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INPRIMATU
Seaska denounces that the resources offered by Paris for the next course are not enough
  • At the opening ceremony of the Popular Step Festival, Erik Etxarte, a member of the Seaska board, denounced that Paris had not yet proposed additional teaching positions for the next academic year. The response of the French Ministry of Education came over the weekend and was denounced in an appearance on Monday as "unacceptable". According to them, the teaching positions offered by the ministry are not enough to meet the needs of the students who will be attending the next course, and the call to mobilize on Fridays in Bayonne has been extended.
Eneko Imaz Galparsoro 2025eko maiatzaren 20a
Seaskak eginiko agerraldia astelehenean, Kanbon. Seaska

Seaska’s director, Erik Etxarte, took advantage of the opening ceremony of the Popular Step Festival held two weeks ago to extend the call: in view of the lack of response from the French Ministry of Education regarding the new teaching positions for the next course, which ended in March, Etxarte announced on Friday that the “drum sounds” will occupy the streets of Bayonne. Seaska received a proposal from Paris over the weekend, which he denounced as "unacceptable" during his appearance in Kanbo on Monday. According to the Federation of North Basque Country Schools, the positions of teachers established by the French Ministry of Education for the next academic year are not enough to meet the needs of the students who will have them.

Seeing that he is taking on more students year after year, Seaska informed Paris in November last year about his needs for new teaching positions and met with him in January. However, according to the document published on Monday, among the 33 schools that the association brings together, the Ministry of Education has not given them one more teaching position. In addition, they have not been admitted to special teachers or pedagogical advisers for inclusion.

In a meeting with the Ministry of Education in April, Maider Behoteguy, head of the Basque Public Agency EEP, said that they were well received. In commemoration of these statements, Seaska proclaims during the apparition: “Words are not enough and we need action.” In fact, the PEI is an agreement that links schools in the Northern Basque Country with Paris, but it has been completed since 2022 and has not been renewed since. Seaska explains that this situation "causes them concern and impatience": “It’s a huge disrespect for our students and families.”

The case of the Kattalin Elizalde College in Senpe

However, the biggest problem for the next year will be at the Kattalin Elizalde College in Senpe. In fact, after the premiere of the sixth, fifth and fourth grade classrooms in recent years, in the course 2025-26 they want to open two classrooms in the third grade in this school. In the Seaska document, however, it is reported that the Ministry of Education has not even offered them enough places to open a classroom: that is, instead of the 3.68 teaching posts needed to expand two classrooms, the Kattalin Elizalde College will have to be adapted with 1.6 teaching posts.

The director of the school, Iñaki Lekona, spoke to the newspaper Berria. "How does Paris think it is possible to work with such figures? ", asks Lekona, because it is "impossible" for a single teacher to ensure the learning process of 39 students. Regarding the posts for inclusion, the director of the school, Kattalin Elizalde, said that in the Ministry of Education they "increase their role" when talking about it, but they do not have any consideration when making calculations.