Mobile phone bans are being expanded in Portuguese schools; after being prohibited in the 1st and 2nd cycles, the ban will now extend to the 3rd cycle (grades 7-9) starting with the upcoming 2026/2027 school year.
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The new school year is scheduled to begin between September 11 and 15, 2026. Education Minister Fernando Alexandre faces significant criticism from teacher unions following technical and administrative difficulties during the national secondary exam grading process, which unions attribute to the Ministry's ongoing structural reforms and digitization efforts.
New data from Pordata shows that secondary school completion rates are higher in the North, while Lisbon, Setúbal, and the Algarve register lower completion rates.
With one week remaining before the school year starts, over 2,000 teaching positions are currently unfilled. The Minister of Education stated that the government has enough teachers to cover these needs and noted that daily teacher placements will begin on September 18 to reduce the time students go without a teacher. Additionally, the government has formed a working group to create a 'green channel' for foreign students facing residency regularization delays through AIMA when enrolling in higher education.