Petition || A group of concerned parents has launched an online petition demanding more janitor staff at state schools.
The group claims schools continue to grow, both in terms of “size and students” – yet the number of janitors “stays the same”.
Portuguese rules for the hiring of support staff (Portaria n.º 1049-A/2008) says that one employee can be hired for every 48 students. For kindergartens, the ratio is one per 40 children.
Alberto Santos, one of the parents behind the petition and president of Maia’s parents’ association, stresses that the town’s high school has “only 22 janitors for a total of 1,645 students covering an area of four-hectares”.
According to Santos, this “lack of staff” means “less security, less hygiene, closed bathrooms, pavilions and libraries – basically, a school working under very poor conditions”.
“We are not guerrillas, we are not union members, we are just worried about the quality of our children’s education and their future,” he stressed.
Contacted by Lusa, the Education Ministry said it was “working to open schools for the coming school year with all the necessary conditions” and that “any kind of shortage will be analysed and dealt with”.
So far, the petition has just over 2,200 signatures. A total of 4,000 will be needed to get it discussed in Parliament.
www.peticaopublica.com/pview.aspx?pi=PT71616
