Public higher education teachers resumed classes on Friday, three months after a strike, which began in February, to demand better wages, working and teaching conditions in the country.
Speaking to Agência Lusa, Francisco Antunes, attending the third year of Sociology, at the Faculty of Social Sciences, at the Agostinho Neto University, considered that the interruption of classes harmed learning and that the return to classes for 30 days will overload and pressure the students.
The interpolated strike, according to the National Union of Higher Education Teachers, resumed on Friday until the 27th of June, a unilateral decision taken by the teachers in a general assembly, earlier this month, "in order not to harm the academic year ", explained to Lusa the general secretary of the union, Eduardo Peres Alberto.
"In fact, we will be very overloaded, many subjects will be given under pressure and we will be forced to do a lot of work, which will make our learning process very difficult", he said.
Francisco Antunes was satisfied with the return to school, but regretted the absence of an agreement between the parties.
"As a student, the desire to study is greater, but, on the other hand, thinking about the teachers, since the problems have not been resolved, there is not much satisfaction", said the student, who considers the strike fair.
The student recalls that they were already affected by the covid-19 pandemic, in 2020, and this strike, which is already in its third phase, which makes people lose "the spirit of studying", as has been happening with some colleagues, who dropped out of the courses.
For Francisco Antunes, the "complaint is fair and not illegal", stressing that teachers have to be motivated, with "a decent salary, the right to housing, transport", among others.
"There are teachers who have great difficulty getting here. So, if they give the minimum conditions to the teachers, they will have more motivation to teach and, consequently, will be more dedicated to the institution", he stressed.
Supporting scientific research is one of the strong points in the notebook, which, as a Sociology student, is crucial for Francisco Antunes, a literary activist and mentor of a reading club, an activity he took the opportunity to intensify during the interruption of classes.
Already Ilídio Carlos, finalist of the Work Psychology course, referred that the year is ending with a curricular grid to be fulfilled, fearing that the strike will return after these 30 days of classes that have now started.
"We wanted it [curriculum grid] to be well adhered to, with all classes, with all subjects complete, but we had this teachers' strike, unfortunately, with some reason. We understand the teachers' claim, but we regret the fact that we are miss classes," he said.
Ilídio Carlos expressed his joy at returning to classes, because "he was tired of staying at home", hoping that before they return to the strike, "the Government says something to the union, that the two parties understand each other".
"Teachers are not claiming for nothing, they are also being harmed in some way, and we students may have our training mutilated, which is serious for a country that is training staff", he stressed, calling for solutions to be resolved at least "the main and most important" claims.
For his part, Mauro Chicussenga, in the third year of Sociology, lamented the delay in training due to the strike and the difficulties in learning, noting that a semester will be given in just one month.
"We are practically going to speed up with work, tests, and we will have some difficulty", which will require a greater effort from the students, said Mauro Chicussenga, who agrees with the professors' claims.
"I think so, the complaint is always this [salary improvement]: the teacher trains the engineer, who starts to receive more than the teacher, they, in fact, are only complaining for their rights", he stressed.
Sabina Abel, attending the first year of the Geodemography course, said that the strike negatively affected the performance of students, despite the fact that some teachers offered online classes.
In the same vein as her colleagues, Sabina Abel said that this academic year is being "stressful and quite complicated" for students, who will have to complete a semester in a month.
"The teachers will teach the subject in an accelerated way and clearly we will not have a beneficial use", she said, considering the protest of the teaching community fair, that "they are not thinking only of themselves, but also of the students".
