assistente operacional
Published 8 November 2026, 22:44
assistente operacional (operational assistant, manual worker in the civil service)
The largest of the general careers in the civil service. At a school these are the people who open the building, supervise children at break, accompany the younger ones and work in the canteen; at town halls and parish councils they handle street cleaning, rubbish collection, gardens and cemeteries. School staff in these jobs used to be called auxiliares de ação educativa.
Where you come across it. Your child's school, the town hall, news about strikes.
If they strike, the school may close even if the teachers turn up.