Hundreds crowd the public school

Several hundred education professionals participated this Saturday in a street rally in Lisbon. The demonstration was called by the Union of All Education Professionals (STOP) and aimed to “campaign for public schools”.

A few days before the legislative elections, STOP imitated the political parties and organized a rally – a frequent action in electoral campaigns – to say that “education has not been talked about as we should”.

“Public schools have a role that no one else can have in society, which is to guarantee an excellent education for all students, regardless of whether they are children of rich or poor people, and private schools do not guarantee this”, highlighted André Pestana, teacher and union coordinator.

Education professionals from all over the country equipped themselves with drums, bass drums, whistles and horns to accompany the slogans shouted into the megaphone. “We don’t stop, we don’t stop”, they chanted, demanding, on posters, “effective commitments” from the parties.

At the protest, which was attended by party leaders from the Left Bloc, the message to the new Government, “more to the left or more to the right”, was clear. “If we don’t seriously invest in public schools, this fight will not stop”, warned Pestana, quoted by the Lusa agency.

The leader recognized that the demand for career time – which both PS and PSD had already committed to doing – “was important, but it was not the only one”. A “fair assessment and progression without quotas” for teaching and non-teaching staff, the appreciation of operational assistants and “more democratic” school management are other demands.