Fernando Alexandre, Portugal's Minister of Education, is being evaluated as a potential milestone in Portuguese education since the 25th of April. Henrique Dias Freire's article acknowledges significant achievements, namely the recovery of teachers' service time, which benefited 89,922 teachers with at least one progression, and the relocation support created in 2024 and expanded in 2025, which covered 7,122 teachers. The new recruitment model, approved in September, and the postponement of classes to September 21st due to the overload of graders are also mentioned.
However, the article warns of persistent problems. In the Algarve, the shortage of teachers is linked to the lack of affordable housing, and approximately 2,700 positions remained unfilled in September. The parent associations federation alerted the central government to this reality. The article questions why September has become a normalized month of uncertainty, when schools and predictable needs are known.
A significant failure prevented full praise: the digitization of summer exams. The National Examining Board admitted papers with missing items, and the General Inspectorate of Education and Science identified delays in 29 schools and re-evaluations in 69. The operation involved the National Printing House (Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda), the National Examining Board, and the public institute EduQA. The article demands that the investigation not be limited to schools, but extend to platforms, central bodies, and political decisions.
The author concludes that Fernando Alexandre has demonstrated merit and an orientation that justifies hope, but is "on the way, not enshrined." To be recognized as the minister Education had been waiting for, he will have to transform valorization into permanence, simplification into classes, and authority into trust. The decisive test remains: every student has, from the first day, a competent teacher and conditions to learn.
