Helpers support students with specific needs without training

Oschool auxiliaries are said to be exhausted and complain about low wages, according to a national survey that reveals that most support students with specific educational needs without having adequate training to perform these functions.

These are some of the conclusions of the survey conducted by the Union of All Education Professionals to 1,643 operational assistants of schools, also known as assistants, which allowed the analysis of the working conditions of these professionals.

According to the results, 96% of respondents complain of lack of professionals in schools and 98% consider wages too low.

Often there is only one assistant to watch from 200 to 300 children and, among them, sometimes there is more than one student with specific educational needs (NEE), Lusa told operational assistant Mónica Duarte, who presented the results at the union headquarters in Lisbon.

Eight out of ten professionals (81%) work with NEE children in and out of classrooms.

Mónica Duarte warned that the situation “is problematic” because operational assistants are unable to watch school playgrounds and blocks when they are accompanying for example a child in a wheelchair.

“ We usually say that we are nurses, psychologists, do teaching work, do our job. There are so many functions that often, in recesses, where there should be surveillance even to avoid accidents or other situations, we are cleaning or accompanying a child with some kind of motor difficulty ", explained.

According to the law, in each school a multidisciplinary team should be established to support inclusive education, where they are also auxiliary.

Mónica Duarte said that assistants need training to be able to integrate multidisciplinary teams to support inclusive education, but this is not happening.

The information is corroborated by the survey, which indicates that 78% of the assistants are not trained by the employer to work with students with NEE.

According to the person responsible, the situation worsened because there is also a lack of specialized technicians to support these children.

“ We are self-taught”, said Mónica Duarte, indicating that assistants try to learn how to support these students, even without having the necessary training.

“Inclusion is not just putting them in classes. To be included is to meet the needs of these children and there is no ", denounced.

Among the results of the survey is also “the extreme overload and continuous accumulation of tasks (cleaning, ordinance, cafeteria, classroom support), and 96% of the assistants say that the number of school workers is insufficient.

But the wage remains the main criticism of these workers: 98% consider their salary inadequate, there are professionals who have been working for more than 35 years and continue to receive the minimum wage or “little more”.

“ We are talking just over 900 euros, often for rents of 500, 600 euros and people do what? They choose to eat, choose to pay bills and in all this there is a great devaluation ", said Mónica Duarte.

The study also shows that there is a strong stress on their health: 72.2% reported a negative impact on physical health and 70.8% on mental health, according to the survey, conducted between September 22 and October 5.

According to data from the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation, public schools had about 60,000 non-teachers in the school year 2024/2025, of which operational assistants constitute the largest share, representing about 40,000 professionals.