The Ministry of Education of the Government of the Canary Islands has come out to respond to the assembly of parents of the IES César Manrique, who this Tuesday sent a statement showing their "concern" about the Executive's decision to increase the number of groups in the center, expressing their "doubts" regarding the planning of schooling in the capital. According to what the Canarian Government has now stated, "the new school map of Arrecife was agreed upon since December with the affected centers."
In a statement, the Ministry of Education points out that the head of planning of the Ministry of Education and Universities, the island director of Education on the island, the educational inspection and the directors of the Blas Cabrera Felipe, César Manrique and Las Maretas Secondary Education Institutes and the Argana Alta Center for Early Childhood and Primary Education met "last December" to "analyze the situation of the school map of the municipality and the changes that have occurred since the assignment of the Centers for Early Childhood and Primary Education (CEIP) to the different institutes was agreed upon."
During the meeting, "the agreement reached was reviewed and it was verified that the only change with respect to the agreement agreed between the inspection and all the centers last December is that the IES César Manrique will have a group with between 10 and 12 more students than planned, only provisionally and only during the 2018-2019 school year", states the Canarian Government.
The Ministry of Education points out that "this is due to course repetitions at the IES César Manrique and the progress of students in the centers that are assigned to it, which are the CEIP Argana Alta and the CEIP Capellanía del Yágabo." "More students than expected are staying in first grade and more than estimated at the beginning are arriving from the two mentioned centers," he adds.
Reorganization of educational centers after the creation of the CIFP Zonzamas
In a meeting held this Monday, the Canarian Government states that "the directors of the IES Blas Cabrera Felipe and Las Maretas recalled that this is the second year of modification of the school map in the city, in a process that began to ensure that the municipality and the entire island finally had an Integrated Vocational Training Center." "Since the CIFP Zonzamas was created, the different districts and the assignment of schools to the institutes have been adjusted, always seeking the most balanced distribution possible for the educational offer of Arrecife, with the solidary collaboration of the centers," they specify from Education.
"The aforementioned directors recalled at yesterday's meeting that this specific change began at the end of the 2016-2017 academic year, given the need to complete the restructuring process of some educational districts of Arrecife, in order to reduce the number of ESO groups at the IES Blas Cabrera Felipe, very close to its capacity, so that the assignment of schools to that center was modified downwards, going from three to two," adds the regional Executive.
Thus, the Ministry of Education points out that "in September 2017 the preparation of a proposal for the Arrecife School Map began, which would satisfy all parties, taking into account the opinion and suggestions of all the management teams of the affected centers, with bilateral meetings with each of those centers."
Three situations "that had to be resolved"
In this regard, the Government of the Canary Islands explains that "three situations had to be resolved": "the necessary reduction of groups in the IES Blas Cabrera Felipe; the assignment of the CEIP Nieves Toledo to the IES Agustín Espinosa, given that most of the students of this school had to use school transport to travel to the IES Las Maretas; and the reassignment of the CEIP La Destila to another nearby institute, so that students could travel without using school transport."
"After an exhaustive analysis, of which all the centers were kept informed step by step, several proposals were made, although some had to be discarded because they were considered unfeasible. Finally, in view of the analysis of the evolution and distribution of the school population in the vicinity of the CEIP La Destila, the possibility of assigning it to the IES Las Maretas is taken into consideration, given that the distance separating these two centers is 1,100 meters, which are covered in a straight line through Calle Triana," it is detailed.
For its part, "the CEIP Titerroy, assigned to the IES Blas Cabrera Felipe, would also move to the IES Las Maretas, in order to compensate for the reassignment of the CEIP Nieves Toledo and the necessary evacuation of the IES Blas Cabrera Felipe," point out from the Ministry of Education, from where they point out that "at this point, the IES Las Maretas was the head center of three CEIP: the Titerroy, the Argana Alta and La Destila."
However, according to Education, "this solution was not feasible, given that within one or two courses, when the new CEIP La Destila reached full occupancy, the IES Las Maretas would inherit the same problem of overcrowding as the IES Blas Cabrera Felipe."
"No disagreement was expressed and there were no different proposals"
Thus, the Government of the Canary Islands states that "at that time, at the end of October 2017, the educational inspection service assesses the possibility of assigning the CEIP Argana Alta to the IES César Manrique and informs its management team of this." "In conclusion, finally on December 18, 2017, the educational inspection summoned the directors of all the affected educational centers to explain the planned modifications to the school map and the definitive assignments, resolved with a comprehensive approach, trying to balance the distribution of students, to cause the least possible disruption to them and their families, with an assignment of schools according to the capacity of each institute and as close as possible to their homes," he points out.
The Ministry of Education affirms that "this was explained and presented to the representatives of the management of the CEIP Titerroy, La Destila, Nieves Toledo and Argana Alta and of the IES César Manrique, Blas Cabrera Felipe and Las Maretas." "And according to the inspectors and several directors present, no disagreement was expressed and there were no different proposals to the planning that was finally agreed upon with all the educational centers", he adds.
The only modification that Education claims has not been agreed upon
This approach "included the new assignments to the IES César Manrique, with the increase of a group in the first year of ESO", explains the Government of the Canary Islands, which recognizes, however, that "as has been expressed, the evolution of the students has made it necessary to enable another group for the next 2018/2019, which will have around ten or twelve students."
"That is the only difference with the situation agreed in December: ten or twelve students in one more group. Removing that dozen minors, the rest of the modifications has had the knowledge and agreement of all the management teams throughout the process, including that of the IES César Manrique", conclude from the Ministry of Education.
