Almost in pre-campaign mode, António Costa distributed greetings, took dozens of selfies, spoke to students at the renovated EB 2,3 D. Dinis School, in Quarteira, and did not leave without leaving them an appeal for “there is a effective adherence» of children aged 5 to 11 years to the vaccination that starts this Saturday, 18 December. Anyone who does, said the prime minister, can expect a "much better" 2022.
Although the new building has been in operation since the beginning of the school year, the official inauguration of the requalification of the D. Dinis School, in Quarteira, only took place today, December 17, the last day of the 1st period, with the honors of prime minister .
The works cost 6,5 million euros – the biggest investment in educational equipment in the Algarve – and created a modern school that António Costa knew.
The head of government visited classrooms, got to know the new School Library and also projects such as the Aeromodelismo Club or another one that involves a social assistance dog.
In his speech, António Costa considered that the new EB 2,3 D. Dinis puts into practice three pillars of Government action: school autonomy, curriculum flexibility and the decentralization of competences to local authorities.
But the big message that the prime minister wanted to convey was related to the pandemic. On the eve of the start of vaccination for children aged 5 to 11, António Costa appealed, in front of an audience also made up of students, for the importance of this process.
“It is very important that everyone who can be vaccinated gets vaccinated. Contrary to what we've heard, children are also infected, they also suffer from the disease: they can suffer more or less, but no disease is good for health», he considered.
The prime minister alluded to the fact that, currently, "the highest incidence rate" of Covid-19 cases occurs "in unvaccinated children", but also "in the age group of their parents".
This is because, completed António Costa, the vaccine is also important for the learning process in schools.
“In these three academic years, our school life and our life have been very damaged. We all know that there is a huge difference between face-to-face and distance learning. Nothing replaces this proximity and it is essential that we adopt measures to try to prevent this school year from being as disturbed as the previous ones», he said.
Tiago Brandão Rodrigues, Minister of Education, Vítor Aleixo, Mayor of Loulé, and Manuel Nora, director of the D. Dinis School Group, of which EB 2,3 is a member, accompanied the entire visit.
The Loulé mayor underlined the “so important day” for Quarteira that we have lived today, but he also recalled the difficulties leading up to the completion of the work – which even included a last-minute withdrawal by a contractor.
Tiago Brandão Rodrigues, in turn, wanted to thank Loulé City Council for the undertaking and for «putting education at the top of the priorities».
In the end, António Costa, who did not make a statement to the journalists, still had time to listen to the school band, minutes after finishing the speech, centered on the students, with a strong sentence:
«2022 will be much better…if they get vaccinated in the meantime».
Photos: Pedro Lemos | Sul Informação
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