A group of teachers is organizing an Education March scheduled for February 17 in Lisbon as a “last cry of warning” before the elections in defense of public schools.
The call began to circulate in several education groups and blogs at the beginning of the week: “The education march will take place on February 17th, starting in Largo do Rato at 14:00 and ending in front of the Assembly of the Republic.”
Paulo Fazenda is one of about 20 teachers from schools from the north to the south of the country organizing the protest, which aims to draw attention to the problems of public schools, old problems that they say have not received an answer from the outgoing government and what should be priority next.
“It was painful that we were witnessing the continued degradation of public school and doing nothing,” a teacher from Santa Maria da Feira told Lusa, explaining that the march was intended as a “last cry of warning” before legislative elections. scheduled for March 10.
“Campaign time is the time to demand that all political parties commit to their education priorities in the next legislature,” he said.
The main issues he talks about are not new and essentially marked last year’s protest by school professionals, when strikes lasted for several months and tens of thousands of people joined various demonstrations.
While insisting on the full restoration of frozen working hours, which is the main demand of teachers, Paulo Fazenda also emphasizes the need to review wages, the pension and sickness mobility regime, as well as the working conditions of teachers.
“In the political debate that will take place before the election, education must be one of the topics at the center of attention,” he insisted, arguing that parties must commit to their education policies, priorities and commitments to public schools.