Education claims the "best organised teaching management process in years"

PalmaThe Department of Education has this Tuesday claimed the results of this summer's teaching positions' allocation processes, which it considers "the best organized in years," and has assured that they will allow the school year to begin with practically complete staff. The Minister of Education, Antoni Vera, highlighted that 2,381 out of the 2,417 structural vacancies offered to interim staff have been allocated, a coverage of 98.4%, and attributed these figures to the advancement of the opposition exams to May. However, the SIAU union has categorically rejected the "triumphalist" tone of Education. The union recalled that it has reported the disappearance of vacancies, errors in the allocation of positions, the creation of a position at IEDIB that the Department has ended up withdrawing, delays in the schedule, and leaks of interim staff's destinations before official publication

"It has been a success. It is the most well-organized teaching staff management process in years," stated Vera. The counselor assured that "more positions have been awarded than ever before and, by the end of July, we have practically all vacant positions covered," which, according to him, will provide "more stability" to educational centers and to the teachers themselves.

In total, more than 4,500 teachers have obtained a position during the different summer processes. After the transfer competition and the provisional assignments of career civil servants without a permanent position, the Department has awarded the structural vacancies to interim staff and civil servants in training. In parallel, it has also resolved 82% of the service commissions requested by teachers who had asked to change centers.

Vera defended that these results are a direct consequence of moving the opposition exams to May, a decision that generated debate. "We already said that it was not a whim or an arbitrary decision. We explained it because it would allow us to advance the summer processes and start the school year with more staff covered than ever before," he stated. According to the counselor, the new calendar has also allowed for "a faster integration of civil servants in training, advancing the assignment procedures, and providing more stability to centers and teachers."

The head of Education also stressed that, despite the initial controversy, the competitive examinations have registered the highest participation in recent years. "This year, more candidates have applied than ever before," he said, recalling that in 2025, 829 people registered, while this year, 1,082 candidates have done so.

Another of the notable new features has been the advancement of the first replacement procedure to the month of July. The Department explains that these positions are not structural vacancies, but rather posts that have a holder but are temporarily vacant due to medical leave, secondments, or service commissions. "We have a historic milestone. Thanks to the advancement of the competitive examinations and the twenty days of leeway we have gained, we have been able to carry out the first replacement procedure in July," stated Vera.

In this first procedure, 572 replacements were offered and 448 were filled, 78.3%. According to the counselor, this will allow the major September procedure to be much smaller than last year's. The next replacement process will open on August 28 and, subsequently, ordinary and urgent procedures will take place every week to cover the leaves that occur.

Ibiza has more than the rest of the islands combined

Regarding structural vacancies, there are only 36 left to be allocated: 11 in Mallorca, two in Menorca, and 23 in Ibiza, while in Formentera there are none pending. Vera assured that these positions represent approximately 1% of the structural needs of the educational system. "These are very good figures. Pending vacancies are positions that no one has been allocated and for which we cannot find candidates," she stated.

The pending positions correspond mainly to specialties with a shortage of professionals. In Mallorca, they affect areas such as technology, jewelry, computing, economics, German, and Greek; in Menorca, classical culture and French; and in Ibiza, some specialties in restoration, Catalan, and marine installations.

The counselor concluded that, overall, "99% of the positions are covered" and that educational centers will be able to face the start of the course on September 10th "with practically complete staff weeks in advance," which will also facilitate the planning of teaching teams and the travel of teachers who have to work on an island different from their place of residence.

Rejection of SIAU

The SIAU union has rejected the statements of councilor Antoni Vera, and has assured that they have been marked by improvisation, lack of transparency, and numerous incidents. It has also criticized that documents that were previously public have stopped being published, which has forced them to submit a request for access to information, and has called for the elimination of the Prior to Taking Possession Procedure (TPPP), which it considers an unnecessary bureaucratic burden. SIAU has maintained that high vacancy coverage figures cannot hide poor management and has warned that it will be in September when it will be verified if the staff are truly complete. Finally, it has questioned whether the advancement of the opposition process has been useful after the "chaos" experienced this summer.