The next call for competitive examinations for Teaching Corps in Cantabria It arrives shrouded in controversy: the Department of Education has only managed to gather seven people willing to participate voluntarily in the evaluation tribunals, when 52 teachers are needed to form the 13 tribunals planned.
This significant imbalance has set off alarm bells among teachers and trade unions, who see the low voluntary response as clear evidence of rejection of the new opposition model promoted by the Ministry, already known among the education sector as the “Silva model”.
A new court system with almost no volunteers
The most debated change in the reform has been the decision that some of the members of the courts will be designated by volunteers instead of by lottery among all career civil servants, as had been done until now in Cantabria.
In the current call for applications, the following have been configured 13 tribunals for the teaching staffEach of them is made up of five members: a presidency appointed by the Ministry, two members designated by lottery and two members who had to come from a pool of volunteer teachers.
However, of the 52 positions that were to be filled through this optional system, only seven people who finally meet the requirements have applied, far from what the Administration anticipated when it launched this modification.
The Ministry itself acknowledges that, with such a limited response, They have not been completed by any means the positions of volunteer members, so the rest of the positions will again be filled through the traditional method of drawing lots.
Distribution of volunteers by specialty
The scarcity of candidates is clearly seen when detailing the distribution by specialty, where Some areas have become completely empty. of applicants for volunteer position.
According to data released by the Cantabria Teachers' Union (STEC), there is only one volunteer for the four Early Childhood Education tribunals and a single teacher for the four Primary Education tribunals, which clearly demonstrates the difficulty in finding teachers willing to take on this role.
In the specialty of Therapeutic Pedagogy, three volunteers have applied for the single tribunal, of whom two will fill a position and one will remain as a substitute, configuring the only area where there has been a slight surplus.
In Hearing and Language only one person has offered and in Physical Education there is also only one volunteer teacher, which allows a minimum tribunal to be covered but is far from the original design of two volunteer members per tribunal.
The English and Music specializations are the most affected, since Not a single volunteer has registered for their courts. In both cases, all members must be chosen by lottery, as was the case with the previous system.
STEC criticisms: a model "doomed to fail before it was even tested"
Given this situation, the STEC has been particularly harsh in its assessments and maintains that the procedural reform “has failed before it has even been tried,” considering that the very reality of the data This demonstrates that the teaching staff does not support the new model.
The union points out that the modification of the selection system for the members was a decision taken “unilaterally” by the Ministry, despite having been rejected at the negotiating table by all trade union organizations who participate in the representation of the teaching staff.
Furthermore, STEC emphasizes that in the consultation organized by the Teaching Staff Committee last March, nine out of ten teachers They opposed this change, expressing their disagreement with the courts depending in part on volunteers.
The union insists that this approach jeopardizes the diversity and independence that should characterize the composition of a tribunal in a public process as sensitive as a teacher recruitment exam, and warns of the risks of subjective examination boards.
The response from the Ministry and the so-called "Silva model"
On behalf of the Education Administration, Councilor Sergio Silva and the Director General of Teaching Staff, Alberto Hontañón, argue that the current model responds to repeated complaints from the teaching staff who in previous years expressed his displeasure at being appointed to the courts on a mandatory basis.
According to Hontañón, the idea of incorporating volunteer members was intended to accommodate those who "wanted to correct" and alleviate the feeling of imposition that accompanied the generalized lottery, something that, according to Education, had been demanded for some time in the centers.
The Ministry also points out that other autonomous communities They already work with similar systems of voluntary incorporation into the tribunals, and recalls that the regulations allow some leeway to educational authorities to configure these evaluation bodies.
The regional government interprets STEC's position as "quite demagogic," insisting that the objective is to improve the functioning of the competitive examinations and provide an outlet for the discontent accumulated after the problems detected in previous processes.
Longer processes and effects on temporary staff lists
Beyond the discussion about the origin of the members, the union warns that the new design of the opposition will imply lengthen the correction process during a good part of the 2026-2027 academic year, instead of concentrating it in a few months as was done in previous calls.
The Ministry's plan stipulates that the members of the tribunals will be released from teaching duties from September to dedicate themselves exclusively to the evaluation of the tests, a decision that, in STEC's opinion, has been made without the consensus of the teaching staff.
This release during a full course will have a direct impact on the creation of hiring lists for new workers, since the final formation of these job pools, so eagerly awaited by those who apply to the process, will be delayed by a year.
The appointment and competition for career civil servants who obtain a position in Cantabria will also be postponed for a year, which, according to the union, represents an additional detriment both to new graduates and to the education system as a whole.
Delays in corrections and summer up in the air for applicants
Another point that is generating considerable concern among those who are going to take these competitive exams is the correction schedule used by the Ministry, since Many applicants could spend the entire summer without knowing if they continue in the process.
STEC denounces that the decision not to correct part A of the exam before August will keep candidates in a state of uncertainty for months, without knowing whether or not they have passed the first phase of the competitive examination.
The union is asking that at least the first part of the test be corrected. before the August holidaysso that those who are eliminated can reorganize their academic and professional future without prolonging the wait until autumn.
The Ministry has explained that the opposition has been divided into two stages: a first phase in June, coinciding with the end of the school year, and another from September onwards, when the members of the tribunals are already freed from their teaching duties.
Remuneration, releases and collaborating teachers
The financial aspect has also been part of the debate. The Director General of Teaching Staff has clarified that the courts will only receive a specific compensation in the June phase, coinciding with the start of the opposition.
From September onwards, when the members of the tribunals are already released from their classes and replaced in their centers, no extraordinary remuneration is planned for continuing to correct, considering that this work is part of their duties during that period.
In addition to the members of the courts, the Ministry plans to request the participation of volunteer teachers on June 20 and 21, coinciding with the first part of the competitive examination.
These collaborators will be in charge of surveillance and logistical support tasks at the different centers where the exams will be held, which according to Education will be concentrated in the city of Santander to facilitate the organization of the operation.
Debate on transparency and the notes from previous calls for proposals
Another major point of disagreement revolves around the lack of publication of detailed correction criteria and signatures from the very moment of the call, something that STEC considers essential to guarantee transparency and legal certainty.
The union argues that in other autonomous communities this type of documentation is already incorporated into official calls for applications, helping both candidates to guide their preparation and the courts to correct in a more homogeneous and objective way.
Along those lines, STEC claims to have delivered to the Ministry a complete model of rubrics and criteria The evaluation is ready to be implemented, but he denounces that the proposal “has not been taken into account” by the department headed by Sergio Silva.
The union also strongly criticizes the decision to eliminate the right to retain the grade obtained in the last two calls for applications in order to form the lists of interim teachers, something that until now was a valuable tool for many teachers.
Meanwhile, the Regional Ministry allows the inclusion of scores obtained in competitive examinations from other autonomous communities, following an unfavorable court ruling, which, according to STEC, creates a situation of comparative grievance for temporary staff in Cantabria.
Overall, the combination of a tribunal system with only seven volunteers, the extension of the process to the following year, the elimination of the right to keep the grade, and the lack of public rubrics has created a climate of strong unease among teachers and those preparing for teacher exams in Cantabria, while the Regional Ministry argues that these changes respond to the need to reform a highly questioned model and promises to move forward despite the opposition of most educational stakeholders.