In 2014, the Parliament of the Canary Islands approved the Canary Islands Non-University Education Law, which constitutes the indispensable regulatory framework that our education system requires to take a step forward and guarantee the right of the Canarian people to a dignified education. To this end, in addition to setting out the plans and agenda for action, the necessary funding path was established.
In addition to non-compliance with the Law in its financing and implementation schedule, the last four years, i.e. this legislature, have been the worst in our autonomous history in terms of educational investment in relation to GDP. These are irrefutable objective data, despite the interest of the government and its related media in selling the budget increases of this stage as a great social advance.
In these years of bonanza and economic improvement, the GDP and income of the autonomous community have increased significantly. The Government of the Canary Islands had sufficient resources to make the "progressive increases" dictated by the Law and make the 5% target possible in 2022. However, there has been no interest or political will. The serious thing about the breaches that have occurred is that, in addition to hindering the necessary financing path, the serious problems that compromise the future of Canarian education continue to be unresolved.
There are data that abound in this direction. In the implementation of early childhood education from 0 to 3 years we are still at the bottom of the State; our staff continues to be one of the most deficient (2,400 teachers less than the state average) and school drop-out - something in which we had improved significantly - is once again rebounding in a very negative way.
It is proven that education has not been a priority for the government or its parliamentary supporters. Tax cuts have been: 270 million euros in the last two budgets that have been deducted from investment in public services in the Canary Islands.
But there is another worrying fact that deserves more detailed reflection: the privatization of the education system.
We are not going to dwell on the growing development of the private university offer, while many cuts and high fees remain in the public university. We are going to underline the involution that is implying the increase of the agreement of places to private centers in the stages of infantile, primary and secondary education. The Canary Islands, for many years, has had a rate of students in private centers stable, around 22%, when the European average for Primary is only 10%. Curiously, throughout this legislature there has been an accelerated growth to exceed 24%. In short, private education grows while public education supports all kinds of ballast and shortcomings, disguised or intentionally silenced by a salary increase to teachers through the six-year terms. A necessary salary increase that does not justify the abandonment and neglect of other urgent improvements to the staff and conditions of public centers.
Where does this political planning lead us? Can the laws of the market - education as a business - correct and compensate for the growing inequality of Canarian society and the dramatic advance of poverty and social exclusion?
As Ana Pastor, presenter of 'El Objetivo', would say: these are the data, your conclusions.
By Bernardino Ruiz Velázquez and Carlos Quesada Frigolet (members of the Platform for 5% of GDP for education)
