New Measures to Tackle Teacher Shortage in Portugal: Who Gets Left Out?

Government's New Measures to Combat Teacher Shortage

The Portuguese Government has recently announced exceptional measures to address the critical shortage of teachers in schools. However, it has notably excluded teachers who retired more than five years ago from potential temporary hiring.

According to Decree-Law No. 51/2024, published on Wednesday, this legislation sets forth a series of temporary measures aimed at schools where students have been without classes for at least two consecutive months. The objective is to alleviate the recruitment challenges faced in various regions across the country.

In the context of an educational crisis, Minister of Education Fernando Alexandre indicated that around 1,000 students have been without classes in at least one subject throughout the academic year. The new measures aim to ensure that education remains a continuous and uninterrupted process, safeguarding students' access to fundamental learning.

Among the proposed measures, the possibility of hiring retired teachers is highlighted, but only those who have retired within the last five years. This means that those who retired earlier will not be considered, despite their potential to fill critical teaching gaps.

These eligible teachers can be hired on a temporary basis to meet urgent needs in deficient recruitment groups or in under-resourced schools. They will have the right to accumulate their retirement pension with an additional compensation based on the number of hours they teach.

In addition to retired teachers, the decree also allows for the hiring of PhD holders and higher education instructors to teach in schools facing significant teacher shortages. These professionals must possess the necessary scientific qualifications to teach in the various recruitment groups with vacancies.

Another measure includes the provision of scholarships for students enrolling in Basic Education degrees. The amount of these scholarships has yet to be formally defined but will be granted on the condition that beneficiaries commit to applying for at least 20 teaching positions in their geographical area over the next three years after graduation.

These measures are specifically targeted at schools that, in the current academic year and the two preceding years, have experienced students being without classes for at least 60 consecutive days. The decree emphasizes that the high number of students without a teacher in at least one subject jeopardizes education as a continuous process, thus justifying government intervention.

Deficient recruitment groups and under-resourced schools will be identified by a dispatch from the Minister of Education, with the possibility of recognizing additional groups and schools facing similar challenges based on proposals from the Directorate-General for School Administration.