In a statement sent to newsrooms, the STI has expressed approval for the stance taken by the Minister of Education, Science, and Innovation regarding the evaluation of teachers, as discussed in an interview with CNN Portugal. Fernando Alexandre acknowledged that evaluation quotas have hindered teachers’ career progression and discouraged individuals from joining the profession.
The minister advocated for a different, more “simple” evaluation model, drawing on “international practices.”
The STI, representing the majority of workers in the Tax and Customs Authority (AT), also believes that the current performance evaluation model within the framework of the Integrated System of Management and Performance Evaluation in Public Administration (SIADAP) distorts the evaluation process and requires revision.
The union’s statement mentions, “Citing the Minister of Education, who recently admitted in a public interview that the quotas applied in teachers’ evaluations distort the evaluation process itself, the STI goes further and demands not only the immediate elimination of quotas in evaluating AT employees but also a swift revision of imposed objectives that fail to promote proactivity, inspection, or investigation, and teamwork.”
The STI has long advocated for a review of the evaluation model in the tax sector, a topic continuously highlighted, now backed by the argument introduced by a government member outside the Finance Ministry.
In the statement, the STI challenges Fernando Alexandre, expressing hope that the minister will “defend his position on this matter in the Cabinet, not just for teachers but also for other workers subjected to quotas.”
According to the STI, the objectives of the current evaluation model in the AT “are, in some cases, detrimental to companies and citizens, such as the use of metrics in tax and customs inspection corrections.”
Anchor their demands on Fernando Alexandre’s positions to highlight common points between teaching and tax authority work, the STI asserts that “at the AT, the need for study and updating is exactly as the Minister of Education describes—continuous and highly demanding.”
The union promises to “continue fighting for an evaluation system that promotes justice, recognizes merit, and values the professionals supporting the AT,” stating that in the Finance Ministry, quotas “result in a career that spans 64 years, unattainable for most tax and customs inspectors and managers.”
The excessive years required for an AT worker to reach the career’s peak was a topic addressed by tax professionals during a national demonstration organized by the union on December 19, 2024, in Lisbon.
At that time, workers went on strike to express dissatisfaction with what the STI views as a lack of strategy to appreciate AT employees.
