In recent academic years, thousands of teachers with degrees in the scientific fields of their teaching disciplines have entered schools without pedagogical training.
These teachers, possessing the necessary qualifications, are allowed to teach but cannot enter the teaching career without professional qualifications, which are obtained through a Master’s degree in Education or, in the case of these teachers, through professionalization courses on the job.
However, the Federação Nacional da Educação (FNE) now reports that many are being excluded from this possibility due to a lack of available slots in these courses.
“This situation is understandably causing concern and uncertainty among a group of teachers who, acting in good faith and meeting all requirements, now find themselves without clear answers about their future,” the union organization laments.
In a statement, the FNE adds that, given the shortage of slots, candidates are unsure of their alternatives or the impact that this issue may have on their professional situation, as many have conditionally joined this year’s pedagogical zone staff (QZP).
According to the extraordinary external competition regime conducted at the beginning of the academic year, “teachers with the necessary qualifications placed in a QZP (…) remain provisionally in that QZP until they complete the course that grants them professional qualification for teaching.”
The FNE emphasizes the urgency for the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MECI) to clarify the situation for the affected teachers and ensure “the opening of the necessary slots to guarantee the professionalization of all candidates who meet the required conditions.”
“These teachers have been fulfilling roles in schools, contributing daily to the functioning of the educational system and to student learning. They cannot now be faced with an information void and the risk of finding themselves in an undefined professional situation,” the federation argues.
