“One more blow to the students”: so defined this Thursday the Minister of Education and Culture, Pablo da Silveira, unemployed what teachers plan to do of public education on June 15.
“It’s another blow to the students. After two years of pandemic, where attendance was suspended and learning was lost, priority should be make up for all those losses recover lost time“, he told Radio Montecarlo.
“It is a measure that does not have any specific justification,” he remarked.
Asked if he considers that the action has ideological ends, Da Silveira replied that he sees the strike as a “show of strength” by the unions, which, in his opinion, will have negative consequences on the students. “It affects the food system for students. It is rare that movements and organizations that claim to be in favor of sensitivity and social justice take these kinds of measureshitting the weakest in a very special way”.
“When one sees justification, there is no specific or concrete reason that justifies such a measure“, he claimed.
In the mobilization, which will be concentrated in front of the Executive Tower, the unions will ask for answers to the budget “cut” of US$ 80 million between 2021 and 2022, which “has impacted learning conditions and the development of the educational system.”
According to da Silveira, “There is an absolutely fanciful calculation about a supposed cut that reaches a figure without any justification.”
The national strike was announced on Wednesday at a press conference by the general secretary of the National Federation of Secondary Education Teachers (Fenapes), José Olivera.
The union coordinator understands that the main responsibility falls on the president of the Central Board of Directors (Codicen), Robert Silva, who, they say, “has been absent in cases of violence in high schools.” But among their claims they also include problems related to insecurity, for which they blame the Minister of the Interior, Luis Alberto Heber.