The Ministry of Education estimates spending around eight million euros, through social security, on income support for teachers placed in schools more than 70 kilometers from home, a measure that encompasses the Algarve region.
The measure is foreseen in the State Budget proposal for 2024 (OE2024), which foresees the adaptation of the Income Support program, to subsidize teachers placed more than 70 kilometers from home, in schools in the regions of Lisbon and Vale do Tejo and the Algarve.
To the Lusa agency, the Minister of Education, who is being heard today in a joint hearing by the parliamentary Budget and Finance and Education and Science committees, as part of the specialized assessment of OE2024, revealed that a budget allocation of around eight million euros for this purpose.
The support will be paid to teachers through social security, as explained by João Costa during the first round of hearing interventions in response to deputy Pedro Filipe Soares, from the Bloco de Esquerda, thus justifying the fact that the amount is not specified in the explanatory note of the OE2024 for education.
It is aimed at all teachers who have accommodation costs above an effort rate of 35% and represents one of the Ministry of Education's responses to the lack of teachers, especially in Lisbon and the Tagus Valley and Algarve.
This limitation to those two regions was criticized by social democratic deputy António Cunha, who warned that many teachers, also placed far from home, but in schools in other regions, are excluded. João Costa responded that support is given to those placed “where the cost of housing is higher”.
The explanatory note, released on the eve of the minister's hearing, refers, on the other hand, to a budget of 52 million euros within the scope of the “Public Housing Park at Affordable Costs” project, financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan.
The project, which does not concern support for displaced teachers, is included in the Education budget via Parque Escolar, which will start building public housing and has been, since March, under shared supervision with the Ministry of Housing, explained the minister to Lusa.
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