Interim teachers against the clock: the frantic race to get a position

PalmaA race against time to get a spot. This is how urgent procedures for substitutions with interim teachers in the Balearic Islands, a system in which merits are no longer a priority: you have to be the first to click on the position as soon as it is posted. The dynamic highlights the tension in the system after that in the last procedure, opened from April 14 to 16, 114 positions were offered that could not be filled by interim teachers who met all the requirements, such as the teaching master's degree and the Catalan language level. This academic year, 644 interim teachers are teaching without having accredited the required Catalan language level according to data from the Ministry of Education, which does not specify the stages or levels affected. This figure triples that of 2022.

This point is reached because no interested person was found in the previous ordinary procedures. Urgent procedures are exceptional mechanisms that Education activates when it needs to fill vacancies immediately, often within a period of only two days. Unlike the ordinary system, in which the order of award depends exclusively on the score in the interim pool, this procedure introduces new criteria that respond to the urgency, but which also alter the usual rules of the game.

According to the Alternativa union, the system establishes a clear order of priority among applicants. Firstly, interim employees admitted to the pool and available are taken into account, who obtain a position based on their score. Next, applicants excluded for not proving Catalan proficiency, but who do have a master's degree in teaching, are considered, also ordered by merit.

The most significant change comes from the third block. When these options are exhausted, new applicants enter the picture — people who are not part of the pool or who do not meet all the requirements —, and here the criterion ceases to be score and becomes speed. Positions are awarded in order of arrival of the online application, so the process becomes a true digital competition.

This logic applies to new applicants with the master's degree, as well as to those who are taking it, and finally, to those who do not have this qualification. In all these cases, the difference between obtaining a position or remaining without one can depend on seconds. “Whoever presses the button to finalize the process first within their priority group gets the position,” summarizes the union.

Reservations of positions for certain profiles

The procedure also includes several internal phases. On the one hand, certain positions are reserved for people with disabilities. On the other hand, vacancies that are difficult or very difficult to fill are prioritized, especially in Menorca, Ibiza, and Formentera, where it historically costs more to find teachers. If these positions remain unfilled, they are opened to profiles with fewer requirements, such as applicants without Catalan accreditation.

For Alternativa, this system highlights a structural problem: the lack of available teaching staff with all the required qualifications. The fact that more than a hundred positions have been offered that could not be filled with complete profiles demonstrates, according to the union, the difficulties of the Balearic education system in ensuring normal substitutions.

Furthermore, they warn that, although participation in these procedures is voluntary, it can have consequences for applicants. In certain short-term appointments, such as those for task accumulation, a refusal may involve penalties if not duly justified for reasons such as serious illness or maternity.

In this context, prior preparation is decisive. Aspirants who opt for these positions based on speed must have all their documentation prepared in digital format and a good internet connection at the exact moment the process opens, often at a specific time set by the Administration. A technical detail that, in practice, can end up determining who enters the classroom and who is left out. However, the model has generated debate among education professionals, who question to what extent a system based on speed when clicking can guarantee the principles of equity and quality in access to public teaching. However, there is a shortage of teachers and positions must be filled to satisfy students' right to education: this is the premise on which the Administration operates.