The secretary general of the PCP, Jerónimo de Sousa, said this Saturday that, with the pandemic and the closure of educational units, the theory that everyone is in the same boat and “the illusion that everything will be fine” has fallen apart. ”.
“With the decision to close all units of the education system and to continue the school year with distance learning, the theory that we are all in the same boat and the illusion that everything will be fine, fell apart”, said Jerónimo de Sousa in a JCP initiative to defend the public school in the context of covid-19, which took place on the terrace of Voz do Operário, in Lisbon.
As support for his argument, the PCP’s secretary general recalled that “there are more than 50 thousand young people without access to the Internet, without a computer or having to share it with parents and siblings”, and that thousands of these young people are with parents who “have , at the same time, to be telecommuting ”.
“Hundreds of thousands of young people who did not have access to information sources, because the libraries were closed, students moved, residences and cafeterias closed” were other points highlighted by the deputy.
Jerónimo de Sousa considered that “the announcements that distance education will become widespread in the coming years leave clearly visible objectives of cost containment”, adding that “face-to-face teaching has a centrality and importance in the teaching-learning process that does not it is replaceable by remote experiences ”.
“The role of teachers in the classroom is essential in monitoring students and this is a crucial issue”, he maintained.
In his view, the problems that the covid-19 pandemic has shown reveal “the pains of decades of underfunding promoted by PS, PSD and CDS”.
Despite not addressing the topic of Novo Banco injections again, he added, the PCP will remember that “for PPPs [parcerias público-privadas] billions of euros are expected ”.
“The public school, in its different levels, from childhood to higher education, demands, therefore, budgetary and educational policy options that the successive governments have not assumed”, he reiterated, giving special emphasis “to the removal of the elements that can be harmful substances, namely asbestos ”, as a priority investment option.
The leader of the PCP also criticized the “recent measure of the Government to take students of vocational education to have to make an authentic tour around the country to take exams for which they were not prepared, to compete for half a dozen places”. The measure, he said, was presented as a new opportunity, but “it is just another difficulty”.
The leader considered that “a dangerous experience for all candidates for higher education, in the future, is at stake”, referring again to the subject of paying tuition fees.
“The national exam on access to higher education will not mitigate differences, it will aggravate them. The payment of tuition fees will not equalize anyone, rather it will load more on those who have less resources, including many who are now without them ”, he argued.
The PCP’s secretary general also emphasized the role of school social action, “ensuring support for all dimensions of school life – transport, books and school supplies, food, accommodation, cultural and sports activities”.
“Social Action, which, moreover, must give quick answers, not understanding how in the month of May, almost at the end of the school year, there are still thousands of students who do not have definitive answers to their applications”, he warned.
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