Miguel Albuquerque criticizes the government for investing in TAP but failing to reach an agreement with teachers.

PSD/Madeira President Miguel Albuquerque called the education situation on the continent “appalling” this Monday, criticizing that there is money to privatize TAP but no agreement has been reached with teachers.

“What is happening on the mainland is terrible. Our children have not attended classes for three years. I ask: what will happen to the social mobility of these children?” asks Miguel Albuquerque.

“This problem does not exist here, and the money was very well spent. We did not spend money on the ideological whim of the TAR, we did not spend money on other nonsense where they invest, ”he said.

PSD/Madeira Leader and President of the Regional Government (PSD/CDS-PP) spoke at the opening of the PSD Parliamentary Days, which take place today and Tuesday in the Legislative Assembly of Madeira under the motto “Desire for Portugal”. . Believe in Madeira.”

Miguel Albuquerque noted that in Madeira, the island’s executive branch has entered into an agreement to restore the seniority of teachers, arguing that in a country like Portugal, “which needs to make the transition to a new economy, there must be motivated teachers, schools must work.” .

“We pay for mistakes, we spend money on absurd situations. This prime minister [António Costa] nationalized TAP. Are we going to invest almost 4 billion euros there in order to privatize it later, but there is no money for a deal with teachers?” he asks.

“We are billing Portugal which will be disastrous. And why am I saying this? My friends, the children of the rich go to a French school, they go to a German school, they have a secure future. Now public schools are in the periphery, from the inside, without classes, what will happen to these children? How will we have a prepared generation?” he insisted.

The Social Democrat said that in Madeira “children are being taught robotics, sensors, applied math,” adding that students “almost up to grade 10” have access to digital aids.

“The only thing we can give to future generations is to have more qualified youth. […] Teachers are a class that must be respected, and this is a class that must be well paid, because in a few days we will not have teachers, and new generations will pay for this, ”he stressed.

The part of Miguel Albuquerque’s speech on teachers was included in the column on “social cohesion, citizenship and social peace”, one of the eight he chose as “essential” and which, in his opinion, characterize the management of regional executive power. over the past four years.

According to the chairman of the regional government, political stability, economic growth, economic diversification, maintaining public investment, employment policy, reducing public debt and reducing the tax burden are other strategic pillars of the Social Democrats’ management in the archipelago.

In the field of employment, Albuquerque said that the great ambition of the Madeira government “is not to increase or at least increase the so-called alms policy”, defending that “alms policy and subsidy policy should be a resource, it should never be a policy states”.

As for the challenges ahead, the SDP/Madeira leader noted that it was “decidedly and fundamentally important to break the anachronistic blockages” of the state.

For his part, the current mayor of Funchal (PSD/CDS-PP) and former chairman of the regional government, Pedro Calado, said the country was impoverished “after decades of socialism.”

“Today we are integrated into the country with no direction, no strategy, no form of attraction for our youth,” he said.

Pedro Calado added that Portugal is “at an impasse”, noting that there is light at the end of the tunnel, referring to PSD.