A Month Into Term, the Centres That Send Therapists Into Schools for Pupils With Special Needs Still Do Not Know What the Ministry Will Pay

A month after classes began, the organisations that send therapists and psychologists into Portuguese schools to work with pupils who have special educational needs still do not know how much the Ministério da Educação (Ministry of Education) will pay each of them this school year. Two disability federations told the Lusa news agency on Friday that thousands of children are going without support as a result.

The organisations are the Centros de Recursos para a Inclusão (Resource Centres for Inclusion, CRI). Helena Albuquerque, president of Humanitas, the Federação Portuguesa para a Deficiência Mental (Portuguese Federation for Intellectual Disability), said the ministry has yet to say what each of the 98 centres will receive for 2026/27. Her federation, she said, hears complaints every day from families whose children are not being properly supported.

"It is unacceptable that the overwhelming majority of the CRI are not doing this essential work," she told Lusa, adding that some centres are carrying on "at their own risk" without knowing what they will be paid.

What the centres do

The CRI are set up under Decreto-Lei n.º 54/2018, the 2018 law on inclusive education. Article 18 describes them as specialist services in the community, accredited by the Education Ministry, that support schools in helping every pupil succeed. They exist in particular for children who need what the law calls additional measures to support learning and inclusion.

In practice the centres are mostly charities, cooperatives and parents' associations, such as the local CERCI cooperatives and cerebral palsy associations. Their therapists and psychologists work in school clusters under agreements with the schools. The ministry's own list of the national network for 2025/26 names 101 organisations.

The same delay as in past years

Joaquim Pequicho, president of the Federação Nacional de Cooperativas de Solidariedade Social (National Federation of Social Solidarity Cooperatives, Fenacerci), backed the complaint. "As in previous years, we still have no official or unofficial communication from the Ministry of Education about the amounts and conditions of funding for the CRI," he said. The delay, he added, undermines the organisations' planning, the stability of their teams and the continuity of support for the children.

Albuquerque said the federations know the overall sum set aside for the centres but not how it will be divided among the teams and the school clusters. That total, she said, is the same as in previous school years, even though fuel, teaching materials and salaries all cost more and the number of pupils supported keeps growing. She also said that larger classes, which the government has already announced, would make the year harder still for pupils with selective or additional support measures.

Humanitas and the Federação das Associações Portuguesas de Paralisia Cerebral (Federation of Portuguese Cerebral Palsy Associations) asked for a meeting with the Deputy Secretary of State for Education a month ago and have had no reply. Lusa asked the ministry about the criticism and had received no answer by the time its report was published.

What this means for families

If your child has a relatório técnico-pedagógico (technical and pedagogical report) that includes therapy or psychological support, that support is part of the measures the school has committed to. If it has not started, or has stopped, ask the school director in writing which centre is meant to provide it and when it will begin. Keep a copy of the reply.

The report is also the document that counts if things go further. In September, an administrative court in Almada gave the ministry three working days to provide every resource named in one boy's report, and the ministry complied within a day.