The National Teachers Federation (Fenprof) has launched a petition demanding that covid-19 screening tests be carried out on students, teachers and staff before they can return to schools and face-to-face classes, which are due to start next week for students from 11th and 12th years of schooling as well as for daycare children.

In just two days, about 3,000 people have signed the petition, Fenprof announced today, which recalls that 4,000 signatures are needed for the document to be debated in Parliament.

The representative structure of teachers criticizes the Government for defending the importance of carrying out tests, but later not having a similar position with regard to schools.

"For secondary schools and kindergartens, testing does not seem to be part of the logic of reopening establishments, despite the approaching date foreseen by the Government to resume face-to-face activity", warns Fenprof in a statement.

"The goal of 4000 signatures is close, which is indispensable to lead the Assembly of the Republic to debate this petition in plenary session", says Fenprof, adding that testing is one of the topics that he will address today in a meeting with the Ministry of Education .

Fenprof also questions the need to resume face-to-face activity in secondary education - "cannot schools choose which regime to adopt after the 18th?" - and about taking final exams.

For Fenprof, the resumption of face-to-face classes must be dependent on several conditions, such as taking tests for covid-19, cleaning schools and setting a maximum number of people per room.

Regarding the conditions in which kindergartens can be opened, Fenprof considers DGS guidelines “unacceptable”, not least because children “are not merchandise that can be stored, immobile, on any warehouse shelf”.

Fenprof has already requested a meeting with the Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security to discuss the conditions under which the daycare centres are expected to reopen.