The Regional Secretary for Education and Culture stated in Ponta Delgada that "regardless of what will happen, we will assure that teachers working in the Azores will have a more beneficial career from now onwards."

Speaking at the end of a meeting with the Teachers' Democratic Union of the Azores, Avelino Meneses stressed that teachers will have "a more beneficial career as there will be some improvements in their careers."

"The teaching career ended at index 340 of the payment scheme for civil servants and will now end at index 370." This represents "the fulfilment of a longstanding claim of teachers: the levelling out of the teaching career to the senior technical career."

Avelino Meneses stated that "teachers working in the Azores will benefit from a more advantageous career, which does not include the existence of quotas for career progression purposes. This system is implemented in Mainland Portugal as well as in all regional public administration careers. In addition, teachers "will not be covered by the requalification scheme; the latter is already in force nationwide. Under this scheme, several teachers are already being affected by wage cuts at a first stage, which will be eventually followed by unemployment."

The Regional Secretary for Education and Culture also noted that teachers working in the Azores "will have a career that does not require the so-called admission exam to the teaching career. In Mainland Portugal, this exam has prevented several teachers from accessing a teaching position."

However, Avelino Meneses acknowledged the existence of "different positions" regarding the revision process of the teaching career statute and that "the Government obviously has its limits, particularly in terms of what is feasible and what can be done from a financial standpoint."

"We are proposing a transition between careers, through which teachers will be placed in the new career in the same salary index, without any loss. Moreover, we will ensure that there will be no overtaking between teachers. Under the transition from the old to the new career, their years of service will be taken into consideration for progression in the new teaching career," stressed the Regional Secretary.

According to Avelino Meneses, the simple career repositioning, as defended by unions, "represents a financial impact of eight million Euros in the first year, which cannot be supported."
"One of our main obligations is to ensure the proper use of public money and continue to fulfil our role as ombudsman for taxpayers," said the government official .