The faculty of the CEIP Adolfo Topham has decided to "raise their voices", together with the parents, to denounce the latest decisions that the Ministry of Education has adopted with respect to this school, and which they consider "seriously affect the daily life" of the students. To this end, this Monday they have gathered at the doors of the center wearing white shirts, questioning the elimination of groups, the breach of ratios, the lack of teachers for students with special needs and also the presence of two students who are allowed to attend class without masks.
According to a mother told La Voz, the children have a medical certificate to exempt them from this obligation, but they believe that there may be something more behind it, since she assures that the father "expressed his denialist position" regarding the pandemic in one of the meetings at the beginning of the course.
For its part, the faculty considers that a "responsible educational response" is not being given by allowing their access to class without a mask. "The solution cannot be to guarantee the distance measures for those two students, thus harming the space of the others, since it is impossible to guarantee a meter of distance between all the students", they point out. In this regard, one of the mothers adds that they are in a course, third grade, "where the ratio of students established by the Ministry is currently exceeded."
Therefore, she considers that they are "harming the rest of the students who do wear a mask", and the teachers warn the same. "Nor does it seem coherent to us to reduce manipulative material and oral expression exercises since it harms the learning process of others. Out of responsibility to our students, their families and our families, we demand measures that guarantee the safety of everyone inside the classroom", they claim in a letter that they have sent to the parents of the center.
They eliminate a five-year-old class ten days after starting classes
In that letter, they also refer to the decision to join the third grade level in two classrooms, which are thus with 26 students, and therefore "above the ratio that the Ministry sells in the press and television." "It is a course where students still need very individualized teaching and a large space where they can move and distract themselves after long minutes of concentration. It is very difficult to maintain distances and the classrooms are full of tables and chairs in a line where you can barely see the floor", the teachers warn.
The faculty of professors also criticize that, ten days after starting classes, the Ministry "has eliminated a five-year-old kindergarten class", grouping all the boys and girls of that group "in the other two classes." In addition, the teacher who was in charge of that group "has been transferred to another center", so they consider "that a new change of tutor, classmates and space in this first month of class will be seriously detrimental to their teaching process", especially when the previous year "classes were suspended in their first year of schooling and they have been forced to change tutors continuously."
In addition, they add another criticism to this for the non-expansion of the staff of Support Teachers for the NEAE (Specific Educational Support Needs), "despite having a larger list" and that students who constantly need the support of the PT Teacher (Therapeutic Pedagogy) continue to be incorporated into the center.
All these requests, together with the prior collection of signatures promoted by the parents, will be presented on Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. at the Educational Inspection Office, hoping that this body will offer them a solution "that guarantees the safety of the students."
