The document was issued that the Brazilian Alana Gabriela Vieira Alvarenga da Costa needed to teach in Portugal and participate in the competition registrations close in the next few hours. “It was a relief”summarizes the immigrant to DN Brazil.
In the document, signed by Luís Henrique Cardoso Fernandes, general director of School Administration, it is certified that the Brazilian woman has the necessary professional qualifications for teaching. The sending took place this Friday, November 21st, by email, following the repercussion of the report published by DN Brazil.
“I received this news this afternoon, it arrived via email. Before, in the morning, I had received a call from a personal number, from someone who identified himself as part of the General Directorate of School Administration (DGAE)”, he reports to the newspaper. This afternoon, the teacher rushed to register for the competition. “I’m feeling happy and very confused at the same time; it hasn’t sunk in yet, let’s put it that way”, she highlights.
It took more than two years to search for this document, with legal actions in Brazil and Portugal, requests for diplomatic support and facing depression.. How the DN Brazil revealed, in the middle of the 2023/2024 school year, the Brazilian was fired from the school where she worked because of the lack of the document. She went to court to regain her position as a teacher and to be able to participate in the annual competition. The absence of the document prevented her from competing for years in a row, a situation that would almost lead her into the third year..
According to Alana, this saga caused not only professional but also personal damage. “If they hadn’t disconnected me, if I had remained linked that year, I would have already had a child, for example. The impacts they are having on my life as an immigrant are very significant, because I feel like my life has been paused, it has been hampered, even though I am an exemplary professional”, she reflects.
With the report published by DN Brazilthe newspaper received several reports from teachers facing the same situation, with various bureaucratic difficulties in working in Portugal. At the same time, according to the National Federation of Teachers (Fenprof), more than three thousand 1st cycle students in Portugal are currently without a teacher in the classroom.
amanda.lima@dn.pt