Being a young teacher in Portugal – Observer
After so many years in which some irresponsibly repeated that there were too many teachers, Portugal is now facing difficulties in replacing teachers and needs to attract young people to this profession.
Historically, the 2011-2014 crisis was suspended by the cut in public services, especially in education, with the loss of around 35,000 teachers, both due to aging and cuts. In addition, for nine interrupted academic years, teachers’ careers were frozen, namely between 2005 and 2007, with the same phenomenon returning from 2011 until the end of 2017.
From 2015 to 2022, there were recoveries, from the growth in the number of professionals, where more than 10 thousand teachers joined the staff, to a greater linkage on the part of them. In 2018, 42% of teachers were in the top three levels, while today a third of teachers are in the three highest career levels. In 2023, 76.5 million euros are still expected to be spent on salary protection and 40 million euros on salary progressions, with 22 million euros being used to reintroduce remunerated benefits, in access to this profession.
However, the 2022/2023 school year is again marked by the lack of teachers in schools, preventing a future worsening of this phenomenon. The paintings remained aged and rejuvenation still seems to be a long way off.
According to Pordata, the number of graduates in 2021 in education courses was 3543 students, and if we compare the same data from the last two decades, we find that in the early 2000s there were about 12 million graduates in these same courses, which open doors for those who want to practice the profession until the end of the 3rd cycle.
In terms of enrollments, we see that 20 years ago there were around 50,000 enrolled in education courses, currently there are around 15,000 – a clear decrease both in terms of graduates and even enrollments. Still in 2021, 1593 individuals graduated in masters with professional qualifications for teaching, 20 years ago there were 5621 “masters”.
The career begs for a rejuvenation! If policies that promote better conditions and are attractive are not implemented, we will continue to see little interest from young people, and the numbers will become more drastic.
According to the Eurydice report, based on TALIS 2018 data, in Portugal more than two thirds of teachers under 35 have fixed-term contracts. Portugal thus ranks as the country in the EU where there are more teachers in the young age group with fixed-term contracts, around 50% more than the European average. Which makes me realize that a young person who would even like to be a teacher is hesitant to enter the career given its instability, misses it, often disconnected from the reality of the area in which the teacher works. In other words, in recent years Portugal has not invested in the profession itself, young people enter the career, but always with the fascination of the transition, and even with the possibility of walking with “home at their backs”.
As a young person, I believe that the career would have more income if:
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Teachers did not suffer from being affected by the high bureaucracy that caused stressas a high load of administrative tasks.
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The number of students would be reduced, as it contributes to better monitoring between student and teacher, giving more teaching space to teachers.
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Salary increases: Portugal continues to be a country with slow career progression and few salary incentives. Our teachers are not satisfied – less than one in ten teachers are satisfied with their salary.
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Strengthening early career games, Portugal remains one of the EU countries where salary increases are not guaranteed early in career.
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Revision of the recruitment model, avoiding that there are teachers with “the house on their backs”.
In conclusion, emphasizing that the fight for this profession must be taken seriously, it is essential to fight for young people who want to be teachers, not only to guarantee a better future for our country, but also for future young people.