The strike was called by the National Association of IT Teachers (Anpri) and the National Federation of Teachers (Fenprof), which admitted to extending it until the end of the school year.
According to the two union structures, teachers, especially IT teachers, are being called upon to perform tasks that they say are not part of the “functional content of the teaching profession” and that are related to assessment tests, which will once again be carried out in a format digital.
At issue is technical support for tests and the maintenance of technological equipment which, in the opinion of Anpri and Fenprof, should be assigned to technical staff, which schools are unable to hire.
The assessment tests, aimed at students in the 2nd, 5th, and 8th years, starting in May, and on June 12th it will be the turn of all 9th year students. The project to dematerialize tests and exams is expected to be extended to secondary education next year.
In recent months, there have been constant warnings from teachers about the lack of conditions to take digital tests: In addition to thousands of damaged equipment, there are Internet network problems in many schools and there is a lack of IT.
Last week, the Government made available 6.5 million euros to buy new computers to replace the damaged ones and thus guarantee that all students will have the equipment to take the assessment tests and national exams in the 9th year in digital format, a measure that was insufficient to make teachers call off the strike.