The Lanzarote parliamentarian of the Canarian Nationalist Group, Cristina Calero, obtained this Tuesday in the Plenary of the Canarian Chamber, the commitment of the Minister of Education, Poli Suárez, so that in 2024 the families of students from the Enclave Classrooms and Special Education Centers do not have to pay the dining room fee. A decision that will benefit a total of 1,738 students from all over the Archipelago, including those enrolled in Lanzarote and La Graciosa.
Calero has insisted that the dining room is part of the learning of these students, and stressed that "if no family in the Canary Islands pays a fee for their sons or daughters to receive math, drawing or any other subject or content that is in the curriculum, why do families who have their children in the Enclave classroom have to pay the dining room fee if it is in the contents are included in the curriculum and is essential for them to achieve their autonomy?"
Likewise, the CC deputy has emphasized that families who have children with special educational needs already bear an extra cost in their education (physiotherapy, speech therapy, occupational therapist, medication, among many other therapies or offices).
"It is social justice that these families who already bear an additional cost due to the special needs of their sons and daughters do not also have to pay for the dining room," she said, adding that, in addition, "this also means alleviating the economic burden of families who do not make it to the end of the month."
Throughout her presentation, Cristina Calero recalled that the Canary Islands was a pioneer in the creation of Enclave classrooms and Special Education Centers, which were developed so that students with special educational needs have individualized attention that allows them to maximize the teaching and learning process like the rest of their classmates in the ordinary classroom in ordinary teaching centers.
A large part of that learning process consists of achieving autonomy in their daily lives, so the dining room is part of the curricular concretion of the Enclave Classroom because it is an indispensable tool for students to achieve that autonomy.
"I appreciate the willingness of the Minister of Education, who has extended his hand accepting the proposal of the Nationalist Group to help these families and give them the solutions they need in their day to day. Attention to diversity is a right and diversity is an inherent element in the classroom," said the Lanzarote parliamentarian.
