The mayor of Yaiza, Óscar Noda, and the general director of Infrastructure and Equipment of the Department of Education of the Government of the Canary Islands, Iván González, held a meeting this Thursday in Yaiza to review the needs of the municipality in terms of educational facilities. Above all, to guarantee the actions within the Strategic Plan for Educational Infrastructures of the Autonomous Community with several priority tasks: the expansion of the buildings of the CEIP Uga and the CEO Montaña Roja (Playa Blanca) and the construction of a new educational center in Playa Blanca.
Noda and González, together with their technical and legal teams, agreed to jointly study what type of center and level of education Playa Blanca really needs. In any case, the City Council is willing to transfer 22,000 square meters of public land to the Government to undertake this project, "and the land that is needed to develop the rest of the interventions," the mayor points out.
"The fastest way is to cede the land by decree, it is the formula that we have defended before other areas of the Canary Islands Government, such as Health, when it comes to expanding infrastructures, and in this case Education confirms that it is totally feasible, so we get to work to materialize the transfer before the end of the year, and if in any case it is necessary to approve the transfer in the Plenary, well, we will also do so," says Óscar Noda.
"What is indisputable is the need to update the infrastructures of Playa Blanca," as supported by reports from the schooling service and educational inspection in a town that has the second most populated school in the Canary Islands.Iván González explains that "we are assessing with the City Council what the necessary option is. Whether a new early childhood and primary education center, a compulsory education center, or a secondary education institute. We want to design a center for the future that meets the needs of the educational community." Between the CEIP Playa Blanca and the CEO Montaña Roja, there are a total of 53 groups and more than 1,000 students.
CEIP Uga School Cafeteria
The school in Uga has several shortcomings, including the school cafeteria and a classroom for a library, needs that are driving the administrations to reorganize the center and build another building on an adjacent plot already studied by the Town Hall and Education Department. Public representatives visited the center after the meeting at the House of Culture, where Yaiza's Councilor for Education, Silvia Santana, also presented all the demands made by the management teams and AMPAs [Parents Associations] of the southern schools.
While the building expansion is being undertaken, Yaiza proposes offering the dining service at the private children's center located directly opposite, which has the facilities ready to offer it, although Education believes that it is better to provide the service at the CEIP Yaiza. "This option entails the difficulty of transporting the students by bus, a cost that the Ministry would have to assume as the competent administration," the mayor specifies. Óscar Noda is grateful not only for the visit of the general director, but also for his and his team's willingness to listen, reach consensus, and undertake actions aimed at solving problems in the educational community.
