Schools received 380 enrollment applications in the last week

Publication: ECO

Author: Lusa

Source published: 06/10/2026, 20:50:54 UTC

Briefing created: 23/10/2026, 23:21:32 UTC

Based on a feed excerpt; full article content has not been acquired. Source evidence retrieved 06/10/2026, 20:56:25 UTC.

Briefings

The Portuguese Ministry of Education reported 380 new enrollment requests for the week of October 6, 2026, with 73% of applicants being foreign nationals. The current government, led by Prime Minister António Costa, attributes the high volume to a new teacher allocation model allowing schools to accept students based on capacity rather than fixed quotas, which has increased teacher placements by approximately 200 per day. However, the minister acknowledged that 55% of the 563 open hours remain unfilled, with significant shortages in the Lisbon and Setúbal metropolitan areas.

Key points

380 new enrollment requests received by the Ministry of Education in the week of October 6, 2026, with 73% of applicants being foreign nationals.
The new teacher allocation model allows schools to accept students based on capacity rather than fixed quotas, resulting in approximately 200 additional daily teacher placements.

Context

This finding addresses a persistent issue where hundreds of students remain without school placement at the start of the academic year. The minister clarified that while the new model increases capacity, it does not solve the root cause of students not being placed, noting that 55% of open hours remain unfilled.

Limitations

The data covers only the week of October 6, 2026, and does not include prior enrollment figures or historical context. The minister explicitly stated that the problem is not new, but the specific numbers and the impact of the new teacher model are the primary findings.

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