The mayor of Teguise and Lanzarote deputy for the Nationalist Parliamentary Group (CC-PNC-AHI), Oswaldo Betancort, demanded this Tuesday to the Minister of Education of the Government of the Canary Islands, María José Guerra, "that the planned and necessary economic item be restored so that the educational resources of Costa Teguise are up to the level of its demographic reality."
During his appearance, Betancort explained that "Costa Teguise has been crying out for years for a new school to complement the current CEIP, which began operating in the 2004-2005 academic year as the first public educational center in the town, which at that time had a population of 4,200 people, of which 220 were students."
The nationalist deputy also pointed out that "logically, over this time the population has been growing and, therefore, the number of children of school age." "But what has not grown in the face of clear indications of a lack of infrastructure is the political will on the part of the Government of all the Canarians, and in this case, of the Socialist Party," he stressed.
Likewise, he emphasized that "the Teguise City Council did do its homework, and in the face of short-term measures by other administrations, it managed to unblock pending urban planning issues, approving the General Planning Plan, which not only made it possible to develop the municipality on many fronts, but also allowed the transfer of a 10,000-meter plot for the educational community of Costa Teguise."
Land ceded by the City Council and commitment from the previous Executive
In this regard, the mayor of Teguise also pointed out that the City Council concluded in 2017 the land transfer file in favor of the Government of the Canary Islands for the construction of a second CEIP in Costa Teguise, "correcting the deficiencies in the file and certifying the availability of said plot to the autonomous community."
A year later, he recalled that "the economic commitment of the regional government was obtained, which included six million euros for the new Costa Teguise school within the Canary Islands Educational Infrastructure Plan" and to provide a solution "to the 33 groups and more than 800 students that the school houses, and to the 44 teachers who are teaching in inadequate conditions."
"Unfortunately, the reality today is that all that work and the commitment given, and with it, the hopes of finally obtaining good news for the educational health of Costa Teguise, were unilaterally eliminated by the socialist government of Pedro Sánchez," he stated.
Thus, given the lack of an economic item in the 2020 budget of the Government of the Canary Islands for the infrastructure of this new school, and taking into account that the population of Costa Teguise "is currently 8,500 people and in three years, according to statistics, it will reach 12,500", the Teguise City Council approved in plenary to urge the Canarian Executive "to comply with that item that was within the Canary Islands Education Plan."