From reducing the number of students per class to concentrating class schedules during the morning or afternoon, depending on the years of schooling. There were several hypotheses thrown on the table by the unions and representatives of the school heads at the meetings that have been held with the Ministry of Education to prepare for the start of the academic year 2020/2021. After the Minister of Education, Tiago Brandão Rodrigues, pointed out September 14th to 17th as classes start dates, and that the first five weeks will be for the recovery of learning, the school principals argued that, in the event that not all students can return to face-to-face classes, priority should be given to pre-school and elementary school students .
“The youngest were the most affected by distance learning. They need a lot of monitoring and attention and we realized that, especially in the 1st and 2nd years, there were situations of regression in terms of learning ”, justified to the PUBLIC Manuel Pereira, president of the National Association of School Leaders (ANDE). “They are the boys with less autonomy and who need to be as close as possible to the teachers”, agreed Filinto Lima, from the National Association of Public School and Group Directors (ANDAEP).
As for the remaining years of schooling, and assuming that in September we are in a public health situation similar to the current one because of the pandemic, the principals emphasized the need for schools to prepare themselves to combine face-to-face classes with distance classes. “Students will eventually be able to go to school a few days a week while others stay at home, in order to reduce the presence of many students at school at the same time,” said Manuel Pereira. The concentration of class schedules, in which some students have classes from 8 am to 1 pm and the rest from 1 pm to 6 pm, “not being ideal, is an old solution that can be recovered” to respond to the distance dictated by the health crisis, according to the president of ANDE.
In unison, representatives of school leaders demanded more autonomy for schools. “Each school and each teacher know what the students are failing at and whether they will need four, five or six weeks to recover their learning”, justified Filinto Lima, adding that other demands were “the reinforcement of hourly credits that give schools and the updating of the ordinance that defines the ratios of employees”, Without which it will not be possible to guarantee more operational assistants.
Although the Government recognized the need to increase the number of teachers and staff, the STOP coordinator, André Pestana, regretted that the ministry has said nothing about the conditions under which such contracts will be made ”. “In our opinion, the Government should take advantage of this exceptional situation, knowing that the coronavirus has a more damaging effect at older ages, to rejuvenate the teaching class, which is one of the oldest in Europe, creating conditions for teachers more can retire without being penalized for doing so, ”said André Pestana.
Still on the side of the unions, the National Union of Education Professionals (Sinape) suggested a maximum of 14 students per class, with different schedules and intervals to avoid crowds in the recess and common spaces. The Independent Teachers and Educators Union (SIPE) regretted that the Government has not explained how the reduction of classes will be ensured during the next academic year. In the Supplementary Budget approved on June 17, “there is no reference to funds allocated to the breakdown of classes, compensatory measures for students’ lost learning during the pandemic and the consequent hiring of more teachers and technicians”, recalled in a statement the president of SIPE, Júlia Azevedo, saying she fears that the Government will put at risk “the safety of teachers and students”.
