On the news recently, I have seen many protests concerning the education system in Spain and could only pick up bits and pieces from the news reporters and mi madre. Luckily, this week I was able to find an article that helps us non Spanish speakers become a part of the conversation.
Last Wednesday (September 14) a protest was held in Madrid against the budget cuts towards education. These cuts focused mainly on reducing the need for temporary staff by having all “regular” teachers work an extra two hours a week. It is stated the cuts of the temporary teachers will add 13,000 to the already 4 million unemployed in Spain, “which at 20.9 percent has the European Union’s highest jobless rate”. The lack of temporary teachers also has far reaching effects in the education world itself. Without these teachers, programs in school that provide students with individualized attention will be significantly smaller, and in some cases, eliminated altogether. This is especially worrisome considering Spain has “one of the highest drop-out rates in Europe with about 30 percent of school leavers aged under 16 years”, and with these new budget cuts it seems as if this percentage will only increase.
This Wednesday (September 21), protests in Galicia have been organized and the movement definitely does not seem to be slowing down. And keep your calendars marked for October 22nd where a massive protest is planned in Madrid.
SIDE NOTE: Although both my sources are from Reuters, the US Reuters says the cuts save Spain 2 billion euros, while the Spain Reuters says the cuts save Spain 2 million euros. Then when trying to find a third source another number that popped up is 80 million euros. Sooo that’s peculiar.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/14/spain-teachers-idUSLDE78D0H820110914
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