The students of IES Zonzamas have joined this Thursday the criticisms of the Ministry of Education for the changes that the conversion of the institute into an Integrated FP Center will imply and have "demanded" a new institute for them. The Zonzamas Student Association regrets in a statement that the Ministry made that decision "unilaterally" and points out that the institutions "promised" a new center for ESO and Baccalaureate students when the conversion of Zonzamas into a PF center arrived. Thus, they ask for "the opening of a new institute before making any decision" that "negatively affects" them.
"In recent days we have received the news that our IES Zonzamas center is going to be transformed into an Integrated Vocational Training Center. This decision, which in principle should be good news for students, will entail a series of damages for the entire educational community, both for the reasons why it has been decided and for the way in which they intend to carry it out", the statement begins. The conversion of the institute into an FP center for the 2017-2018 academic year will involve changes in 8 educational centers in the city, many of which have been expressing their discomfort in recent weeks about how these modifications affect them and the "lack of foresight" of the Ministry.
"The promise that the institutions made years ago to teachers, students, mothers and fathers was that they would build a new center where ESO and Baccalaureate students could go when these studies disappeared in our center", say the students of Zonzamas. Thus, they regret that "far from fulfilling the promise of creating an IES, they have decided to transfer the students to other institutes in Arrecife".
"Negatively affects the quality of our education"
"This negatively affects the quality of our education for several reasons", they point out. Firstly, they consider that "all the work created over the years to create a stable and inclusive educational environment and community is destroyed". "On the other hand, a problem that we already suffer from, the overcrowding of classrooms, would be intensified", they continue. Thus, the students emphasize that "increasing the number of students per center directly affects our right to have a quality public education".
"In turn", they criticize that "the decision has been taken unilaterally by the Ministry of Education, without consulting the management, teachers, students or families of those affected, despite what they now want to make us believe". "This is part of a general dynamic in which the participation and decision-making by the educational community has been reduced to its minimum expression", they lament.
"The students of Zonzamas want to study in the best possible conditions, and this involves the transformation of our institute into an Integrated Vocational Training Center. But beware, without this harming those of us who are still studying baccalaureate or Compulsory Secondary Education", they demand.
"For all this, we demand the opening of a new institute before making any decision that negatively affects us. We have the right to finish our studies at Zonzamas if that is what we want. The students of Zonzamas organize ourselves collectively to claim our rights and defend ourselves from attacks like these", they conclude.