The professionals used the day to highlight “the importance of bonding” with young children. Early-years educator Isabel Pamplona said that, in nursery school, “we need time to work with children during the bonding period, and yet that time is being denied to us.” She also stressed that, in the meantime, it is necessary to continue fighting for other issues, such as “lower ratios, which has been the main demand, the two-educator model and decent wages.”
The educators consider lower ratios essential, since having fewer children would be key to providing care based on attachment, emotional support and respect for each child’s individual pace. Although the Ministry has already announced its intention to reduce the number of children per professional, Sonia Lagar, also an educator, said it was necessary to keep “making noise” until the proposed ratios are implemented. “For now, they’re just words carried away by the wind,” she said.
“LOVE, CALM AND TIME” VERSUS “OVERWHELM, STRESS AND RUSH”
For Sonia, demanding these workplace improvements is particularly necessary now, as children are going through the adaptation process. “During the adaptation period, it is clear that young children mainly need love, calm and time. And if you walk into a 0-to-3 classroom right now, that is the last thing being conveyed, because we don’t have enough hands. What is conveyed is stress, overwhelm and rush,” she denounced.
They said the problem is not a lack of commitment among the professionals, but that “we are overwhelmed.” Photo: Aragón Press
She therefore said that the problem is not a lack of commitment among the professionals, but that “we are overwhelmed. No matter how much we are told that we need to be patient, warm and fully available, sometimes my body simply cannot pick up so many children who need that contact.” Sonia said that what they are asking for “is nothing out of this world,” but rather “the reality in many other European countries.”
The event was organized by CGT. The union warned that the professionals’ working conditions ultimately affect the day-to-day running of classrooms and, consequently, the care provided to children. They said that a lack of resources and high ratios make it harder to offer closer support and adapt educational responses to the specific needs of each child. “Defending educators’ rights means safeguarding the dignity of childhood,” they said.
