In a press conference, at the end of the Council of Ministers' meeting, António Costa referred particularly to the situation of pre-school education, stressing that, although not integrating compulsory education, "it is fundamental in the development process of all children and that cannot be secured at a distance ".

"What I can say to parents and educators at the moment is that we will only be able to resume activities in kindergartens when the current distancing rules are revised - rules that are impossible for children of this age to comply with in the classroom", justified the first- minister.

António Costa later considered that it is still "premature to set a safe, albeit indicative, term" for a possible reopening of pre-school education.

"This is the moment to impose the greatest rigor in complying with these rules, knowing that the more determined we are now, the sooner we can free ourselves from these constraints", he defended.

In this context, the Prime Minister even maintained that the interruption of classroom teaching activities, with the maintenance of the closure of kindergartens, "is a necessary sacrifice that is helping the whole society to overcome this pandemic".

"The educational community has successfully completed the second school term and will continue the learning process until the end of the school year. In the next school year we have to make an increased effort to recover learning," he said, here in an allusion to the situation created in Basic education.