The families of students with specific educational support needs (NEAE) denounce the discontent regarding the solutions that have been taken from the Government of the Canary Islands since a consensus document was registered in Parliament in which the key lines to solve the problems that the group continues to face are related. According to them, the response, promoted by Confapacanarias, has been that the Ministry of Education continues to meet with different organizations of the third sector separately to develop an autonomous decree that modifies the previous order that develops the law.
According to them, "although it is positive that they meet with everyone and listen to and address all the proposals, it also seems essential to address and understand the urgent needs of the moment: many students are suffering from the lack of specificity, the lack of resources and the lack of empathy on the part of the Ministry itself, in addition to suffering an exercise of deficient transparency on the content of these with respect to the educational community."
In the interventions made by the spokespersons of the Ministry of Education to date, it should be noted that, "in none of them, are the key principles of the right to an inclusive education in the Canary Islands included, always avoiding talking about the right of NEAE students, which is what LOMLOE itself does or is defined within the framework of the UN treaties. It has also not been assessed that in the Canary Islands there are currently lawsuits admitted for processing for fundamental rights, disrespecting the plaintiff families with a regulatory framework that protects them."
This discomfort has driven the creation of new processes of families who organize themselves to ensure that the rights of their children are attended to, valued and fulfilled with initiatives in the Parliament of the Canary Islands, meetings and protest movements in the streets. The reasons that lead families to such a degree of desperation stem from "the lack of political response and social discontent for living in the 21st century with a level of resources from the late 20th century and a generalized mentality of the population and the political class of the mid-20th century."
Therefore, families generally assess the 2024-25 academic year as follows:
- New classroom enclave units (AE, hereinafter) were announced from last year, but it is impossible to track their continuity, since the list offered by the Ministry of Education within the framework of transparency has not been updated for years. It is not possible to track, therefore, the AE with curricular specification of Infant, Primary or transition to adult life (TVA, that is Secondary). It is a constant complaint from families the fear or insecurity generated by the existence of AE of Infant and Primary and not separate units, students from 3 years old with students from 13.
- On the other hand, the contract with Aeromédica is still being valued, with which, to date, its renewal has not been carried out because the new regulation that would regulate it has not yet been developed.
- Another demand of the families is the "little value" given to the personnel who work with the NEAE, whether by an external or public company. Their work in the job is not defined for families and their competences are not known, creating confusion and discomfort knowing that, without more options, the education of their sons and daughters is partly privatized.
- Another general fear is the lack of communication between the centers or the tutor with the families, in those situations that require daily communication. You can not warn the tutor that your son has not slept all night because the mail takes a week to be enabled and two to fix the access problems.
- The ratio of classrooms, in general, is another reason that has been the subject of controversy. Every year the instructions for schooling are dictated, but in tense areas the classrooms are massively overcrowded with impunity, overloading the teaching staff. NEAE students in ordinary classrooms with curricular adaptation are also not taken into account, making it clear that overcrowding harms, above all, students with more difficulty.
- The course has been marked by the lack of resources at a general level, although they do not agree on whether there are more resources or more students, or simply have not organized them well. This has been seen in the demands of school nurses, with centers with students with basic life support, gastric button, rescue medication, etc., who have lacked that figure for most of the course.
- Other demands have been that of educational assistants, finding on the part of families and teachers the excuse of "hold on a little, that, when the Aeromédica contract comes out, the resources will arrive". In the meetings for the new regulatory framework of the NEAE in the Canary Islands, they are also reluctant to specify the resources, implying that they will be conditioned to the person who assesses the students' abilities to the available funds, not to a regulated right.
- Also this year the existing problems with the coexistence protocols have become clear, which do not comply with the accessibility regulations. It is not being guaranteed that a student with a disability is understanding, forcing families to sign their understanding.
- This section leads us to the attempt to approve a law of teaching authority, where, on the one hand, it is something that is already regulated previously and, on the other hand, as indicated above, does not guarantee the rights of people with disabilities.
- Vocational Training (FP) does not escape the concerns of families. "We have been getting the response from Education for two years that they are organizing the FP, not consolidating the educational offer due to a lack of transparency or possibility of completion without the changes being to go to an educational center many kilometers from their home. Unfortunately, today our students can not choose what is vocational to study," they declare.
- Families understand that "many plans are made, but very few works. Because our sons and daughters, with or without NEAE diagnosis, continue in deficient facilities, those that do not have decent spaces, adapted evacuation plans, own spaces or spaces under construction, deficient facilities, shadows, closed swimming pools and areas even without lighting."
Finally, "it is necessary to transmit to the Government officials that the communication lines to participate and intervene in the improvement of the educational and training quality of our sons and daughters are always open with a constructive spirit, placing families at the center of all the actions and initiatives that must be carried out." "From the AMPA federations, as representatives of these, we work day by day with all our resources and enthusiasm to reach that goal: to achieve a quality, inclusive and public education in the Canary Islands," they conclude.
