Education Minister outlines new daily teacher placement system as Portugal faces PISA decline
Minister Fernando Alexandre said Portugal still has many unfilled teaching posts and will launch a daily placement process to cut school weeks without teachers, while acknowledging the sharp drop in PISA scores.
In an interview, Education Minister Fernando Alexandre detailed one outlet staffing gap, noting 1,250 fully covered teaching positions and another 1,250 still open, while more than 2,000 teachers are on sick leave. The shortage is most acute in the Greater Lisbon and Setúbal areas, with Portuguese and Mathematics in the first cycle being the hardest hit subjects. To address the delay in assigning substitutes, the ministry will begin a daily placement procedure on the 18th, moving from a previous two-week timeline to potentially filling needs within a day.
Alexandre criticized the previous administrations for not taking effective measures, linking them to the recent steep decline in Portugal's PISA 2025 results. He said the new model, combined with other initiatives such as reading-fluency diagnostics and expanding primary-school libraries, is intended to bring the number of weeks without a teacher down to near zero, with the first measurable impact anticipated around 2028. The minister also affirmed confidence that the digital national exams will run smoothly next year after recent technical glitches were resolved.
