New rules for the appointment of teachers in pre-university education

The procedure for establishing teaching norms for the 2025-2026 school year, adapted to the measures provided for by the new fiscal-budgetary law, was published on Friday in the Official Gazette. The document regulates the calendar, the conditions of appointment, additional obligations and exceptions applicable to teaching staff in pre-university education.

• Calendar for the distribution and updating of positions

According to the procedure, teachers and candidates assigned to vacant positions between July 31 and August 4 received distribution decisions and presented themselves for the signing of contracts by yesterday. Between August 11 and 18, school inspectorates will update the list of vacant or reserved positions. In parallel, between August 11-14, educational units will be able to review the list of optional subjects and will resume the procedure for establishing positions and completing teaching norms.

• Additional obligations for teachers

The duties of primary education teachers include two hours of remedial training per week. At the same time, management staff in inspectorates, teaching staff houses, school and extracurricular units, as well as guidance and control staff, cannot carry out teaching activities remunerated by hourly or cumulative payment.

However, there is an exception: in the absence of qualified teachers, the board of directors of the inspectorate may approve that management staff teach on an hourly basis, but only in primary or secondary schools in isolated rural areas and in subjects for which they have the necessary qualification.

• Order of teaching staff recruitment

The document establishes a clear hierarchy for filling positions, with priority given to: Tenured staff in the unit, including newcomers hired by September 1, 2024; Staff completing their full-time work starting in 2025-2026; Fixed-term staff, with a minimum score of 7 in the national competition; Transferred staff, assigned by pre-transfer or with a change in assignment; Staff with full-time work as a result of a reduction in activity. The list continues with various categories, including teachers who obtain finalization and benefit from contract extension.

• Special rules for rural areas

In high schools and vocational schools in rural areas, the teaching full-time work can be completed, for a fixed period, with hours in subjects from the same curricular area, even if they do not exactly correspond to the specialization on the diploma. This completion is allowed up to a quarter of the full-time work, without loss of salary rights.

• Resolving activity restrictions

Between August 11 and 14, teachers requesting transfer or completion of their teaching hours due to activity restrictions submit applications to the inspectorates, accompanied by supporting documents. Applications can also be submitted online. On August 18, the teachers' scores will be displayed, and between August 18 and 19, the appeals will be resolved.

Staff assigned according to the new procedure may opt not to fully support the hours provided for in the norm, in the new units, with a proportional reduction in salary and seniority. This procedure establishes not only a clear framework for the classification and completion of teaching norms, but also new responsibilities and restrictions for management staff, aiming at optimizing human resources and equitable coverage of positions in the pre-university education system.