Teachers Deliver Thousands of Protest Postcards to Prime Minister's Residence

Thousands of postcards from teachers across Portugal arrived at the Prime Minister's official residence in Sao Bento on Friday morning, carried by educators who marched in a human chain from the Jardim da Estrela in a carefully choreographed act of protest against what they describe as the systematic devaluation of their profession.

The action, organised by the National Federation of Teachers (Fenprof), caps a two-week national caravan that visited schools across the country between February 19 and March 4, gathering signatures and postcards under the banner: "We Are Teachers. We Give a Face to the Future. We Demand Recognition Now."

A Profession in Crisis

The numbers tell a story that has been building for years. Portugal's teaching workforce is among the oldest in Europe, with the average age creeping upward as fewer young graduates enter the profession and many who do leave within their first years. Schools in the Lisbon metropolitan area and the Algarve have been particularly hard-hit by recruitment shortages, with some subjects — mathematics, physics, information technology — chronically understaffed.

Fenprof argues that the root cause is straightforward: pay and conditions have not kept pace with the cost of living, particularly in urban centres where housing costs have surged. A starting teacher's salary, after years of frozen pay scales and modest adjustments, remains uncompetitive with private-sector alternatives for graduates with comparable qualifications.

"In a context marked by worsening difficulties in recruiting and retaining teachers, by the ageing of the profession, and by the persistent deterioration of working conditions, Fenprof considers it essential to place at the centre of political and social debate the need for structural measures that make the profession attractive and guarantee the future of public education," the federation wrote in a statement.

What the Postcards Say

The postcards, addressed directly to Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, call for "concrete measures to value the teaching career and strengthen investment in public schools." They are deliberately personal — handwritten messages from individual teachers describing their daily realities, their frustrations, and their reasons for staying in or considering leaving the profession.

The symbolic weight of delivering physical mail in an age of digital petitions was intentional. Fenprof wanted the volume to be visible, tangible — boxes of postcards carried on foot to the gates of power.

The Government's Position

The government has acknowledged the teacher shortage as a priority but has so far focused on incremental measures: modest salary increases, relocation incentives for teachers willing to move to underserved areas, and streamlined hiring processes. Critics, including Fenprof, argue these steps are insufficient without a fundamental restructuring of the pay scale.

For families navigating Portugal's education system — including the growing number of international residents enrolling children in public schools — the teacher shortage has practical consequences. Larger class sizes, substitutes covering multiple subjects, and gaps in specialist teaching all affect educational quality.

Friday's march was peaceful, brief, and pointed. Whether the postcards prompt a response from Sao Bento remains to be seen. But the teachers made clear they intend to keep the pressure on through the spring, with further actions planned ahead of the next budget cycle.