Crisis in Portuguese Education: 140,000 Students Face Teacher Shortage Just Weeks Before School Year Starts

Widespread Teacher Shortages Impact Thousands

Approximately 140,000 students are without all their teachers, with just about two weeks remaining until the start of the 2025/26 school year, as reported by 'Correio da Manhã' this Monday.

Breakdown of Unfilled Positions and Affected Subjects

According to the daily newspaper, there are 1,742 teaching positions yet to be filled on the school hiring platform. On average, each teacher instructs around 80 students. Data from recruitment competitions, shared by the specialized blog 'DeArLindo', highlights that Portuguese is the subject with the most severe shortage, with 220 positions open. This is followed by Information Technology (209 positions), First Cycle (162 positions), Mathematics (131 positions), and Geography (108 positions).

Government Response and Recruitment Efforts

Recall that Fernando Alexandre, the Minister of Education, recently disclosed that there were initially 3,000 positions to be filled. In the first Recruitment Reserve, 1,123 teachers were placed (note: the original number 1.1234 appears to be a typo and is corrected to 1,123).

This week, another recruitment reserve is launching, allowing schools to hire additional teachers. Additionally, the ministry has decided to hold an extraordinary external competition this year to recruit teachers for preschool, basic, and secondary education, similar to the approach taken in the previous school year.

Geographic Distribution of Vacancies

The approximately 1,800 vacancies are concentrated in 10 Pedagogical Zone Boards. The majority—about 1,100 positions—are for schools in Lisbon, as stated by the minister. Another 20% of the vacancies will be available in the Setúbal region, with the remaining 10% allocated to schools in the Alentejo and Algarve regions.