Viseu Chamber says it fulfills the number of operational assistants at school with investigation process for alleged mistreatment

Daily

The topic of operational assistants was questioned by councilors from the Socialist Party regarding an investigation process by the General Education Inspectorate at Escola Azeredo Perdigão, in Viseu, due to alleged mistreatment and lack of monitoring of students with special needs. Fernando Ruas says that the ratio defined by the Government is being met

Viseu City Council guaranteed that it is complying with the ratios defined by the Government with regard to operational assistants. The president of the municipality stated that the number of these professionals in schools is in line with requirements and that if they are missing it is because “they lied to the council”.

“If more was needed, it was needed before. Those that the chamber has there are those who were appointed by the Government, if they said 20 and in the end there were 30 then they lied to the Chamber”, Fernando Ruas told journalists at the end of the chamber meeting, which took place this Thursday (9th May).

The topic was raised by councilors from the Socialist Party regarding an investigation process by the General Education Inspectorate at Escola Azeredo Perdigão, in Viseu, due to alleged mistreatment and lack of monitoring of students with special needs. For socialists, this situation is linked to the lack of operational assistants.

“On May 2nd, it was news that an inquiry process was launched by the General Education Inspectorate into those responsible for the Azeredo Perdigão School, based on reports that point to failures in the monitoring of students with specific needs, namely mistreatment, committed by both teachers and other students, reduction of school monitoring, which went from 12 to 4 hours a week, isolation and lack of supervision”, began by saying the socialists, who also recalled that “this is the second case in which the courts are called upon to resolve issues of bullying that have occurred at this school since the beginning of the school year.”

According to the PS, these situations have been exacerbated due to the “insufficient number of operational assistants in schools in the municipality”, which creates “a direct impact on the monitoring of students with specific needs”.

“It is the municipality’s responsibility to place operational assistants in schools. Ensuring adequate monitoring of these students is fundamental to building an inclusive and quality school for all. Do we want to know what the situation is in relation to the number of operational assistants in this and other schools in the municipality? What measures are being taken to address the effects of failures to monitor students with specific needs?”, asked the socialists.

In response, the president of the municipality stated that “the ratios defined by the Government, which belonged to the party of the councilors who raised the issue, are being met”.

Fernando Ruas also said that he learned about the investigation process “through the media” and regretted the situation.

“Of course we are concerned about the situation, but we have no responsibility in the case, in what we have responsibility [assistentes operacionais] we are complying”, he stressed.

The mayor also recalled that the municipality currently has a recruitment grant for operational assistants. “A grant that most municipalities don’t have and that allows us to replace and add workers. We don’t have any need in terms of a lack of people, we don’t have more than the ratio”, he concluded.

Jornal do Centro contacted the management of the Viso Norte School Group, to which the Azeredo Perdigão School belongs. The director, Marco Rodrigues, confirmed the investigation process by the General Education Inspectorate, but declined to provide further statements about the process.

“I confirm that an investigation process is underway, but I cannot provide any further statements,” he said.