The Ministry of Education, Vocational Training, Physical Activity and Sports of the Government of the Canary Islands, led by Poli Suárez, is working on the assessment of the damage caused by storm Therese in the different educational centers of the islands, to request from the regional Executive the declaration of emergency for the works that are required for the complete and rapid rehabilitation of these facilities.
Pending the conclusion of the meteorological phenomenon affecting the archipelago since last week and thus being able to carry out an exhaustive assessment, a preliminary report from the General Directorate of Infrastructures and Equipment estimates at more than ten million euros the damages caused in about fifty schools, high schools and integrated Vocational Training centers.
“This measure would allow us to have the economic resources from the budgetary surplus and the execution of the necessary works in a more agile and rapid way,” explained the counselor, Poli Suárez, who these days has visited and learned firsthand the state of some of the affected centers. “We are going to continue working so that all facilities damaged by this storm are fully rehabilitated as soon as possible,” asserted Suárez, “and, above all, we are going to continue accompanying those management and teaching teams who have been at the forefront, striving to protect their centers and their educational communities, while maintaining teaching activity in a complicated situation.”
Although the Department of Education still does not have the definitive balance of incidents until the recovery of normality and reopening of the centers that have remained closed, during the last days affectations of different degrees have been registered in educational facilities on the island of Gran Canaria (24), in Tenerife (17), Fuerteventura (3), Lanzarote (2), in La Palma (2) and La Gomera (2).
On the Columbian island, Education decreed this Wednesday the suspension of teaching activity in the afternoon and evening shifts and the shift to online modality throughout the day this Thursday, March 26, in those teachings where possible, after the evolution experienced by the meteorological phenomenon and attending to the indications to avoid road displacements issued by the Ministry of Territorial Policy, Territorial Cohesion and Water, through the General Directorate of Emergencies and Civil Protection, and in coordination with the island emergency services.
Following the indications of these same emergency agencies, this Thursday, the centers on the islands of Gran Canaria, Tenerife, and La Palma have resumed in-person teaching activity, although vigilance and attention to any update of the forecasts and indications from the General Directorate of Emergencies and Civil Protection are maintained. However, on these last islands, the Ministry has also adapted the measure of resuming in-person attendance for those centers that present incidents that may prevent the normal development of teaching activity, once the evaluation of the damages suffered by the centers has been carried out by the management teams.
In this situation of non-face-to-face modality planned for this Thursday, four centers on the island of Tenerife are still located: the Early Childhood and Primary Education centers (CEIP) La Vega, in Icod de los Vinos, and Playa de Las Américas, in Arona, both without electricity supply; the Secondary Education Institute (IES) Andrés Bello, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, affected by the breakage and flooding of the sanitation network, which forces this measure to be maintained also on Friday; and the CEIP Aregume, in Los Silos, due to flood risk derived from the overflowing of Barranco de Blas. Meanwhile, in Gran Canaria, the CEIP Tagoror, in Santa Lucía de Tirajana, is in this same situation, due to water leaks in the center's roof and the impossibility of relocating students to other spaces.
During the last hour of Wednesday afternoon, also on the island of Gran Canaria, the resumption of in-person teaching activity at CEIP Cercado de Espino was also confirmed, once the San Bartolomé de Tirajana City Council proceeded to reopen the GC-505 road exclusively for local traffic, the educational community, and school transport.
Typology of incidents
Most of the damages registered in educational centers that the technicians of the Ministry of Education are aware of so far consist of leaks, water accumulations and specific incidents in infrastructures such as fences, roofs or perimeter walls, as well as localized damage in classrooms, workshops or sports pavilions. In some specific cases, elements have fallen or there have been specific interruptions of supplies. Despite this, most of the centers will be able to maintain their teaching activity normally or with organizational adjustments, such as the relocation of spaces or the partial closure of certain areas.
These incidents have been addressed in a coordinated manner between the management teams, the technical services, and the Ministry, allowing to give a quick response and guarantee the safety of the educational community at all times.
Lastly, the entire educational community is advised to closely follow the updates issued through the official channels of the Government of the Canary Islands, as well as the indications of the General Directorate of Emergencies and Civil Protection, and to exercise extreme caution in displacements.
