Approximately 6 thousand teachers received health certificates in Portugal: More than half of the empty curriculum is in Lisboa and Setúbal

Shortly after the start of the new academic year in Portugal, approximately 6 thousand teachers received health certificates. According to the latest data announced by Minister of Education Fernando Alexandre in Parliament, as of Tuesday, more than 2 thousand teaching programs were still unfilled across the country.

The fact that the problem is not evenly distributed throughout the country is especially important for families in Lisboa and Península de Setúbal: 56% of empty programs are located in these regions.

More than 12 thousand programs have been filled

According to the Ministry of Education data, a total of 12,147 teaching programs have been filled since August 28.

Approximately half of this need arose for reasons such as teachers obtaining a health report or reducing their workload.

Minister Fernando Alexandre announced that approximately 6 thousand teachers have submitted health reports since the beginning of the academic year.

There are still 2,029 empty programs

As of Tuesday, 2,029 teaching positions had not yet been filled.

56% of these are in schools in Lisboa and Península de Setúbal.

This distribution shows that the teacher shortage is not homogeneous across Portugal.

The high cost of living and housing in the Lisbon metropolitan area has long been a factor in teacher shortage discussions.

However, it is not possible to attribute all of the 2,029 current vacant programs to housing costs alone.

124 classes are above the legal student limit

Minister in Parliament According to other information provided, 124 classes in the country operate above the student limit specified in the legislation.

Although this figure represents a small portion of total classes, it shows that teacher and classroom capacity problems overlap in some regions.

The number of students who could not get into school decreased to 52

Students who had problems settling into school at the beginning of the academic year were also on the agenda.

According to the latest data from the Ministry, the number of students waiting for a school place decreased to 52 at the beginning of the week.

Here too, the majority of cases are concentrated around Grande Lisboa and Setúbal.

Why is it important for families around Lisboa?

What is more important than the national number of teachers is whether there is a relevant branch teacher at the school the child attends.

Therefore, it is especially important for PTNewsHub readers that 56% of the 2,029 vacant programs nationwide are concentrated in Lisboa and Setúbal.

The true impact of the problem will become clearer in the coming weeks by how many students are spending certain classes without a teacher and how quickly empty schedules can be filled.

Resources

Observador / Lusa — Ministro da Educação no parliament: 6.000 professores de baixa médica, 2.000 horários vagos e 124 turmas acima do limite, 23 September 2026

https://observador.pt/2026/09/23/__trashed-1115/