Around 780 candidates for the tests of the Corps of Specialist Teachers in Unique Sectors of Vocational Training have today kickstarted the extraordinary process of Education competitions in the Canary Islands for the stabilization of temporary staff, which will take place this weekend and the next one, with around 26,500 people participating. This sector, which covers the specialties of FP in Graphic Arts Production (34 candidates), Vehicle Maintenance (199), Carpentry and Furniture Manufacturing and Installation (64), Welding (51), Hairstyling (80), Esthetics (128), and Cooking and Pastry (230), has been the first to be examined because they have to face a practical test that the rest of the specialties do not have.
This was stated by Isabel González, president of the Tribunal at the CIFP Cruz de Piedra and of the Esthetics Commission in Gran Canaria. “The unique sectors have to take three tests, compared to the two of the rest of the candidates, the A which is the theoretical topic, and the B1 which is the didactic unit. The specialties in unique sectors also have to take a third test, the B2, which is the practical part”.
Positions
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In Esthetics, for which five positions have been announced in total – the last competition in this specialty was in 2019 – 128 candidates registered, 57 in Tenerife and 71 in Gran Canaria, where the tribunal is located at the CIFP Cruz de Piedra and where finally 48 people showed up.
The first candidates, the vast majority of them women, started arriving at the center around 8:00, and at 8:15 the first groups were called to go up to the classrooms where they would take the theoretical exam (A) that started at 9:30. “We have three classrooms prepared, each with a member of the tribunal, and we will start with the draw of the balls with the topics”. As the Cruz de Piedra is the regional coordinating center, this draw was carried out in connection with the tribunal in Tenerife. “It is a unique draw for the whole specialty in the two provinces and the topics will be exactly the same for everyone to ensure fairness”.
Out of the six positions offered, one is for a person with disabilities, with two candidates in Gran Canaria and two in Tenerife, “although none of them has required any adaptations”.
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They have been working on this competition exam for over a month and a half, and the most challenging part, according to the coordinator, has been the organization of the practical test, which will be the second to be carried out in a few days, after the theoretical one is corrected. “We already have the two workshops set up with all the necessary materials for the practical exercises. Today the A test takes place, the draw is made from which five topics are selected, each candidate chooses one and has two and a half hours for its development. Once we have corrected the exams, we will start calling groups of ten at a time, in the morning and afternoon shifts, to take the B2 test which is the practical one“.
Among the first candidates arriving for the theoretical exam are Sabina Díaz and Ana Parra. Neither of them has teaching experience in public education, it is the first time they are taking the competitions and they have prepared on their own. “It’s challenging because there are 72 topics, and it has been difficult to find all the available resources, without a coach and without the financial means to pay for one,” said Ana Parra, who has dedicated around two hours a day to studying.
Laura Morera, who has been teaching in a public school for three academic years, is taking the exams for the second time. “I have been studying since 2019 with a coach, then the pandemic started, we were locked down, and the competitions were canceled,” she has dedicated between four to five hours of study daily “in between classes,” so she hopes this will be her year.
Not the case for Quintana, who has never taught classes and is applying for these competitions because she sees it as an opportunity to get onto the lists. “You never know when they will open again, and I want to leave a door open to teaching in the future”.
On June 22nd, the most crowded day will be when 20,000 people will take the exams
Next Saturday, June 22nd, will be the most crowded day, as the exams for the rest of the Corps of Secondary School Teachers and Masters will take place. 288 tribunals will be on duty, out of the 318 activated in the Canary Islands, and around 20,000 people will participate on a single day. While on Sunday the 23rd, the last theoretical exams will be held for the teachers from the Official Language Schools and the rest of the Fine Arts.
