The San Miguel Arcángel Compulsory Education Center (CEO) runs the risk of being left without dining service from next week, if the problems that affect it due to lack of personnel persist. The 335 beneficiary students were informed yesterday that from Monday the service will not be provided as they cannot guarantee the necessary security, both in the room and in the patio.
Vaneda Morales, president of the Association of Mothers and Fathers of Students (AMPA), regrets reaching this extreme «after two weeks fighting before the Ministry of Education of the Canary Islands Government». Failure to comply with the announcements made by this regional department lead parents to adopt drastic measures. They assure that the dining service in this center “has problems from the first second of the course.”
The reconversion of the San Miguel Arcángel Early Childhood and Primary Education Center (CEIP) into a Compulsory Education Center (CEO) entails an increase in the number of students and users of the dining room, for which Education granted the increase of one module of the service and, therefore, , the increase of the staff with an assistant. After a month and a half of the school year, “it has not arrived.”
Added to the lack of this staff is the lack of diligence in replacing a caregiver, who is on temporary leave due to illness. The same thing happens with the cook for four weeks. Her functions are developed by an assistant who reviewed the category. Vaneda Morales highlights that “even the teachers she is helping her to attend to the students in the dining room.”
The president of the AMPA emphasizes that “security is what worries us most, because under these conditions we cannot guarantee it.” He clarifies that the ratios of students per caregiver are notably exceeded in the case of the CEO San Miguel Arcángel school canteen, “both in the dining room itself and in the courtyard, while the students wait to be picked up by their parents.” Yesterday mid-afternoon, the City Council of San Miguel de Abona informed the AMPA that the Ministry of Education informed the municipal government that today there will be a solution to this problem.
Local government gets involved
The mayor of San Miguel, Arturo González, recalls that the management of the dining room “is not a municipal responsibility, but, as always, we are going to defend the interests of our neighbors.” He assures the councilor that “both the Councilor for Education and I have contacted the Ministry of Education several times to speed up the hiring of the necessary personnel that can cover the service in conditions and with guarantees.” The mayor transfers his concern as it is “a problem that has been coming from the beginning of the course and that it is of vital importance that it be resolved.”
The CEO San Miguel Arcángel has assigned 10 caretaker positions to serve 335 canteen students, although currently only eight provide the service.
Several attempts
The spokeswoman for the municipal Popular Group, María José Tacoronte, states that “it is not the first time that the center’s board of directors or the AMPA have tried to solve this situation, but the lack of response from the Ministry has led to today (yesterday) will officially announce to all families that as of next Monday, October 24, there will be no dining room as this service cannot be provided with the necessary security guarantees.
Tacoronte urges the competent area of the Government of the Canary Islands “to urgently solve these deficiencies, since we are talking about a service of vital importance for the family and work reconciliation of 335 families in San Miguel de Abona”, with the aggravating circumstance that it is harmed ” to a very high percentage» of those users, which correspond to those who have the free service.
The Ministry of Education, Universities, Culture and Sports of the Government of the Canary Islands yesterday chose to postpone its pronouncement. The AMPA is waiting for Education to comply with what it announced to the City Council and today there is a solution.
