Fenprof launched petitions demanding political promises

The National Federation of Teachers (Fenprof) will prepare four petitions on working conditions in schools, careers, precarious work and teacher retirement so that the parliament formed by the March elections can debate key education issues.

The announcement was made this Friday by Fenprof General Secretary Mário Nogueira on the sidelines of a teachers’ meeting taking place in Lisbon. The petitions will be distributed to parties before early elections so that members of the various benches know what they will find in parliament when they take office, Mario Nogueira said.

Following the announcement to the country on Thursday evening by the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, of the dissolution of the Assembly of the Republic, following the resignation of Prime Minister António Costa, Fenprof decided to request a meeting with the leadership of the political parties, to try to get them to include in their programs specific measures to solve the problems of the teaching class.

“The future depends on elections, so it is necessary to force parties to make commitments that should already be part of their programs,” Mário Nogueira told reporters, stressing that education faces a “very noticeable” lack of resources.

“The time has come for the parties to say what they are coming for, now they must make commitments. Sometimes it is easy, having an absolute majority, to be in opposition and make promises, knowing that they will not have to be fulfilled. them,” he emphasized.

Mário Nogueira spoke as Education Minister João Costa presented to the Assembly of the Republic the education budget, which for Fenprof is “unjustifiable”.

The trade union structure now expects a “strong signal” from the parties regarding the budget. “We know that all parties, with the exception of the PS, have specific proposals that they present. [sobre a recuperação do tempo de serviço dos professores] and even within the PS, we have all heard how the party’s leadership candidate, Pedro Nuno Santos, publicly stated that restoring the seniority of teachers should be something that the government should take into account and move forward,” said Mario Nogueira.

The union leader assured that teachers will be attentive to the implementation of political promises and declarations.

The Prime Minister asked the President of the Republic to resign on Tuesday, and he accepted the offer.

António Costa became the subject of an investigation by prosecutors at the Supreme Court after suspects in a case linked to business transactions involving lithium, green hydrogen and the “Sines data center” mentioned his name in an attempt to unblock procedures. .

The investigation, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office, may concern crimes related to malfeasance, active and passive corruption of political officials and influence trading.

According to the indictment, which Lusa had access to, the Ministry of State (MS) believes that the Prime Minister interfered with the approval of a diploma that benefited the interests of Start Campus, the company responsible for the “data center”.

On the day of his dismissal, Antonio Costa refused to commit “any illegal or reprehensible act” and expressed his full willingness to cooperate with justice.

The prosecutor’s operation was based on at least 42 searches and led to the arrest for questioning of five people: the chief of staff of the Prime Minister Vitor Escaria, the president of the Chamber of Sines Nuno Mascarenhas, two administrators from the launch campus. society, Afonso Salema and Rui Oliveira Neves, as well as the lawyer Diogo Lacerda Machado, a friend of António Costa.

The accused were Infrastructure Minister João Galamba and the President of the Portuguese Environmental Protection Agency, Nuno Lacasta.