A legal loophole has left Silves schools facing an uncertain future. Contracts of 12 ancillary workers in the ‘Silves Sul’ grouping of schools expire this month and they cannot be renewed by law.
Schools chief Carlos Ferreira da Silva told Lusa that he feared establishments might be forced to close as schools cannot function without ancillary workers.
But the Town Council has stepped in with a temporary solution. The workers will all be offered 12-month contracts under a scheme backed by the institute for employment and professional training (IEFP).
“This alternative is temporary and precarious,” warned the CDU council. “It does not safeguard the rights of the workers, and it affects the quality of the educational service provided.
“This council will do everything over 2014 to find a long-term solution that is consistent in terms of satisfying the needs of schools in the borough,” the council told the Algarve Resident.
Before these last-minute assurances, Ferreira da Silva told Lusa he thought schools would have to shut down at the end of the year. “We only wouldn’t consider it this month as the children are not to blame and we wouldn’t want to upset the end of term,” he said.
