Lisbon, Sept. 8, 2026 (Lusa) - With one week to go before the start of the new school year in Portugal, there are still more than 2,000 teaching posts unfilled in schools, but there are teachers available to fill them, the Education Minister has said, adding that a full assessment would be provided by the end of the week.
Speaking on Monday on the sidelines of the presentation of a study on higher vocational technical courses (CTESP), which took place today at the Thalia Theatre in Lisbon, Minister Fernando Alexandre said that a more accurate assessment of the shortage of teachers in schools would be available by the end of the week, when another teacher placement process takes place.
However, he emphasised that, despite more than 2,000 posts still being unfilled, «the availability of teachers will still be sufficient to meet these needs».
After the National Education Federation (FNE) requested clarification from the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MECI) regarding the number of teachers short and policy changes to enable teachers to be placed where they are needed, the minister outlined a series of measures already implemented, notably the payment of €20 million in overtime.
He also highlighted the payment of tuition fees to students enrolled on teacher training courses and the professionalisation of teachers holding only a legal qualification, as well as increasing the attractiveness of the profession to attract more candidates into teaching.
Speeding up the placement of teachers in schools is one of the immediate objectives in terms of human resources management, shortening the time between identifying a need at a school and the actual placement of a teacher, said the minister, who referred to changes to the recruitment process which, from next year, will allow for broader eligibility criteria for candidates applying for a post.
«Our concern has been to shorten teacher placement periods; from 18 September, we will start placing teachers every day, and this will help reduce the length of time pupils are without a teacher,» said the minister.
«We sometimes have teachers waiting for months to be placed, and when a teacher has been waiting for months to be placed, they often give up on teaching and go into another profession,» he added.
The regions of Lisbon, Setúbal and the Algarve are those where the shortage of teachers is most acute and also those where, according to data from the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation released on Monday, the secondary school completion rate is lowest – «it's all linked», the minister acknowledged, highlighting the government's adoption of «targeted policies», such as the travel allowance, created specifically for teachers posted to these regions, where it is more difficult to afford housing.
Regarding the difficulties faced by foreign students, particularly Brazilians, in enrolling on higher education courses in Portugal, due to problems in completing their regularisation process with the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA), as reported on Monday by Antena 1 radio, the minister said he was unaware of any specific cases, but noted that this was an ongoing issue, for which a working group had been set up to «establish a fast-track process for the enrolment of foreign students» in higher education.
Regarding the special examination period, introduced this year to prevent inequalities in access to higher education following the difficulties caused by the digitisation of exam papers, Fernando Alexandre said that the low take-up rate among pupils «is precisely confirmation that, despite the problems, they have been resolved».
The minister also stated that the majority of pupils were «satisfied with the marks they achieved in the first and second phases».
IMA/AYLS // AYLS
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