Montenegro opens school year in Setúbal as unions dispute teacher shortage figures

Inauguration and union protests in Setúbal

On 11 September 2026, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro and Minister of Education, Science and Innovation Fernando Alexandre attended the national opening ceremony for the 2026/2027 school year in Setúbal. They inaugurated the Centro Escolar Barbosa du Bocage, a 2,300-square-metre facility renovated with over 5 million euros funded largely through the Recovery and Resilience Plan. The school houses eight primary classrooms, pre-school facilities, sports areas, and a Snoezelen room for special educational needs. Outside the entrance, around 50 demonstrators organised by the Setúbal Trade Unions Union and the FENPROF teachers federation protested over working conditions, calling for higher pay and career valorisation.

Montenegro addressed the gathering after arriving at the school, maintaining that administrative solutions require ongoing policy execution rather than public grievances.

We have already managed to attract more teachers and the situation is much better this year than it was last year. Last year was already better than it was in 2024, and I want to guarantee to you here that, in 2027, at the end of this school year that begins today, it will be even better.

Government staffing claims and incentives

Montenegro reported that government measures have brought approximately 9,200 educators into the teaching career, with 3,000 assigned to high-pressure territories including Greater Lisbon, the Setúbal Peninsula, and the Algarve. In the Setúbal region specifically, extraordinary placement mechanisms placed more than 600 teachers. To attract candidates to high-demand areas, the executive introduced housing and relocation subsidies of up to 500 euros alongside regulatory changes permitting schools to hire teachers on a daily basis. Montenegro noted that while some schools manage staffing vacancies internally, others in the Setúbal region have exhausted their internal reallocation capacity.

Union pushback on shortages and retirements

Union officials disputed the government's depiction of staffing improvements across public schools. FENPROF leader José Feliciano Costa stated that while more than 7,000 teachers gained career positions over the last two years, most were already employed on temporary contracts, resulting in no real net addition to the workforce. Costa noted that 9,050 teachers have retired since Montenegro took office in April 2024, leaving an estimated 2,000 schedules unfilled nationally. In the Queluz-Belas school grouping, 19 out of more than 40 primary classes began without a designated teacher.

FENPROF secretariat member Cátia Domingues criticised the government's response to systemic vacancies during the demonstration outside the venue.

As long as this government and this ministry do not create conditions of attractiveness, namely in negotiating the teaching career statute, there will be no teachers in Portuguese schools and the problem will worsen year after year.

Montenegro declined to confirm union figures for vacant positions, stating that the exact scope of unfilled hours will be determined through monthly reviews of classroom lesson summaries.

Academic standards and classroom policies

Addressing Portugal's performance in the 2025 PISA evaluations, Montenegro stated that instructional quality had slipped in recent years because of reduced academic demands. The government plans to counter this by expanding continuous assessments, administering more student exams, and updating the citizenship curriculum. The administration also broadened restrictions on mobile phone usage in schools to include third-cycle students, requiring pupils up to the ninth grade to stow their phones during the school day. Montenegro stated that his administration aims to position Portugal near the top of OECD educational rankings before concluding its mandate.