Students at Zaragoza’s CPI Valdespartera III began using the five prefabricated classrooms this Monday, a week after the school year started, following months of requests from their families. However, the parents’ association considers that the facilities were delivered in “precarious” conditions. By this, it means that the classrooms “have only basic furniture, no whiteboards, no computer with internet access for the teacher and no daily cleaning contract.”
The Department of Education told Aragón Press that the Provincial Education Service is waiting, “in the short term,” to receive the whiteboards and some computer equipment that are still “pending” installation. It also said that the classrooms installed this school year are “similar” to those used last year and have the same features and furnishings. In any case, it stressed that “the conditions for teaching classes are fully guaranteed so that educational activities can take place normally.”
In fact, officials from the Provincial Service visited CPI Valdespartera III this Tuesday to check the condition and operation of the prefabricated classrooms, as well as the two similar facilities located at the nearby IES Valdespartera. During the visit, they also addressed other issues with the management teams of both schools.
The parents’ association says that until last Friday, during the first week of the school year, students had to attend classes in common areas. It claims that this prevented subjects such as music, computing and physical education from being taught “properly.” Although the prefabricated classrooms will allow teaching hours to return to “normal,” subjects such as Physical Education still do not have “the space necessary to be taught,” the association says. This is because the prefabricated classrooms occupy half of the school’s sports courts.
In this regard, the school families point out that the partial sports court built by the Department of Education last school year to create more space for Physical Education and recess “still cannot be used because of the construction work on an infrastructure trench that prevents access.” They also believe it cannot be used during all teaching hours because “it does not have floodlighting that would allow it to be used when there is little sunlight.”
MORE REQUESTS FROM THE PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION
Alongside these demands, the parents’ association is requesting a meeting with Education Minister Carmen Susín to present other “demands.” These include introducing an ASD classroom in secondary education, paying money that the Education Department still “owes” for the maintenance and cleaning of secondary-school classrooms, and hiring a counselor and an ASD classroom teacher.
