Fenprof considers that the guidelines of the Ministry of Education for the reopening of schools to high school students reveal “irresponsibility” and present “absurd” proposals on how to keep students inside classrooms in between.
The Ministry of Education sent to schools on Tuesday two documents with guidelines on how to resume classroom classes for 11th and 12th grade students, who are due to return to schools on May 18, afterwards of almost two months with distance learning.
The National Teachers Federation (Fenprof) criticized the government today for having sent the documents to schools without having previously had any dialogue with union organizations, taking into account that many of the measures involve the work and schedule of teachers and other employees .
The guiding documents state that there can only be one student per table and, if necessary, classes can be divided into two rooms, which will mean having more teachers available.
Speaking to Lusa, Fenprof’s secretary general, Mário Nogueira, criticized the tutelage for “shaking responsibilities to schools that he should assume in a health protocol” and for there being “pedagogical aspects that are not taken care of, further aggravating inequalities. that the current situation produces “.
The teachers’ representative also warned of some health issues that he classified as “absurd”, such as that which provides for the maintenance of students inside classrooms during breaks.
Mário Nogueira also considered that the “guidelines of the Ministry of Education reveal irresponsibility and lack of rigor that, in the current circumstances, should not exist”.
For Fenprof, the document that was sent to the schools is “generalist” and “omitted in important aspects”, in addition to leaving “at the discretion of the school administrations decisions that interfere with the teachers’ working hours, with their working conditions. or with the distribution of teaching service “.
Among the guardianship guidelines is the possibility of halving face-to-face classes, but also that at-risk teachers can stay teaching from home, with another teacher in the classroom to support students.
Schools can also choose to redistribute the teaching service or hire more teachers.
Minister Tiago Brandão Rodrigues said on Tuesday in parliament that the ministry is working to “have a robust teaching staff”, ensuring that union structures will still be heard in this process.
“We will work to have a robust teaching staff, to have the teaching staff that is necessary to provide the answer with all the conditions of hygiene and distance,” he guaranteed during a parliamentary hearing.
Speaking to Lusa, the school principals generally applauded the guidelines sent by the ME, but warned that the documents point out that the 11th and 12th grade students will once again have face-to-face classes at all schools. subjects and not just those that proposed to take national exams.
The documents sent to the principals on Tuesday argue that one should try to concentrate classes in the morning or afternoon.
With the threat of infection by the new coronavirus, which causes the disease coid-19, there is also a set of rules since the cleaning of all spaces in the school as well as the definition of routes that should be used by everyone.
Portugal accounts for 1,089 deaths associated with covid-19 in 26,182 confirmed cases of infection, according to the latest daily bulletin from the Directorate-General for Health (DGS) on the pandemic released today.
In relation to the previous day, there are 15 more deaths (+ 1.4%) and 480 more cases of infection (+ 1.9%).
Of the infected people, 838 are hospitalized, of which 136 are in intensive care units, and the number of recovered cases went from 1,743 to 2,076.
Portugal entered Sunday in a calamity situation, after three consecutive periods in a state of emergency since 19 March.
This new phase of combating covid-19 provides for mandatory confinement for sick people and under active surveillance, the general duty of home collection and the mandatory use of masks or visors in public transport, public attendance services, schools and commercial establishments.
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