Organised by teachers from the Silves Sul School Group, in the district of Faro, the protest action began on Sunday, at 6pm, and will last until Wednesday.

"This is yet another way of expressing ourselves, of showing our discontent and of being heard since they put us on the minimum services and cut off our right to strike", Professor Vasco Dantas, one of the organisers of the protest, told Lusa.

In the approximately 20 tents set up next to the educational establishment, education professionals “take turns throughout the day, according to school hours, and at night they exchange the comfort of home for an overnight stay in the tents”, said the teacher.

“The objective is to maintain this vigil until Wednesday, the day when we will continue in a silent march to the Parish Council of Armação de Pera, to deposit the urn that symbolises the death of the public school”, he underlined.

According to Vasco Dantas, during the first day, several people joined school professionals "namely guardians, representatives of the community and of eight groups of schools in the Algarve that intend to carry out similar actions in the schools where they teach".

“We want to keep our fight for the dignity of teachers and for the defense of public schools alive and we hope that our action can be replicated all over the country”, he concluded.