The Regional Secretary for Education and Culture stated in Angra do Heroísmo that it is "difficult" to understand the reasons for the teachers' strike that began today in the Azores and continues until Friday.
 
Avelino Meneses stressed that career progression was "resumed the day before yesterday (January 1), which represents the progression of about two thousand teachers in the Azores as early as 2018. With regard to the recovery of "unaccounted" length of service, the Government of the Azores "has taken the solemn commitment" to adopt the solution that will be implemented in Mainland Portugal.
 
Making statements to the media, the Secretary for Education commented on data about the teachers' adherence to the strike called by the Teachers' Democratic Union of the Azores (SDPA), which stood at 12% at the end of the morning.
 
Avelino Meneses stated that, as regards to "unaccounted" length of service, the negotiations are taking place between the Ministry of Education and trade unions, which include participants from the unions representing teachers in the Azores.
 
Furthermore, the Regional Secretary for Education and Culture stressed that, as for the teaching career in general, "there is no reason" to reopen a process concluded two years ago, which resulted in the publication of the new Teaching Career Statute.
 
"In the Azores, we should note that teachers have the most favourable career in the country insofar as it is shorter, there are no quotas for career progression and the evaluation scheme is more favourable," said the government official.
 
In this context, Avelino Meneses highlighted mismatch between the scheduling of the strike, "the result of an almost puerile obstinacy" of SDPA leadership, and the "defines of the interests" of the teachers of the regional education system. According to him, they "already benefit from a progressive income recovery policy."