Education policy pushes to fill hard-to-fill teaching roles
In a session held in Las Corts, the Minister of National Education, José Antonio Rovira, stated a clear priority: a teacher will be found before leaving a child without instruction. The remarks came after a question from Compromís about the department’s general teaching strategy and amid reports of empty classrooms at the start of the school year due to difficulties securing staff in certain specialties such as information technology and community services.
While presenting the current legislature’s Education plans, Rovira announced a review of job-board requirements to better accommodate vacancies and withdrawals in hard-to-fill subjects.
Information technology stands out as a high-demand field. Since last week, the Ministry has posted 100 vacancies, but only a handful have been filled. It is estimated that around a hundred classrooms have operated without a full teaching staff since the school year began because qualified teachers were not available.
Ministry officials and education unions have already proposed several measures. They met recently at Campanar to discuss a range of ideas, many of which are already implemented in other regions, such as Catalonia. The core issue remains the same: attracting qualified professionals to the public sector and ensuring classrooms have the necessary instructors.
One proposed approach involves allowing computer science graduates to teach without a master’s degree, provided they commit to obtaining the credential during their period of employment. This proposal would be paired with a one-year teaching master’s program requirement for new hires and a plan to streamline certification pathways. The unions expressed concerns that this could tie the policy to state funding rules and provoke resistance from the Treasury, leading to potential decree changes. As a result, other ideas are being explored, including hiring vocational-education technicians as teaching staff and adjusting teaching loads from 18 to 24 hours per week, enabling a teacher to handle an additional class.
Rovira reiterated today that a resolution is possible without the master’s degree requirement, and even without the Valencian C1 language condition, should staffing demands demand it. The stance emphasizes solution-oriented action over rigid eligibility rules.
more teachers
During his address, the Popular Party highlighted improvements in recruitment that took effect this year. The plan includes the addition of 2,600 teachers, marking a roughly 4% increase, and the deployment of 1,400 English-speaking assistants across public and charter schools, a measure not present during the preceding administration. These changes aim to support multilingual education and broader classroom capacity.
Additionally, education authorities plan to hire another 2,500 professionals in special education, hearing, language support, and therapeutic pedagogy to address diversity in schools. The computer program used to monitor staff will be revised to reduce errors in the current year’s teaching awards, which previously caused concerns among thousands of teachers as the new school year approached. These adjustments reflect a commitment to fair recognition and reliable administration of awards, with accountability for any missteps.
Other goals include making early childhood education free from next year and revisiting music education in the third year of secondary schooling. The department aims to expand access and improve the quality of education across age groups while refining staff management and program delivery to better serve students and families. [Citation: Valencian Community Education Ministry, 2024]
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