Sofia Ribeiro presents Teaching Prioritisation Plan - Communication

Secretaria Regional da Educação, Cultura e Desporto

The Regional Secretary for Education, Culture and Sport, Sofia Ribeiro, presented the Teaching Prioritisation Plan, which includes incentives for teachers to settle on six islands, changes to staff application procedures and the management of surplus teachers.

"It is true that we are seeing a demographic reduction. However, contrary to what happened in the past, when not investing in the placement of new teachers was justified by the reduction in the birth rate, this Government has always acknowledged that the reduction in the number of students does not justify any restraint with the placement of teachers," she stressed at the press conference.

After listing the various measures already taken in the sector, the Regional Secretary presented the three axes of the Teaching Prioritisation Plan: incentives for teachers to stay in teaching; changes to the regulations for the teaching staff competition; and the management of surplus teachers.

The first case targets the islands of Santa Maria, Graciosa, São Jorge, Pico, Flores and Corvo, which have recorded the highest rates of annual fixed-term contracts over the last three years. It involves the creation of financial incentives for teaching groups and schools where it was necessary in August last year to resort to applications through the Azores Public Employment Exchange (BEPA) due to the lack of applicants in the main competition.

"Provided that these vacancies correspond to the need for integration into staff positions, support amounting to €300 per month will be granted, plus an annual return ticket under the Azores Fare or the Social Mobility Aid. Teachers placed in the designated vacancies will benefit from this support, regardless of their contract status provided they commit to remaining there for a minimum of three years, with monthly attendance of no less than 75%," stated Sofia Ribeiro.

As for the amendment of the teaching application rules, the Regional Secretariat for Education, Culture and Sport will begin the negotiation process for revising the teaching application rules, having presented unions with the respective preliminary legislative proposal and a schedule starting on March 7.

The proposal will establish a first priority for placements in internal, external and recruitment applications for teachers who, having benefited from the incentives for settlement explained above, wish to remain on the same island and in the same teaching area. In securing a permanent position, teachers benefiting from this first priority must remain in that position for at least five years.

In addition, it proposes the creation of a rule stipulating that teachers must have completed at least one year of service in the school and teaching group in which they obtained a permanent position.

Regarding the management of surplus teachers, the Regional Government will use the transferring mechanism to transfer teachers to school establishments with a shortage of teachers.

"In other words, if a situation is identified in which a school has more teachers than the number of positions defined by law, and another school in the same municipality has a shortage of teachers, the educational administration department will transfer the teacher with a lower professional qualification. This mechanism is also possible between schools in different municipalities, as long as the distance between schools in the two municipalities is less than the distance between the schools in the same municipality," she said.

Sofia Ribeiro noted that the Regional Secretariat has already started preparing the second phase of this Teaching Prioritisation Plan, "to be implemented when preparing the next school year, in the process of defining the allocation of teaching duties, considering the existing students and courses."

She emphasised: "At the last Coordinating Council of the Regional Education System, we suggested this analysis, and we plan to present a series of guidelines to school establishments for the launch of the school year, with this goal in mind."