The National Federation of Teachers (FENPROF) estimates that more than 75% of the researchers who work in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have a precarious employment relationship and therefore require urgent measures from the guardianship to correct the situation.
“The biggest problem continues to be job insecurity”André Carmo, from the University of Évora and member of FENPROF, warned this Thursday during a press conference on the employment situation of Higher Education professors and researchers.
According to the trade unionist, precariousness “continues to be the watermark” in higher education in Portugal, with the “overwhelming majority of investigations carried out with precarious work”.
Three out of four researchers (74.71%) work in higher education institutions with a precarious contract, according to data from the General Directorate of Education and Science Statistics (DGEEC) 2021 this Thursday, recalled by Fenprof, who estimates that the reality is even more dramatic.
“It is a low number, because it does not include those hired by private non-profit institutions”, defended André Carmo, adding that these numbers do not include scholarship holders either.
Many of these researchers, he added, should already be integrated, taking into account the legislation that provides for entry to the career after six years of contract.
However, according to André Carmo, the institutions do not have the funds to integrate these researchers, which ends up creating obstacles for the application of the decree-law.
“We urge the MCTES to immediately announce that the HEI budgets will be strengthened to open these career positions,” he said.
Precariousness also affects higher education teachers, Fenprof added, noting that there are more and more cases of “guest professors.”
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“There are institutions where more than 50% of the team is made up of visiting professors,” warned André Carmo, considering that precariousness presents “unacceptable rates.”
The invited assistants “are hired for a fixed term, with much lower salaries, some even have a doctorate,” added Miguel Vieira, from the University of Aveiro, explaining that for institutions “it is much cheaper and allows savings in the salary bill ”.
Miguel Vieira gave the Polytechnic of Leiria, as an example, where about half of the professors are invited: “We are not against the figure of the guest, except when there is a deliberate strategy of betting on the assistants to have the service guaranteed to a much higher price.” Lower price”.
These are some of the Higher Education and Science problems that Fenprof representatives want to discuss with Minister Elvira Fortunato.
The general secretary of FENPROF, Mário Nogueira, recalled that in November 2022 the talks began with the guardianship that seemed very advanced, but, nevertheless, “it seems that there was a lack of will.”
The guardianship “was available”, with FENPROF sending a proposal and receiving a counter-proposal, recalled Mário Nogueira.
“We closed a list with the issues that would be resolved, some with more immediate measures and others in the long term,” he said, adding that, after four months, the problems did not come off paper.
On Wednesday, FENPROF goes to the ministry”tell the minister that it is time to comply with what she agreed to in the protocol”explained Mário Nogueira, during today’s press conference, calling for the presence of researchers and teachers.
Source: Observadora
