A new model for hiring teachers in San Marino’s schools. On Monday, 5 October, an agreement was reached on the recruitment of teaching staff across all levels of education, marking the conclusion of a process aimed at adapting the system to the country’s changing demographic needs. More than half of eligible voters took part in the ballot, and the text was approved with 65% support.
One of the central points concerns the hiring mechanism itself. “Among the general principles, the agreement provides for periodic hiring based on the actual need for teaching staff, through the use of teaching eligibility lists, thereby doing away with the option of public competitive examinations,” the statement reads.
The new system therefore ties hiring to the school system’s actual requirements while retaining teaching eligibility lists as the recruitment channel. The agreement also addresses the probationary period and teacher evaluation — the latter already provided for under the collective labor agreement but now adjusted to better reflect the specific nature of the teaching profession.
Another chapter concerns job insecurity within the school system. According to the statement, the text includes “targeted measures to guarantee a set of fundamental rights for all workers.” A new framework of rights and obligations has also been established for staff involved in support and inclusion activities.
The negotiations were described as “detailed and complex, not because of opposition between the parties, but because of a shared determination to find a balanced system that takes into account both the present and the future challenges facing the school system.”
Commenting on the outcome, Secretary of State for Education Teodoro Lonfernini said: “This agreement marks a political and strategic milestone of primary importance for institutional stability and for the future of our younger generations.”
“Investing in education means laying the foundations today for tomorrow’s country: we wanted to give teachers certainty and dignity, overcoming the precariousness of the past with a modern, fair approach in step with the times. The strong support shown by workers rewards a method built on dialogue and shared responsibility.
I wish to express my deep gratitude to the trade unions for their constructive engagement, to the Department of Education led by Dr. Emanuele D’Amelio, and to the entire General Directorate of Public Administration.
But the greatest thanks go to the whole community of teachers who, by turning out in large numbers and approving the text with more than 65% support, have shown their belief in this path of growth and innovation.”
