Teacher Shortage Crisis in Portugal
The severe lack of teachers has been acknowledged by the Minister of Education, Science, and Innovation, Fernando Alexandre, during a parliamentary committee session focused on the State Budget proposal for the upcoming year.
As of October 24, there were 1,240 teaching positions yet to be filled, affecting 480 school groups with at least one vacancy each, and 12 school groups grappling with ten or more unfilled positions. The minister noted that these figures might already be outdated.
Regional Concentration of Vacancies
All these unfilled teaching positions are concentrated in specific regions: the Greater Lisbon area, the Setúbal Peninsula, and parts of the Alentejo and Algarve.
Uncertainty Over Affected Students
The number of empty positions does not allow for a precise count of students without classes. The minister emphasized the need for accurate data, stating that the system is not yet set up to provide this information but will be improved.
Budgetary Measures to Address the Crisis
The proposed State Budget includes an additional 118 million euros to combat the teacher shortage. Existing measures, such as relocation support and a special external recruitment drive for specific schools, are already in place. Overall, the budget envisions a 6% increase in funding for education, higher education, and science, totaling 621 million euros more than the current year.
Additional Strategies
Other initiatives involve paying for extra teaching hours and allowing teachers to extend their careers beyond retirement age.
Minister's Perspective
In a teaching workforce of over 128,000 educators, it is natural for some positions to remain unfilled temporarily; the key issue is the speed at which these vacancies are filled.
Source: Lusa
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