As reported by CNN Portugal, all pupils were allocated to existing classes, with most being placed in those above their usual capacity rather than through the creation of new ones.

The meeting began on Monday afternoon, 14 September, and continued until after 10pm, involving directors from school groups and independent schools across the municipality, alongside Raul Capaz, President of the Agency for the Management of the Education System (AGSE), other agency officials and the Minister of Education’s Chief of Staff.

According to a source close to the process, “the aim was to place all the pupils who were still without a school, and we succeeded. There was no need to create classes. We distributed the pupils among the existing classes, but a large proportion were placed above the normal class capacity”.

Education structure

This issue has raised questions about how pupils without school places are allocated following the restructuring of the Education Ministry, as many are left without spots at the beginning of every academic year.

The regional directorates of the Directorate General for School Establishments (DGEstE) previously handled these administrative allocations. However, after the restructuring under Education Minister Fernando Alexandre, the DGEstE was abolished, and AGSE absorbed its responsibilities.

A local official from central Portugal said schools in other parts of the country were instructed by email to distribute pupils without placements among themselves, and the directors met on August 31 to resolve the issue.

Furthermore, the official stated the situation was considerably more difficult in Lisbon, Greater Lisbon and the Setúbal Peninsula, where large numbers of pupils can require annual administrative placement.

Schools were reportedly given the choice to place pupils in existing classes or create new ones.

“We are bursting at the seams,” the director lamented, warning that many schools did not have the physical capacity to open additional classes.

State system

This development followed Fernando Alexandre's pledge on 14 September that no pupil without a school place would be left outside the state education system, although some could end up attending schools other than those they requested.

The minister added that the problem occurs every year and claimed the number of cases is falling, citing changing demand for school places, and noted that 134 new enrolment requests were submitted in Lisbon during the previous week alone.

Fernando Alexand also confirmed the Government would investigate at least two cases in which schools allegedly turned pupils away despite having available places, calling it an irregularity.

FENPROF, the Union of Teachers, said it was not aware of similar cases elsewhere in the country, but reported that 744 pupils were still without a school place in Sintra on Friday, while Lisbon had around 540 at the time.

The final figure for Lisbon rose to 613 by Monday, all of whom were allocated a place during the meeting that continued late into the evening.