“It is said that they are a class in crisis and that lost the social prestige associated with it. In many parts of the world, indicators of wear, demotivation and ‘burnout’ among teachers are worrying”, said the poet and writer, after receiving the award at the solemn session marking the 826th anniversary of the foundation of Guarda.
In his speech, he warned that “the irrelevance of teachers It is an alarm for societies because, when investment in education is not made, it is the qualification of citizenship that decreases”.
For Tolentino de Mendonça, the teacher “is not a profession of the past, it is an indispensable mission for the future”because the existence of “masters and educators is necessary, not only to find answers, but to formulate questions”.
The Eduardo Lourenço Award was created in 2004 to honor the mentor and honorary director of the CEI, having since honored personalities and institutions with relevant intervention in the field of Iberian Culture, Citizenship and Cooperation.