The Associations of Mothers and Fathers of Students (AMPA) demand that the public officials of the City Councils of Teguise, Tinajo and San Bartolomé, the Cabildo and the Ministry of Education of the Government of the Canary Islands "agree and urgently prepare“ the electrical installation of the kitchen to be able to "start the eco-canteens and prevent more small schools from disappearing".
The AMPA affirms that there is "a clear risk“ that these unitary schools or rural schools will "empty due to the impossibility of achieving family reconciliation due to the absence of basic services and schedules incompatible with the working life of the parents". Unitary schools, or rural schools, are a treasure for rural populations.
The model consists of students between the ages of three and twelve sharing classrooms and teachers, promoting cooperative learning between large and small and allowing for more personalized attention and education, given the low teacher-student ratio. This dynamic fosters solidarity and mutual support among students, as well as greater closeness between parents, children and teachers.
But the rural school also fulfills many other functions: it allows children to attend school in their own town, on foot or by bicycle, promoting a sense of belonging and rooting the population with their environment. It gives life to small towns in a framework of sustainability, preventing rural exodus and the consequent flight to the already overcrowded cities. If small towns run out of children, they will end up dying too, emphasizes the group of parents of students.
However, and despite these benefits, the unitary schools of Lanzarote "are on the verge of the abyss. The lack of services such as dining room, early reception or late pick-up, leads to the closure of almost one rural school in the Canary Islands every year. In Lanzarote, in recent years the school of Santa Bárbara in Máguez, the Santa Rosa in Órzola, the Teseguite school and the last one, the CEIP of Tiagua, the oldest on the island", they have made clear.
And this deficiency in basic services causes the loss of enrollments every year, since children are forced to move to other larger schools that, due to their size and budget, respond to these needs. And this only increases the ratios in the classrooms, the saturation of teachers and the deterioration in the quality of education.
Remember that the dining room service is not only essential to guarantee adequate nutrition for children, but also plays a fundamental role in family reconciliation. Many working parents depend on this service to be able to meet their work schedule.
Eco-canteens
Ten years ago, a project of eco-canteens for the Canary Islands schools began to take shape and since 2019 they have been promising rural schools the incorporation into this project. This would be wonderful, as eco-canteens are committed to seasonal, fresh and local products, collaborating with local farmers, fishermen and ranchers, promoting a circular economy model that is so necessary in the current scenario of social and environmental crisis that the islands are going through.
But with each school year, these schools face a new hurdle in achieving this goal, from the lack of adequate facilities, the lack of a kitchen, the lack of personnel, the deficiencies of the electrical installations, etc. And year after year, the Cabildo of Lanzarote, the city councils and the Ministry of Education promise that for the following school year these deficiencies will be corrected, but this never materializes.
"Fortunately, and thanks to the European Regional Development Funds, this year the reforms of the kitchens of these schools have finally been completed, not so that they can be cooked in them, because that was very expensive, but at least so that schoolchildren can receive catering food and consume it in the center. Obviously, this requires a company to cook, distribute and take care of the children during the dining time. Well, it seems that this point was overlooked by the political leaders of this project. They spent the European funds and that was the end of the commitment“, they have stressed.
The AMPAs of these schools, aware of the importance of the project, have assumed the "responsibility of finding a solution. The support and collaboration of local and regional authorities has been sought, but instead of receiving help, they have encountered a game of passing the buck between different entities, without any assuming their responsibility", they have pointed out.
"But the AMPAs are tireless, and despite the neglect of the administrations, we have continued the search for those who could supply this service. Not an easy task, since rural schools are not a very lucrative business, but we have succeeded. After months of exhaustive search we have finally found a company preparing organic food, with fresh and local products, that works with cooperatives of local farmers and that is willing to cook for our children. We still needed to find a kitchen, but we ended up finding it. Now all that remains is to overcome one last obstacle: the need to adapt the electrical installation of this kitchen so that the aforementioned company can start working", they recalled.
From the Associations of Mothers and Fathers of Students it is demanded that "it is imperative to bet on the model of unitary schools, which has proven to be so beneficial for all the actors involved. Preserving these schools is not only a matter of tradition, but also of safeguarding the social, educational and environmental advantages they offer, avoiding aggravating the saturation problems that the larger schools already face and putting an end once and for all to the comparative grievance suffered by the families of small towns".
"We urge the competent authorities, the Cabildo of Lanzarote, the Ministry of Education and the City Councils of Teguise, Tinajo and San Bartolomé, to put aside the excuses, to cooperate and assume their responsibility in adapting the electrical installation necessary to provide the dining service in the unitary schools of Lanzarote. We need our politicians to do their job", they have requested. "The future of our children and our communities is at stake, and we cannot afford to continue waiting, because on May 15 we have the deadline to give a response to the only company that has shown willingness to accompany us on this path. Otherwise, and because the unskillful summer period is upon us, we will be without a dining room for another year. Another year in which the unitary schools continue to empty", they have pointed out.
"Even with everything stated, we would like to thank the Island Director of Education, Carmen Pellón, for her willingness and her will to find solutions and the Coordinator of rural schools, Chano Acosta, for his involvement in this project", they concluded.
