Hundreds of senior technicians working in public schools are being notified to return salary funds and face delays in career progression, following administrative guidelines related to reconstitutions made after integration into the State. At stake are workers who joined the ranks in 2021 through the Public Administration’s Extraordinary Regularization Program.
The cases have been reported in different parts of the country and involve psychologists, social workers, therapists and social educators. Many denounce step downs, elimination of accumulated points and salary replacements that involve the return of thousands of euros.
Letters sent and institutional silence
According to the Lusa news agency, last month, 110 professionals sent letters to the Minister of Education, the Secretaries of State for Education and the Secretary of State for Public Administration reporting the situation. So far, they have received no response.
“Nobody has responded to us so far,” said one of the workers, identified as Maria, cited by the news agency. The union also reports a lack of clarification from the entities contacted.
Reenactments now contested
According to the same source, the problems are related to career reconstructions carried out after integration into the workforce under PREVPAP. Many workers asked for years of service previously provided with precarious employment to be counted.
Several schools counted these years, allowing progressions and salary updates. However, the extinct Education Financial Management Institute requested corrections to the reconstructions considered incorrect.
Points removed and tiers revised
“We have questioned the services, but no one answers us. They say that the IGeFE asked the schools to correct the career reconstructions, removing the points awarded in 2017 and 2018, because at that time civil service careers were frozen”, a social educator told the agency. There are workers who saw accumulated points disappear from their individual records, which prevented or delayed the planned promotion.
One of the cases involves a psychologist at a school in Valadares, who was notified to return around R$9,000. The services understand that the worker should not have progressed, and are now demanding a refund of the amounts received. Maria, who has worked in schools since 2003, reported that she should have moved up her level in January 2025, but continues to earn the same salary. “The eight points I had on my personal record disappeared,” he said.
Union disputes interpretation
Lurdes Ribeiro, from the Union of Workers in Public and Social Functions of the North, considers that the career freeze does not apply to workers integrated by PREVPAP. According to the same source, there are court decisions that support this position.
He adds that the union argues that some of the guidelines now applied contradict the opinions of the General Inspectorate of Education and Science and the regularization program itself.
Delays of more than one year
There are technicians waiting for more than a year for the necessary funds to progress. The union leader states that IGeFE “has not yet given the green light to schools to allocate funds”.
While the processes are ongoing, some workers were forced to return amounts already received or suffered setbacks in their remuneration position. The Ministry of Education was questioned by the same source about the complaints presented and, so far, has not responded.
Also read:
