“We have placed all the teachers that schools requested from us. There are still some occasional cases, which arise from teachers’ resignations or health situations, but we are in a position to start the new school year with all teachers and responses delivered to schools,” said Jorge Carvalho.
The official, who will end his duties on September 12 before beginning his campaign as the head of the list for the Municipality of Funchal by the PSD/CDS-PP coalition, spoke at a ceremony marking the start of the school year at Escola Básica e Secundária com Pré-Escolar e Creche D. Lucinda Andrade, in São Vicente, located on the island’s northern coast.
“The greatest difficulties in terms of teachers are in the subjects of Portuguese, English, and Philosophy,” he explained, stating that the regional system has 5,800 teachers for the 2025/2026 academic year, along with an additional 313 contracted teachers.
“These situations are dynamic and result not only from teacher training but also from supply and demand from students in the options they can undertake,” he said, further noting, “We always have the option of public offers, meaning licensed individuals who wish to teach.”
The 2025/2026 school year in the Autonomous Region of Madeira also includes about 4,000 non-teaching staff.
Of the 38,000 registered students, roughly 1,900 fewer than the previous year, about 10,000 attend private educational establishments with which the Regional Government (PSD/CDS-PP) annually signs financial support contracts amounting to around 35 million euros.
“The majority of these establishments include children at earlier ages, primarily nurseries, kindergartens, and first cycle schools,” he explained, adding that the overall budget of the Regional Secretariat of Education, Science, and Technology is approximately 500 million euros, with the majority directed towards education.
Jorge Carvalho also emphasized that the digital textbooks project, initiated in the region in 2019, will be completed in the 2025/2026 academic year, covering all levels from grades 5 to 12.
“Everything is prepared to ensure that students receive the equipment and the respective manuals already integrated promptly,” he stated.
Among the approximately 160 educational establishments in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, Escola Básica e Secundária com Pré-Escolar e Creche D. Lucinda Andrade, in São Vicente, was the only one merged this year to integrate all cycles taught in the municipality, from nursery to secondary, totaling 610 students and 112 teachers, distributed across six buildings in the three parishes of the municipality: Boaventura, Ponta Delgada, and São Vicente.
