The PSOE of Lanzarote demands that the Government of the Canary Islands "immediately comply" with the Non-Law Proposal (PNL) on school nursing approved unanimously in June 2025 and that it "present, without further delay," an Action Plan with a timeline, financing, and measurable objectives to progressively increase the number of school nurses in educational centers.
Despite the parliamentary mandate and the start of the 2025/2026 school year, "no specific school nursing position has been appointed." Currently, the Canary Islands has only 22 professionals for more than 1,300 centers and more than 250,000 students, a ratio that is "clearly insufficient."
This deployment doesn't start from scratch. In the last legislature, under the presidency of María Dolores Corujo, the Cabildo of Lanzarote launched a pilot school nursing project, with 100% island funding. The municipalities of Tías, Tinajo, and San Bartolomé were selected because they were already adhering to the Canary Islands Strategy of Health-Promoting Islands and Municipalities. In addition, many of their educational centers are part of the Axis for the Promotion of Health and Emotional Education of the Red Canaria Innovas, so they already had interest and a working basis to prioritize health in their activity.
The parliamentarian and island secretary of Social Rights of the PSOE of Lanzarote, Lucía Olga Tejera, promoter of the initiative, warns of the consequences of inaction:
"When we talk about school nursing, we're talking about prevention, health, and childhood. A non-binding resolution approved unanimously cannot remain a dead letter. The Government of the Canary Islands has the obligation to take it on, move forward, and continue its implementation in coordination with Education and Primary Care," she declares.
Tejera emphasizes that the current situation generates inequality between schools and families: “There are students with chronic pathologies or situations of special vulnerability who need monitoring, protocols, and a professional response in the school itself. The absence of school nursing limits access to an essential resource and exacerbates territorial and socioeconomic gaps.”
The PSOE of Lanzarote recalls that school nursing fulfills key functions: emergency care and first aid, monitoring of chronic diseases (diabetes, epilepsy, allergies, eating disorders, etc.), promotion of healthy habits, mental health and addiction prevention, affective-sexual education, and coordination with teaching and healthcare teams.
"We ask the Minister of Health to present, before the end of the year, a public Action Plan with phases, objectives per island, and sufficient resources to multiply the places during this year and the next. The priorities should be the centers with the greatest complexity and the students with identified health needs," adds Tejera.The PSOE of Lanzarote offers "the maximum institutional collaboration so that the plan is a reality this school year, and will exercise parliamentary control to guarantee deadlines, coverage, and financing."