The Antonio Arroyo art school in Lisbon closed this Wednesday for the second day in a row as part of protests against the end of fossil fuel use, a spokeswoman for the school’s End of Fossil Payback Center said.
“There is no one at the school. It’s us, just the tenants, a few teachers and assistants. Lessons are not held,” said Leonor Pera.
The climate activist spoke to Lusa on the phone after meeting with the director of the institution, Rui Madeira, who the students said was supportive.
“The principal supports us, but since he is the principal of the school, he cannot support 100%. It must respond to other problems… From the Ministry [da Educação]parent association, including, but it was nice to see that you are on our side,” he said.
About the meeting with the directors, Leonor Pera said that the students had come to an agreement and that “there is a requirement that in the next academic year the theme [das alterações climáticas] will be considered in the 11th and 12th grades.
“We came to a common opinion that tomorrow, at 08:30, the school will be closed. We will close, but we will open, that is, at 08:30 we make noise and the school will be closed, but in this way, when students arrive, we open it, as in the opening ceremony,” he said.
Leonor Pera explained that activists won’t occupy the school for much longer because there is on-the-job training and preparation for an artistic ability test, two “very important elements of assessment for 12th grade.”
“Protests with drums and megaphones will end tomorrow [quinta-feira]. Tomorrow [quinta-feira] will be the last day we will do [barulho]let’s protest otherwise. We will place a lot of banners in the school and write a statement,” he said.
Early on Wednesday morning, the students again closed the school with a padlock, which the director cut off at 9:00.
According to the “End of Fossil Occupation!” movement, classes continue at several schools and universities, such as Liceu Camões, where about 40 students slept, and during the day this Wednesday there will be concerts and lectures, at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon, the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Lisbon , the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities of the New University of Lisbon, the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon, the Faculty of Economics of the University of Coimbra and the Faculty of Literature of the University of Porto.