·The Cs spokesperson in Parliament says that the Canarian Government “has undertaken a flight forward so as not to be the only community to delay the start of the course”
Canary Islands, Monday, September 14, 2020. “We are not prepared to return to school in person.” This is how the spokesperson for Ciudadanos (Cs) in the Parliament of the Canary Islands, Vidina Espino, stated this Monday, who has assured that the Ministry of Education, Universities, Culture and Sports of the Canary Islands Government "lives in a reality that is unrelated to what happens in the schools of the Archipelago", since, as she stated, "what the head of this department, Manuela de Armas, says has nothing to do with the complaints made daily by the management teams of the centers and the parents of the students.”
Vidina Espino has reiterated her desire for “classes to start as soon as possible, but in a safe way”, with the necessary protective material for teachers, students and administration and service staff, as well as with the PCR tests carried out on all the groups involved, especially in areas where there is a higher rate of infections. “Not like what is happening right now, where educational centers have not received the money they need to purchase masks, hydrogel and other required means or teachers and the promised reinforcement staff have not been hired,” stressed the Cs deputy.
In the opinion of the spokesperson for the orange formation, "the Canarian Government has undertaken a flight forward so as not to be the only autonomous community to delay the start of the course", and, therefore, has decided to start classes without further delay and "without guaranteeing the necessary security measures, starting by reducing the student-teacher ratio, the key to reducing the risks of contagion in schools."
The Cs parliamentarian has indicated that "there are multiple complaints she has received from educational centers and parents who request her help and to give voice to their demands, since the Ministry of Education has decided to turn a deaf ear to the demands raised."
Among them, he cited, as an example, that "they have not received the provision of the so-called COVID material, nor the financial release, nor the authorization of the operating expenses for its purchase", or that, as of today, "they have no record of the appointment of substitute teachers for the teachers on leave", which prevents the appointment of tutors, "or enough kitchen and dining room assistants to undertake this work with the established shifts and the established hygiene measures, since the cleaning staff has not been reinforced either."
In this sense, he wanted to highlight the effort that teachers and the PAS are making to comply with the protocol prepared by the Ministries of Health and Education, although, as he commented, "their good will cannot make up for the lack of human and material resources to guarantee that the return to school is carried out safely."
A separate chapter, warns Vidina Espino, is online teaching, since, “at this time, neither teachers nor students are prepared,” and the Ministry itself recognizes that “it will still take some time to have the digital platform ready and the devices required to be able to carry out this type of training.”
