“The PS government’s experience shows that when unions talk of 93,000 [students without a teacher], it means, because they lack some information, that these numbers are underestimated. It means the numbers will be higher, possibly exceeding 100,000,” stated during a visit to Escola André Soares in Braga to mark the start of the school year.
José Luís Carneiro, accompanied by other deputies elected from the Braga district, emphasized that the most critical period will be in October, November, and December, due to requests for substitution and retirement.
The opportunity was seized to criticize the PSD/CDS government for promises that the issue would be quickly resolved.
“As we see, it wasn’t resolved after a year and a half, nor will it be resolved by the end of the term, for one reason: because this issue is more structural than it seems,” he noted.
He also pointed a finger at those who, in the recent past, claimed there were too many teachers and advised them to emigrate.
“We must never forget that there was a period in our recent history when it was stated there were too many teachers, and teachers were indeed told to emigrate, and today we are also partly paying for those thoughtless words,” he remarked.
According to the PS leader, this led many who aspired to become teachers to give up.
“And this is reflected today in the lack of teachers,” he argued.
