The Minister of Education Nuno Crato announced today that he had accepted the resignation of Mário Agostinho Alves Pereira, after admitting that errors in the placement of teachers this year came from within his ministry.
Pereira, Director General of School Administration since 2009, took the blame for the chaos by incorrectly applying a formula rather than by applying some common sense to the annual turmoil caused when teachers are allocated jobs in a system that causes the maximum disruption for the maximum number of teachers each year.
The 'decision' by Pereira was hardly unexpected as statements by the Minister of Education in Parliament had focussed on Pereira’s area.
"I assume that there was an error from within the offices of the Ministry of Education and that this must be corrected. This was a Ministry error, not one made by the schools or the school directors," said Nuno Crato, seeming to take the blame but managing instead to sack a long-serving director.
At issue is how teachers’ scores were assessed and summarised, the calculations used simply were wrong, leading more than a thousand teachers to be incorrectly allocated jobs where they now will have to stay.
The Regional Director of Education of the Algarve today admitted that there are problems in the placement of special education teachers in schools in the region, notably in Olhão, but hopes that the situation will be rectified by the end of the week.
The Left Bloc pointed out that the system is in such a mess that parents of children at 21 schools in Olhão have been notified to not bring their children to school until further notice.
The Regional Director of Education fort he Algarve, Alberto Almeida said he did not know the exact number of schools in this situation, but is working hard to ensure that teacher placements are a reality "as soon possible."
According to the Left Bloc, the situation in Olhão "is causing serious inconvenience to pupils and their families."
In the meantime, schools in Olhão and across the Algarve remain closed due to lack of teachers.
