Yes, they are, our teachers, our heroes, those who with their effort and with the capacity of the Canary Islands students have managed to keep the educational system of the islands afloat, because no matter how much they want to sell us something else, the management by the Government of the Canary Islands and the Canarian Coalition has left much to be desired.
They are the ones who have continued to maintain the type despite the cuts to their rights, the freezing of their six-year terms, the increase in ratios in the classrooms, the lack of maintenance of their centers and the lack of resources. Of course, none of this would have been possible without the titanic effort of our young people.
Therefore, today I write these lines to make it clear that neither Ciudadanos, nor our president, have at any time questioned the professionalism of the Canarian teachers, nor the capacity of the students. Not everything is valid in politics, and of course, distorting, confusing and trying to divide is at least despicable.
Ciudadanos with its proposal to homogenize criteria in the tests of Evaluation of Baccalaureate for Access to the University (EBAU) does not intend, nor has ever intended, to question our Canarian teachers and students, but to guarantee equal opportunities. And I, as a Canarian, want and have the obligation to defend that equality, so that my two daughters and all their classmates can have the same educational opportunities as any other child in Spain.
Likewise, I would like to emphasize that the freedom in the curriculum of the Canary Islands has not been questioned at any time, since we support and believe that it is a good measure that our students can know and study our reality, our ravines, our climate, our traditions?
Yes, we want to make it clear that we do not question the results of the EBAU in the Canary Islands, but we question the application of the LOMCE and the LOE, and the inequalities that have generated between communities.
We question the lack of criteria of politicians so far and the regulatory development that has been made of the curricular issue, and therefore, and because we understand that Education does not have to be a political issue, which changes according to the government in turn, Ciudadanos has championed and defended the existence of a National Education Pact, which guarantees a quality education system for all.
And it is that no one is hidden that the indicators in the Canary Islands are not good, and that as much as it hurts some, is the result of these 25 years of management of the Canarian Coalition, supported by both the PP and the PSOE.
You only have to pull the newspaper library to see that the Canary Islands are at the tail in educational equity, in integration to students with disabilities, in number of higher graduates, or when promoting education from 0 to 3 years.
There is much work to be done in Education, but we have no doubt that both teachers and students are doing everything they can to reverse and improve this situation.
Finally, I want to remember that Ciudadanos has shown its commitment to the Canary Islands, because if we have something clear, it is that if we talk about equality, we must take into account the singularities of the islands. Therefore, and because we are aware, Ciudadanos was the only national party with a Canarian agenda, specifically, 25 points in which we defended, among other aspects, the defense and improvement of the REF; aid to the transport of goods; aid to the transport of passengers or tax discounts.
For all this, I ask the teachers, students, parents and mothers of the Canary Islands not to be intoxicated by those who are able to use any resource to hide the failure of their 25 years of management at the head of the regional government.
Mariano Cejas is the autonomous spokesman for Ciudadanos (Cs) Canarias
