Education passes the ball to the unions: competitive exams in May or October?

PalmThe Balearic Ministry of Education and Universities has announced that unions will be able to choose the date for the 2026 teacher recruitment exams between May and the weekend of October 16th, following widespread rejection of the initial proposal to hold them in May. The measure aims to make the process more flexible and avoid an excessive concentration of procedures before the start of the school year. Traditionally, teacher recruitment exams in the Balearic Islands took place in June, but the initial proposal had moved the exams forward to May 9th, which generated widespread opposition among teachers and unions. According to a survey by the STEI Intersindical union, 70% of teachers opposed the May date. The UOB union also expressed its displeasure, as did SIAU, Alternativa, UGT, and CCOO. The decision will be made this week, as the official announcement must be published.

Education Minister Antoni Vera has defended the new proposal, stating that it allows unions to choose: "We are letting unions choose between May or the weekend of October 16th." According to Vera, the goal is to reconcile the deadlines with teacher availability and school organization. If the competitive examinations are held in October, the new civil servants would take up their posts in the 2027-2028 academic year.

To expedite all teaching procedures

Vera reiterated that the exams cannot be organized "between Sant Joan and Sant Jaume" and emphasized that "our goal is to reach the start of the school year with as many positions filled as possible and with all the necessary procedures completed before August." This concern stems from past experience: during the 22 days in August without open processes, more than 1,200 substitute teaching positions were created, highlighting the difficulty of managing all the procedures concentrated in such a short period. "We are one of the departments that concentrates the most procedures in a very short time, and we need to spread them out to guarantee a good public service," Vera added. Several unions and groups had criticized the early start date in May, arguing that it coincided with the end of the school year, exams, and assessments, hindering the participation of applicants and the teachers who serve on the examination boards.

According to the Regional Ministry of Education, the final call for applications for the competitive examinations will be published this week, with more than six hundred positions planned for various teaching bodies, including secondary school teachers, primary school teachers, language school teachers, music teachers, performing arts teachers, and vocational training teachers. The new plan aims to reduce the number of substitute teachers needed in August and ensure that most positions are filled before the start of the school year. Vera emphasized that the proposed date of the exams on the weekend of October 16th will allow for a balance between organizational needs and the preparation time for candidates, as well as the unions' demands for consensus: "This way, we can carry out the processes without causing a summer backlog and guarantee that schools have teachers before the start of the school year."