Teaching exams begin in Catalonia: 18,000 applicants vie for 9,000 jobs

Nearly 18,000 people in Catalonia took the teacher recruitment exams on Saturday, vying for 9,344 positions. 

This is a record-breaking offering of teaching positions in an ordinary call, unmatched except for last July's extraordinary call, which offered over 14,000 positions. 

Of the 9,344 positions to be filled, 2,131 are for primary school teachers and 6,947 are for secondary school teachers. 

The subject areas with the most vacancies are mathematics, with 720 positions; elementary Education, with 705; English, with 627; Catalan language and literature, with 555.  

However, many of these positions will go unfilled, as there are more jobs than applicants in 25 of the 90 fields, most notably in computer science, mathematics, and technology.  

The Education Department estimates that one-third of the positions in these fields will go unfilled.

The exam, which began today and will continue through June, will take place at 136 locations in 68 municipalities with a total of 224 examiners. 

'I can't wait for the process to be over' 

In the morning, the candidates presented their didactic programming proposal and took the practical test. In the afternoon, they will have to develop a written topic.   

"I can't wait for the process to be over. I've been very nervous and I don't need any more stress," says Andreu Pichardo, who is applying for a position as an English teacher.   

The second part, on another day, is the personal presentation of the didactic program and the learning situation or didactic unit.  

"I have been a substitute teacher for a few years and I really like the job," explains Mireia Viader, who is applying for a position in the field of social services.