Strike at USP: Membership reaches all units in the capital – 09/29/2023 – Education

All units at USP (University of São Paulo) joined the strike initiated by the lack of teachers at the institution. Now, the organizers’ intention is to expand the movement to campuses in the interior of São Paulo.

In the last few hours, FEA (Faculty of Economics, Administration, Accounting and Actuary), EEFE (School of Physical Education and Sport), FOUSP (Faculty of Dentistry) and FCF (Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences) embraced the boycott of classes after majority support in their assemblies.

These departments then joined 25 others already paralyzed in Cidade Universitária, in Butantã (west zone), and EACH (School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities), at USP Leste, which also stopped.

The strike seems far from over. On Thursday (28), academic leaders met with the USP rectory. There was no agreement. The managers argued that the demands presented by the students were inaccessible.

“The rectory’s stance was unacceptable. First, the rector traveled to fulfill an agenda abroad, at the most important moment of dialogue with students. The vice-rector only stayed for the first 15 minutes”, says Mandi Coelho, director of Academic Center for Letters, a course that started the movement.

This, for her, demonstrates that the university does not have a willingness to dialogue or concern about meeting agendas. “Thus, the strike continues and expands”, declares Coelho.

The claims

Students summarize their demands in five areas: hiring teachers; increase in student living aid; structural improvements at USP Leste; promotion of indigenous entrance exams; and valuing student rights.

The acquisition of new teachers is the most debated topic. Students present three demands at this point:

• Automatic trigger return for hiring teachers: Today, when a teacher dies, is dismissed or retires, the vacancy is not automatically replaced. Students demand feedback from this mechanism for vacancies to be answered;
• Minimum number of educators (1,683) to guarantee the functioning of the courses: this number is based on the return of the ratio of the number of students to the number of professors that USP had in 2014;
• End of the notice of excellence or merit: For students, this criterion is absolutely unfair and does not allocate new vacancies to units that need teachers.