SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Dec. 26 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Common Deputy, Rafael Yanes, and the first deputy, Felipe Afonso, have met with the president of the Association of Trisomics 21 Down Tenerife, Lorenzo Moreno, who described some of the obstacles they have to deal with daily to get the real integration of people with Down syndrome in the Canary Islands.
From the Association they denounced that the islands are “outdated” in Early Care Services (SAT) in comparison with other autonomous communities and that there is no effective inclusion in the classrooms of people with Down syndrome.
“If you do not start with an effective inclusive education from a young age, we will never be able to achieve the normalization and socialization of these people in our environment,” warned the president of Down Tenerife.
Yanes reported that the Diputación del Común already opened a complaint a few years ago to find out about the Early Care Plan that existed in the Canary Islands.
“When we asked the Ministry, they confirmed that the 2019-2023 Early Care Plan was based on the establishment of three SAT units in Gran Canaria and three in Tenerife, as well as one on each non-capital island,” he asserted.
In this regard, the Common Deputy undertook to reopen this claim to request information from the Ministry of Education on compliance with the provisions of the plan to date, as well as the execution forecasts for the year 2023.
Moreno also reported on the existence of a residence project in La Laguna for people with Down syndrome, proposed in 2019, which is currently in the hands of the Island Council of Tenerife and which, for bureaucratic reasons, is paralyzed.
“In the Canary Islands there is no center like this, so it is a much-needed resource on the island. We ask that they speed up the bureaucracy and there is a political commitment to start it as soon as possible,” Moreno said.
The Deputy of the Common will request information from the Island Council of Tenerife on the current status of this center and will remain in contact with the Association to transfer the response obtained.