The Madeira Legislative Assembly has granted a scholarship-holder equivalence to a technician so he can pursue a master's degree in Coimbra, with release on Thursdays and Fridays for one year.
The Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of Madeira has granted scholarship-holder equivalence to Licenciado João Paulo Freitas Vasconcelos, coordinating parliamentary support technician, so that he can attend the Master's Degree in Information Science at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Coimbra. In practice, the employee is released from duties on Thursdays and Fridays for one year, keeping his pay as long as absences do not exceed 30 days per year. The decision is set out in Dispatch No. 443/2026, published in the II Series of the Official Gazette on 4 November 2026 and signed on 4 November by the President of the Legislative Assembly, Rubina Maria Branco Leal Vargas.
The equivalence takes the form of a partial temporary release from duties, on Thursdays and Fridays, for a period of one year counted from the date the dispatch is published. The effects begin on the date of publication. The releases must be agreed with the employee's direct superior and cannot coincide with the absences of colleagues, which means the team's service organisation must be compatible with these days away.
The measure applies to João Paulo Freitas Vasconcelos, an employee on a permanent parliamentary contract, placed in the category of coordinating parliamentary support technician on the Legislative Assembly's staff map. According to the dispatch, the employee is enrolled in the 2026/2027 academic year for the Coimbra master's degree and works at the Documentation Centre Library of the Legislative Assembly. The dispatch justifies the grant on the grounds that the specialisation may bring positive effects to those duties.
Scholarship-holder equivalence is a regime provided for in Decree-Law No. 272/88, of 3 August, which aims to encourage merit, ability and the training of employees, allowing complementary studies and their professional development. In practice, it is a mechanism that allows an official to study without losing his employment link or salary.
The dispatch is an internal administrative act of the Legislative Assembly, issued under paragraph 2 of Article 50 of Regional Legislative Decree No. 24/89/M, of 7 September. The grant was based on a reasoned proposal from the Secretary-General and a favourable opinion from the Board of Administration, set out in Resolution No. 140/CODA/2026, of 27 October.
The reference to the General Labour Law in Public Functions, approved by Law No. 35/2014, of 20 June, and to the Labour Code serves to ensure that absences justified by the equivalence do not lead to loss of remuneration, provided they remain within the limit of 30 days per year.
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