were “part of freedom and democracy.”
“Best taste, worst taste, these slightly racist posters, but that’s all, that’s life,” he stressed.