The Ministry of Education has deferred the announcement regarding a potential expansion of the smartphone ban in schools, which currently applies only to students up to the 6th grade, until after the current school year concludes.
Secretary of State for Education Alexandre Homem Cristo stated that a new survey will be launched this week for school directors to assess the impact of the existing ban on students in the 1st and 2nd cycles. The aim is to determine whether to extend these restrictions to older students, with final decisions and updates on the next school year expected only after classes end.
This initiative began two years ago as a recommendation for schools to prevent younger students from using smartphones on campus, and the government sought to evaluate the subsequent changes.
Feedback from teachers and staff indicated clear benefits, including improved student behavior, increased socialization, more physical activity, higher library usage, and a decrease in both indiscipline and bullying. Following these positive findings, the ministry transitioned the recommendation into a formal prohibition and now intends to replicate this evaluation process to determine if it should apply to higher education levels.
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During today’s negotiation meeting, the government and teacher unions reviewed proposals for a new teacher recruitment model, aiming to consolidate existing procedures into just two: one for permanent needs and a continuous process for temporary requirements.
Secretary of State Alexandre Homem Cristo noted that the government is seeking a balance between school needs and teacher expectations, incorporating previous feedback from unions and committing to further revisions. A new version of the proposed legal framework will be sent to unions today, with further technical meetings scheduled to conclude these points by May 14th.
The negotiations also addressed internal mobility for teachers with existing employment ties, exploring how they can apply for temporary positions while maintaining the goal of allowing them to work closer to their residences.
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The government is currently defining the specific conditions for this process to prevent procedural leapfrogging and ensures it will occur before the start of the next school year.
Despite these ongoing efforts, some union structures, such as Fenprof, have criticized the slow pace of the review process, accusing the government of stalling the necessary updates to the Teacher Career Statute.
