Teachers: Portuguese government must do better

Portugal’s teachers have descended on Lisbon en masse. More than 100,000 staff from all over the country gathered for a rally in the centre of the Portuguese capital.

They are furious at the socialist government’s education policies in general, and a new method of assessing teachers’ performance in particular – introduced for the first time this year.

Although they do not question the need for evaluation, they argue that the system as it stands is too bureaucratic, and difficult to operate fairly. But that is not the only issue which sparked such a huge turnout.

They are also unhappy with their work timetable, the way jobs are distributed, and the status of teachers in Portugal.

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