“Throughout history, teachers have always addressed all intrinsic human and societal issues”, emphasized the National Federation of Teachers (Fenprof) in a statement, responding to comments by the Minister of Education regarding the new essential learnings for Citizenship and Development.
The new guidelines, released on Monday, focus less on topics such as sexuality and animal welfare, giving more attention to financial literacy and entrepreneurship. According to Fernando Alexandre, subjects related to gender identity are excluded for being overly complex.
“It is a matter of great complexity and often people are not even prepared to teach it, especially when we are talking about very young students,” explained the minister, stressing the need to ensure there are “teachers prepared to teach.”
The new guidelines for the subject of Citizenship and Development are now open for public consultation, and criticism from the left has begun to emerge. What will be taught in each educational cycle? What does the Minister of Education say? Stay informed.
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Expressing regret over the statements from the Minister of Education, Science, and Innovation (MECI), Fenprof noted that teachers have undergone “many hours of training” on some of the topics now removed from the curriculum over the years.
“Teachers, unlike what seems to be the case with the MECI, are not bound by ideological agendas that restrict individual freedom”, wrote the teachers’ union, accusing the government of yielding to the conservative right.
“Other intentions revealed in this context are themselves a symptom of ideological ties to neoliberalism that seeks to invade all areas of society, including the conditioning of education and teaching”, it added, without specifying these intentions but referring to statements made by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro in October, when he announced the intention to revise the subject’s curriculum to “free it” from “ideological constraints.”
On Monday, the government released the new National Strategy for Citizenship Education and the Essential Learnings for the subject of Citizenship and Development, documents to be open for public consultation until August 1.
