Computer science teachers are starting a strike today over technical support for digital tests and support and maintenance of the equipment they will be using, which they say is not their responsibility.
The strike was called by the National Association of Computer Science Teachers (Anpri) and the National Federation of Teachers (Fenprof), who hope to extend it until the end of the school year.
According to the two unions, teachers, especially in computer science, are being asked to carry out tasks that they say are not part of the “functional content of the teaching profession” and that are related to the assessment tests, which will once again be carried out in digital format.
The issue is the technical support for the tests and the maintenance of technological equipment which, in the opinion of Anpri and Fenprof, should be assigned to technical staff that the schools are unable to hire.
The benchmarking tests, aimed at students in the 2nd, 5th and 8th grades, begin in May, and on June 12 it will be the turn of all 9th graders. The project to dematerialize tests and exams is due to be extended to secondary education next year.
In recent months, there have been constant warnings from teachers about the lack of conditions for carrying out digital tests: in addition to thousands of damaged devices, there are problems with the internet network in many schools and a shortage of IT staff.
Last week, the government made 6.5 million euros available to buy new computers to replace the broken ones and thus ensure that all students will have the equipment to take the 9th grade assessment tests and national exams in digital format, a measure that was insufficient to get the teachers to call off their strike.
The teachers intend to continue the strike until the end of the school year, “if the next team from the Ministry of Education doesn’t solve the problem, which involves taking this technical work away from the teachers”.