Only the municipalities of San Bartolomé and Tías in Lanzarote have requested the summer dining rooms financed by the Ministry of Education and Universities of the Canary Islands Government, which this year has decided to change the model for "greater integration of students and a more efficient use of public money."
Specifically, starting this summer, the Ministry of Education's summer dining room and recreational workshop program will merge with the summer programs of the town halls, with the financing of a complete meal for all students at risk of social exclusion who participate in the municipal workshops. To date, 28 municipalities in the archipelago have submitted applications, with more than 500 applications so far and registration deadlines still open in several of them.
The Government of the Canary Islands proposed the modification to the Canary Islands Federation of Municipalities as early as April 2018 and has been working to implement this new formula. The one that was implemented in the 2013 academic year, in response to the toughest years of the economic crisis, consisted of the Ministry of Education and Universities itself organizing workshops in schools, specifically for students at risk of social exclusion, in order to provide them with at least one complete meal a day also in the summer months, with the collaboration of the town halls in aspects such as personnel or transport.
A formula that generated "segregation" and "inefficiency in spending"
However, the regional Executive states that "over the years, it was seen how this measure also generated a clear segregation, with students separated between those who attended the Ministry's camps and those from centers with municipal summer workshops, so that already in the summer of 2018 some town halls proposed the unification of both resources and began to offer the same camps for all students, where children at risk also received a complete meal completely subsidized by the Ministry of Education and Universities."
On the other hand, it points out that "attendance at the Ministry's workshops has been in continuous decline and, if in 2014 the maximum number of registrations was reached, with 4,895, in August 2018 there were 2,132." In addition, it points out that "practically half of those enrolled did not attend afterwards and of those 2,132, only 951 attended, on average." "However, the contracting of personnel services, catering, monitors... had to be done for the total number of students, which generated a clear inefficiency in the public expenditure of half or more of the item invested," it is stated from the Canary Islands Government, from where it is pointed out that "hence this change of model, in addition to facilitating the integration of students, enables a better use of the money of all citizens."
Specifically, to date, in addition to San Bartolomé and Tías in Lanzarote, the municipalities that have requested funding from the Ministry of Education and Universities of the Canary Islands Government to integrate summer dining rooms for students at risk of social exclusion with the workshops programmed by the council itself are Guía de Isora, La Orotava, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Adeje, Mogán, Fuencaliente, La Vega de San Mateo, El Tanque, Vilaflor de Chasna, Breña Baja, La Matanza, Santiago del Teide, La Victoria de Acentejo, Villa de Garafía, Ingenio, Los Llanos de Aridane, Buenavista del Norte, Teror, Valleseco, El Sauzal, Valsequillo, Icod de los Vinos, Puerto de la Cruz, Fasnia, Tacoronte and Santa Lucía de Tirajana.
Difficulties of town halls to contract catering in a short time
From the Government of the Canary Islands they affirm that "the peculiarities of this electoral year meant that the resolution indicating to the municipalities how they could request the collaboration of the Government, to integrate students at risk of social exclusion into their summer workshops and give them a complete daily meal, was communicated at the beginning of this month, so several municipalities expressed the difficulties of being able to contract the catering service in a short time and integrate it into the workshops they had programmed."
However, while acknowledging that "it is true that it would have been desirable to finish the file and issue the resolution earlier", he points out that "it is also true that since last year the Ministry had announced the change to the town halls" and that "since then it has raised it in several meetings with the Canary Islands Federation of Municipalities and has also been published in the media on several occasions", so he points out that "the town halls knew perfectly well that the summer dining rooms would be held in 2019 through the new formula."
"Be that as it may, the Ministry has always been willing to facilitate registrations as much as possible and collaborate with the municipalities that, without having been able to integrate the dining rooms into their own workshops, propose other lines of collaboration for the good of the minors", it is affirmed from the regional Executive, from where it is indicated that "another thing is that there are political leaders who have systematically refused to integrate minors at risk of social exclusion with the rest of the students in the summer workshops". Specifically, the Government of the Canary Islands makes mention of the Councilor for Education of the City Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Lourdes Armas, after she has described the change of formula as "shameless".