João Costa: “Twitter is an open sewer, it is no coincidence that Chega deputies are there; they live by easy lies”
Jose Fernandes
He grew up in Setúbal, but it was in Lisbon that he was born because his father was a “real alfacinha”. She lived with her parents, her three brothers and her grandmother.
I always wanted to be a teacher. When he was little, his mother, a teacher, took him to school during the summer holidays and he helped her organize the classes and sort the names in alphabetical order. “I didn’t like playing ball in the street, I liked dictionaries more,†he recalls.
He has been a scout since he was nine years old and scouting is still part of his life today. He performed and brought some photographs to remember those times.
Jose Fernandes
Nuno Fox
He was born before the 25th of April, in November 1972, but grew up at a time when politics was “everywhere†. After the Revolution, the country became “too fragile†and saw “misery†at its doorstep. “I had friends who didn’t have a home, they lived in tents. He had two classmates who were prostitutes at the age of 14, he admits.
“We never lacked anything†. His parents had a car, went on vacation in the summer and never lacked food on the table. He grew up “irritated†with the privileges he had and inequalities always bothered him. he “I was very angry because I didn’t understand why I had it and others didn’t,†he confesses.
Jose Fernandes
Luís Louro, designer and creator of the comic book series “O Corvo”, considers that the concept of author is essential for Art
Jose Fernandes
He is a full professor of Linguistics at the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences. He came from academia to politics without a “political past†. He worked at the Ministry of Education for eight years and was the Minister of Education in the last Government of António Costa.
He never thought he would be a politician. Much less a minister. When he came into office, he had no “illusions†and knew that the Minister of Education did not have the best “fameâ€. In this conversation with Bernardo Ferrão he remembers those times, not so long ago. He talks about the meetings with the teachers’ unions – always “cordial and friendly “despite what was going on abroad – and the difficulties he had as a minister.
“Money is never enough for everything and to satisfy all demands. I tried to change the structural problems of education and I couldn’t because the unions rejected it,’ he says.
Jose Fernandes
At least 35 thousand of those forced to abandon their homes are children
Paulo Julião/Lusa
He left office at the end of 2023, after searches of the then Prime Minister’s official residence due to suspicions of corruption. “Today I have more time to go out, think, write and say what I want. Those were hard times, it was a heavy task,†he says.
Researcher on the role of public schools, reflects on what has changed over the last few years. “It is more difficult to be a teacher†, the type of student has changed, the “school is no longer for the elites†and the attitudes of parents are different. “Being a father does not give me the right to deny my child access to information. On a subject that caused a lot of controversy during his term, she maintains the same position: “The subject of citizenship can be compared to Portuguese and mathematics, it is information”, he emphasizes .
The former Minister of Education, João Costa, is the guest on the new episode of Geração 70. Listen to the interview here.
Paulo Alves
Geração 70 is not a podcast about politics or economics, nor about arts or science. It’s a loose conversation with today’s protagonists who were born in the 70s. The generation that is in charge of the country or on the way. Here we talk about expectations and frustrations. Of dreams come true and those that were lost. A first-person portrait of the indelible passage of time, a journey from the 70s to the present day led by Bernardo Ferrão
