- The conditions for the beginning of the course and the approach to deal with the situation generated by COVID-19 are being the subject of intense debate in the educational community. There has been a widespread call for the hiring of more teachers to guarantee the conditions of education and health in the first person. This same week, the Steilas union has requested 6,000 new teachers to meet these objectives, or the Agora Philosophy Association, which brings together the Philosophy Professors of the CAV, has called for "more cleaning, administrative, teaching and auxiliary personnel". Both coincide in the same reflection: The protocol drawn up by the Basque Government itself for schools and educational centres is not feasible without the recruitment of more staff.
At the press conference following the meeting of the Emergency Care Commission (LABI) set up for decision-making in the health emergency, on Tuesday, the acting Education Minister, Cristina Uriarte, has outlined the intentions of the Basque Government for the beginning of the course. The Basque Government has planned three possible scenarios for education, but Uriarte has pointed out that the wager is that of classroom education.
New contracts?
“We are aware that there is a widespread demand for more teachers,” said Uriarte. It has ensured that the needs of school to school will be studied and has left open the possibility of recruiting more teachers. This recognition could lead to a change in the attitude of the Basque Government, which had hitherto ruled out the possibility of hiring more teachers. But when we go from universality to detail, it has become clear that in the best case, new contracts will be far from the demands of the educational community.
Uriarte has generally stressed that the ratios currently existing in schools and schools are below the legally established ceiling – it does not seem to be a source of pride, it would be the opposite. It has recognised that then there are centres that are above the average ratio – which is what the average ones have, which are the average ones, have always been above and others below – and it has limited it to those possibilities of new hiring. However, the option is not compromise. In total, there are 50 centres that are above average, as Uriarte explained. But educational agents are demanding more teachers and staff for all schools and educational centers, occupational risk prevention measures implemented by the Basque Government itself in the educational centers of the CAPV, so that the action protocol for the risk of exposure to COVID-19 is applicable. “It will not be possible to comply with what has been collected if there are no more staff in the educational centers,” said the majority union in CAV education, Steilas.
It does not seem very reasonable to establish a protocol with one hand, while with the other the conditions for fulfilling it are not guaranteed. Apparently, this is the intention of the Basque Government and the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research. The educational community and society as a whole would suffer its consequences.