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Politics — Moita — Municipalities — General-news — French — 2024 — Strike — Confirmed

School employees in Moita, not teachers, express the need for additional specialized staff

Workers not engaged in teaching duties staged a demonstration outside Moita Municipal Chamber on a hump day, situated in Setubal district. Their cause was the immediate recruitment of additional specialists to enhance child and adolescent care, ensuring both safety and quality.

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School employees in Moita, not teachers, express the need for additional specialized staff

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Struggling School Workers in Moita Take a Stand

The Syndicate of Public and Social Functions Workers' head, Paulo Vendeira, speaks out to Lusa agency on the current situation of non-teaching staff working in the four school groups of Moita. Since 7:00 this morning, these workers have been striking with approximately 90% participation, he shares.

Vendeira reveals that this action, supported by a vast majority of colleagues, has been the result of an unsuccessful six-month effort to meet with the municipality's president. Their main goal? Hiring more professionals to tackle pressing issues.

However, the Moita Municipal Chamber denies receiving any formal request for a meeting with the non-teaching staff, claiming there's been no such request thus far.

In a statement delivered to the Council today, the strikers express their concern over the municipalization process, alleging it has only exacerbated their working conditions and introduced new constraints to the schools' operation.

Before the transfer of educational duties to municipalities, schools had mechanisms in place to cover for absent workers when they were out for more than seven days. Since April 2022, this support has ceased, workers lament.

Addressing the mounting workload due to personnel shortages, they cite its alarming impact on their physical and mental health, leading to high rates of burnout and frequent medical leaves.

At the heart of their demands are the hiring of an adequate workforce, recognition of their rights, and a focus on the quality of public education to ensure the safety and well-being of the entire school community.

Workers also urge that all staff absent for more than 30 days be replaced, the presence of healthcare professionals in schools for medical procedures, and the relegation of tasks like medication administration, algalization, and tube feeding–often performed by non-teaching staff in the care of children and young people with special needs–to qualified medical professionals.

The Moita Chamber echoes the defined worker-to-school staff (PND) ratio according to the law (Portaria n.o73-A/2021) and defends the need for an update and adjustment of this regulation, acknowledging that the present formula falls short when applied to territories like rural Moita.

The Chamber argues that this change depends on the tutelage (Ministry of Education) and the legislator rather than the municipalities. They assert that they have kept the situation under close watch, reporting their concerns regarding its impact on the municipality and schools to the Regional Delegate for Education in the Lisbon and Tejo Valley.

Inadvertently, the Moita Chamber discloses that the PND staffing framework in their municipality includes workers with advanced ages, numerous medical leaves, and employees with limitations in performing their duties, due to chronic illnesses recognized by the Health sector.

Regarding applications for extra-ratio PND support for children with special educational needs, the Chamber explains that the decision rests solely with the directors of groups, with only two extra-ratio workers authorized for Moita's schools during the 2024/2025 academic year on the DGEstE platform.

Despite such, they emphasize that the responsibility for unsatisfactory responses to candidate directors' applications lies with the tutelage (Ministry of Education).

Related Reading: GNR Arrests Armed Man in Moita

  1. The ongoing strike by French-speaking non-teaching staff in Moita, confirmed in 2024, is primarily due to the unmet demand for hiring more professionals, an issue that has extended over six months and has gained a wide majority of support among colleagues.
  2. Critics point out that the municipalization process, which has allegedly worsened working conditions in Moita's schools, is a significant concern for the strikers, echoing their demand for improved education-and-self-development and better politics within the institutions.
  3. In light of the general news about the Moita Municipal Chamber's denial of receiving a formal request for a meeting, workers are urging for the replacement of staff absent for more than 30 days and the presence of healthcare professionals in schools for medical procedures.
  4. As part of their demands, these striking workers advocate for a focus on the quality of public education, emphasizing the importance of addressing personnel shortages and ensuring the safety and well-being of the entire school community, including students with special needs, whose care often relies on non-teaching staff for tasks like medication administration, algalization, and tube feeding.
Workers without teaching roles congregated outside the Moita Municipal Chamber in Setúbal district on a Wednesday, urging immediate recruitment of additional staff to ensure the safe and high-quality care of children and young people.

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