Retirements and medical leaves, mostly among teachers nearing retirement age, have pushed Porto to second place in the top five areas with the greatest teacher shortages, joining Setúbal, Lisbon, Faro, and Santarém. Francisco Gonçalves, secretary-general of Fenprof, warns that the aging teaching staff in the North is driving this crisis. Filinto Lima, president of the National Association of Public School Directors (ANDAEP), notes that the teacher shortage has spread nationwide, affecting core subjects like Portuguese and Mathematics. While the Ministry of Education is implementing measures, unions and directors argue that dignifying the teaching career, increasing salaries, and reducing bureaucracy are essential to solving the problem. Fenprof has scheduled a protest and is considering strikes for the third term if negotiations over the Career Statute fail, while the government continues to withhold official data on the number of students currently without classes.