Prospective teachers will again undergo paid internships, which could cost up to 1,600 euros a month, according to a proposal from the Ministry of Education that is due to come into force next school year.
Upon completion of the training, students progress to a Master of Teaching degree lasting two academic years, with the final year being an internship at the school if the tutelage offer is approved, which intends to pay interns the same as a career level 1 teacher receives, i.e. 1604 euros gross.
The Trust estimates that the diploma will be published later this year and that more than two thousand students who have now started their master’s degree in teacher education will be studying in the schools next academic year.
The proposal, which began negotiations with the unions this Monday, would provide these young people with a minimum of 12 hours of training per week (half working time), which would mean receiving at least 802 euros gross per month.
This is another measure to attract young people into teaching careers and thus respond to the growing shortage of teachers in schools, especially in the Lisbon areas and in the south of the country.
The draft decree-law also applies to preschool teachers, who can undergo internships in kindergartens next school year, according to the guardianship proposal, which will support the increase in the number of places for children announced by the Ministry of Social Welfare. solidarity.
The Department of Education wants access to a master’s degree in teaching to be available to students who have completed the degree, as well as to holders of master’s and doctoral degrees in scientific fields covered by the relevant enrollment group.
The government’s proposal also applies to teachers who already teach with their qualifications, in a bid to retain these professionals in schools.
In cases where they have four years of work experience, the internship may be replaced by a public defense of an individual report.
For teachers with a master’s or doctorate degree, the government’s proposal would reduce the internship to one semester without compromising the frequency of teaching sessions.
“We don’t want to ask a person who already has a master’s or doctorate to do it as if he were in the 12th year,” explained a source in the Ministry of Education, emphasizing that these are people who already “have a very reliable preparation.”
On the other hand, some schools will have internship centers and internship supervisors will have the right to reduce the training component to a maximum of four hours, depending on the number of interns they are supervising.
Internship directors can accumulate teaching positions in higher education.
The ministry also wants to give more autonomy to higher education institutions so that they can have more power in determining the number of credits that provide access to education.