The President of the Republic, António José Seguro, promulgated last Friday, 28 August, the decree that extends the ban on smartphone use in schools up to the 9th grade. The measure had been announced a month earlier by the Minister of Education, who explained that the decision was based on international trends and a new survey of school principals, who reported that in spaces where mobile phones are not allowed there is "more socialisation" and "less indiscipline".
In the previous school year, the ban was mandatory only for students in the 1st and 2nd cycles, but about half of the 3rd cycle schools also decided to ban smartphones. Schools will have the first term of classes to adapt and transition to the new rules, which will come into effect on 01 January 2027.
Seguro also promulgated the decree approved in the Council of Ministers on 30 July that modifies the exceptional and temporary measures to address the shortage of teachers, within the framework of the so-called "Plan + Classes + Success". One of the changes concerns the list of regions considered underprivileged, where it is more difficult to recruit teachers, which change from 10 Pedagogical Zone Boards with 258 Organic Units to 8 PZB with 235 Organic Units in the regions of Greater Lisbon, Setúbal Peninsula and Algarve. The Government also decided to restrict to those schools the additional remuneration of 750 euros awarded to teachers who accept postponing retirement and continuing to teach.
As for teaching qualifications, the decree simplifies the recognition of qualifications obtained in the post-Bologna period, changing the requirement to teach without professional qualifications, which now becomes the scientific area of the degree and not a minimum number of credits in the respective scientific area. In practical terms, a graduate in Economics can teach Economics, or a graduate in Psychology can teach Psychology, which was not possible until now.
