‘There will be a shortage of teachers at the start of the school year’: National Education Federation warns

The National Federation of Education (FNE) said on Thursday that it would be impossible to solve the problem of teacher shortages in schools “by the start of the school year”, regardless of the plan adopted by the government.

“Regardless of the plan that can be implemented, the fact is that at the beginning of this school year there are not enough teachers to meet all the needs,” said FNE Secretary General Pedro Barreiros before joining a meeting with representatives of the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation team to implement the +Aulas +Sucesso plan.

Pedro Barreiros recalled that immediate measures are needed with an effect “at the beginning of the school year”, and others in the long term, such as training teachers, “so that in four or five years” the problem does not recur.

Regarding the ministry’s program aimed at reducing the number of students who do not attend classes, Pedro Barreiros argues that “emergency measures cannot mean that those who are already accumulating functions are called to accumulate along with others,” creating an “unthinkable schedule.”

The +Aulas +Sucesso plan aims to attract retired teachers, encourage those who retire to stay longer, and offer more hours to those already in school or pursuing doctorates.

Pedro Barreiros returned this Thursday to stress the need to “be realistic”: “The problem of the teacher shortage will not be solved by the start of the school year,” he warned.

Following the FNE, the Minister of Education, Science and Innovation, Fernando Alexandre, the Undersecretary of State for Education, Alexandre Homem Cristo, and the Secretary of State for Education Management and Innovation, Pedro Dantas da Cunha, will meet with representatives of the National Federation of Teachers (Fenprof).

Next come the remaining ten teachers’ unions: FENEI, SIPE, FEPECI, SPLIU and SNPL, ASPL, SIPPEB, SEPLEU, Pró-Ordem and S.TO.P.