News today that 13 teachers have successfully taken the education ministry to court and won back their jobs has opened the floodgates to hundreds more who feel they have been unfairly treated by the education ministry.
Teachers union Fenprof said today that at least 300 teachers have cases in the pipeline.
It is another blow to the plans of education chief Nuno Crato – already under fire for the worst start to the school year in almost living memory.
Aside from the collapse of the placements system this year, hundreds of teachers lost contracts that would normally have been renewed.
As Correio da Manhã explains, many sought legal advice, and the results began to come through on Thursday (October 30) when Sintra’s administrative and fiscal court ruled that 13 teachers should have seen their contracts renewed.
As the jubilant educators posed for photos, their lawyer Paulo Sobral Nascimento said the court’s decision was absolute.
It now remains to be seen how the “300 cases” upcoming fare.
Meantime, teacher vacancies up and down the country are slowly being filled, and problems now centre on the number of pupils who have missed classes, and the consequent hold-ups in the national curriculum.
