SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 28th May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Platform for 5% is advocating for an increase in the teaching staff of non-university public education in the Canary Islands with an additional 5,000 teachers over the next two school years.
This proposal entails a surge of 1,000 teachers for the Early Childhood 0-3 years program and 4,000 for other educational levels (totalling 2,500 per academic year).
The platform deems this measure crucial to tackle what they perceive as the four major educational challenges in the region, which include enhancing academic performance, fostering the expansion of early childhood education for 3-year-olds, rectifying the “mistakes” in the plan to stabilize temporary teachers, and, moreover, adhering to the stipulations of the Canary Islands Education Law concerning investments in this sector.
The platform considers it “imperative” to prioritise providing the necessary teaching staff to schools situated in impoverished and socially marginalised areas to reduce student-teacher ratios, implement diversity programs, decrease dropout rates, and enhance academic outcomes.
Additionally, efforts are being made to close the “significant disparity” between the islands and the national average in terms of teaching staff, with communities like Extremadura – with comparable per capita income – having around 4,000 more teachers.
This expansion of teachers would also facilitate the expansion of the Early Childhood Education program for 0-3 years by establishing a minimum of 1,000 new classrooms that address societal needs, thereby moving the Canary Islands away from being at the bottom in this aspect and approaching the national average, they emphasise.
Furthermore, the increase in teacher numbers over two academic years would enable the commencement of a new plan to stabilise temporary teachers in the Canary Islands to counter temporary employment abuse.
The platform asserts that providing an “appropriate and equitable” response would address the emerging issue and prevent the potential dismissal of 2,400 Canarian temporary teachers due to flawed planning and outcomes of the recent exceptional competition for stabilisation of temporarily occupied positions in the Canary Islands, or competition based on merits.
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Additionally, they highlight that this would contribute to the continued implementation of the mandates outlined in the Canary Islands Education Law and fulfil the regulatory imperative to achieve and maintain a minimum investment of 5% of GDP in education through a €250 million increase in each of the next three educational budgets to reach this goal in the Canary Islands’ 2027 public accounts.
The platform also urges all stakeholders (unions, parent associations, Pedagogical Renewal Movements, the Canary Islands School Council, local councils, parliamentary groups) and the Government of the Canary Islands to initiate a social dialogue on the proposal and establish the necessary mechanisms for preparation and provision.
“In order to bridge the gap, align with the national standards, and provide our youth with genuine opportunities for academic and professional success, it is imperative and urgent to implement measures that drastically accelerate the pace of educational advancement,” they state.
