The Minister of Education of the Government of the Canary Islands, María José Guerra, considered this Wednesday the need that currently exists to analyze why more boys than girls drop out of school.
Guerra stated this during a parliamentary appearance on absenteeism and early school dropout, which in the Canary Islands reaches a rate of 20 percent, being one of the communities with the highest percentage.
In this sense, she admits that "there are reasons to be concerned" and clarified that there is a "gender gap" where the "most negative" results occur in boys (23.9%) compared to girls (18%), just as they are the ones who "increasingly abandon education", so she considered that "it needs to be analyzed".
Guerra pointed out that "something is happening with the boys that needs to be addressed" and that she related not only to the education model, which is not attractive to them, but also to what is "being cultivated" in society", hence she advocated for an "up-to-date commitment" to education in values.
She added that this should lead to "refining much more" in the strategies and invited to cultivate interest in learning "the younger, the better".
On the other hand, she stressed that the "territorial gap" that exists in Spain between the communities of the north, with rates of 6 percent of early school dropout, and the case of southern communities such as the Canary Islands, with 20 percent, is also "very striking".
How to deal with absenteeism
From the different parliamentary groups that make up the Canarian chamber, the pertinent considerations have been exposed on the aspects that lead to school dropout and the ways to tackle them.
Specifically, the deputy of Sí Podemos, Manuel Marrero, has opted for an inclusive school, where segregation is "not" maintained, or the increase of schools from 0 to 3 years, since he pointed out that family diversity, generational burden --level of education of the parents--, poverty and the productive system, among others, influence school dropout.
The PSOE deputy Pedro Marcial has also been in this line, who has opted for a pact against segregation in schools, since he considered that giving points for relatives who have studied in a center is "an obstacle".
The deputy of Ciudadanos (Cs) Vidina Espino has also referred to the need to incentivize teachers or parent schools, to also give as an example initiatives such as Barrios Orquestados in Gran Canaria, which is working "very well" on the island.
Poverty and school dropout
One of the aspects that has been put on the plenary is the relationship between poverty and school dropout, citing in this regard the deputy of Agrupación Socialista Gomera (ASG) Melodie Mendoza a study in which it is stated that "only one percent of young people from poor families reach university".
This, she added, highlights that the Ministries of Education and Social Rights "must work together".
In relation to this, the deputy of the parliamentary Group of Nueva Canario (NC) Carmen Hernández stated that early school dropout "is multicausal", admitting that in the "most disadvantaged" contexts, there is "more probability" that it will occur.
Attention to diversity
On the other hand, the Canarian Minister of Education referred to the Strategic Plan for Attention to Diversity in the Canarian Law of Education as one of the "fundamental measures" to address early age abandonment.
Thus, she admitted that she is "aware" of the territorial "imbalances" that exist in the Canary Islands, so she affirmed that socio-educational policies are needed and to be "very sensitive to many" issues dedicated to diversity.
Anyway, she indicated that the calendar of the Law "has not been fulfilled", since the financing "is not enough and is a real problem".
For Guerra it is necessary to "adapt" the attention to the students, work in labor orientation or go towards the inclusive school where the "difference and diversity is the foundation" of it. Likewise, she stated that it is necessary to "get out of the mere complaint, of course it is difficult to manage a class with many students, but that is the 21st century" in relation to the ethnic diversity of the students.
The Minister defended multicultural contexts as "absolutely fundamental", since this diversity is "wealth. "We need resources but we also need to get out of that complaint", she added.
For her part, the deputy of NC Carmen Hernández highlighted the "broad consensus" with which this regulation was taken out, clarifying that "it demonstrates the concern of the Canarian society to improve its educational system" and marks a "road map to improve" the system.
"The challenge of the law is none other than to improve the Canarian system based on equity and excellence", she added, adding that attention to diversity is the "only way" for it to be an "equitable" educational system, while stating that attending to diversity in a classroom with 25 or 30 students "becomes very complex".
Hernández considered it "fundamental to attend in a preferential way" to the centers that are in vulnerable areas, as well as to reduce the ratios in the classes, promote plans that address the inclusion of foreign students and for people with Specific Needs of Educational Support (SNEE), among others, to point out that all this needs a financial sheet.
For her part, the deputy of ASG Melodie Mendoza demanded to attend to that educational diversity in the smaller islands, such as El Hierro and La Gomera, where she assured there are no special education centers with what this entails for children, being the "only" islands in the Canary Islands that "do not" have this type of centers.
The deputy of the PP Lorena Hernández also highlighted the daily difficulties that occur in the Canarian classrooms to face diversity and stressed that to combat them a "financial sheet" is needed. "A lot of theory and we want more actions", she added.
Finally, the deputy of CC Beatriz Calzada highlighted the progress that has been made in the "attention to diversity" although she admitted that it is always "insufficient, scarce", so she asked the Minister to continue with the path started.
