Teachers protest against management of Pará’s education secretary: ‘Rossieli out’

Daleth Oliveira – From Cenarium Amazon Magazine

BELÉM (PA) – During the opening of the Cycle of Seminars “Full-Time School Program: principles for the Full-Time Education Policy”, an event held by the Ministry of Education (MEC) in Belém (PA) last Wednesday, 23, teachers from the state school system protested against the management of the secretary of the portfolio in the state, Rossieli Soares.

The coordinator of the Pará State Public Education Workers’ Union (Sintepp), Beto Andrade, says that educators were not invited to the debate, causing outrage among the class.

“This is a topic of interest to us teachers, and how can we talk about it without our participation? A full auditorium, but full of people from the ministry, from the state government, because we weren’t even told about the program. And the full-time school project is very challenging. We want to remind you that it’s impossible to talk about this without also talking about working conditions, the structure of schools, pay and other elements that directly impact teachers”, he said.

But the teachers’ revolt is not recent. He says that the class was mobilizing against the obligation for teachers to remain in schools for 8 hours a day, preventing them from working in other institutions.

“That was the trigger. They ignore the fact that 90% of teachers in the state network also work in other networks, even private ones. This is to supplement their income. If you want exclusive dedication, teachers need to be paid for it”, says Andrade.

Sintepp accuses secretary of harassment

“We want to put a stop to this institutional harassment by the secretary. The demands that his administration places on us are absurd. They want results, to implement projects, they want exclusive dedication, without any investment in the education network. Like the full-time schools, how do they want the project to grow when the schools don’t even have food for the students?” said Beto Andrade.

During the program on Wednesday 23rd, teacher Max Melo told the audience what it was like to work in a full-time school in Pará. He teaches in Castanhal, a municipality in the northeast of Pará.

“The experience we have in Castanhal is very discouraging. We’ve been in this mode since 2019, we’re the first and only full-time school in the city. But in the same year that we opened, the students’ lunch was only served for six months. That’s it, they never had it again”, said Melo.

“With Rossieli, there is a lack of dialog with the teachers. For example, the government implemented school Saturdays without talking to us. A Saturday tutoring program was also created, requiring pedagogical coordinators to be present, without any regulation allowing them to be paid properly for this,” she concludes.

Seduc declined to comment
When contacted by Cenarium Amazônia magazine, Seduc did not comment on what had happened or on the union’s accusations.

Read more: Marina Silva defends Ibama’s opinion on oil exploration at the mouth of the Amazon
Edited by Pricila de Assis
Reviewed by Adriana Gonzaga