APPALLING CONDITIONS IN ORIHUELA COSTA SCHOOLS
CLR press release
“We have been contacted recently by some very angry and desperate parents” informed us Pedro Mancebo Gilabert, the Orihuela Town Councillor and spokesman of the CLR opposition party. “They are very concerned and upset regarding the appalling conditions of the schools which their children attend”. Two schools referred to in particular are in a very bad shape – the IES Playa Flamenca School and the CP17 Los Dolses Primary School at Playa Flamenca.
The “IES Playa Flamenca” school is a pre-fabricated building situated on the edge of a ravine reported Pedro. One classroom has already literally been washed down the ravine during heavy rains and some bathroom facilities had to be removed as the ravine prevented proper sewage disposal. We were astonished to hear -commented Pedro further- that when it rains the children sit in their classrooms with rain dripping onto them, their school books, the desks and floors. During heavy rain the parents do not send their children to school at all -said Pedro- it is just too dangerous. Not only can the children and teachers not move around the school safely, as the floors are so full of puddles, but there is the big risk of a further classroom being washed down the ravine. One mother informed us it breaks her heart to send her child to school on a rainy day as she knows he will sit there getting wet. She asked how can children concentrate on their lessons in these conditions? “The very sad thing about this is that he thinks this is NORMAL”.
The parents informed Pedro further that it is not only the bad construction and location of the school which are causing them nightmares. There seems to be no co-ordination at the school to ensure the needs of the pupils are met and one hears endless stories from distressed parents who are returning home due to various problems, e.g. the problem of bullying which the parents believe results from the school´s incapability of dealing hands-on with their problems. As one can imagine the moral of the teachers is quite low for obvious reasons, reported the parents to Pedro Mancebo.
We cannot understand how on earth the authorities had the idea to build the new school (building work has been halted) in practically the same location as the prefabricated school – far too close to the ravine, one of the parents informed Pedro.
Another parents went onto to inform us regarding the abysmal conditions at her child´s school, the “CP17 Los Dolses”, which is a primary school in Playa Flamenca. The parents said they really feel let down by the Town Hall. He asked if the PP governing party at the Town Hall is not interested in the children of Orihuela-Costa?. Another parent continued that the Town Hall cannot possibly be interested because in the period of two years not one member or representative of the PP local government has visited the school or attended any school board meetings, so how can they know how dire things are if they do not come and see for themselves, asked the parents. The children, regardless of nationality, are not receiving a fair and equal chance to receive the education they deserve -reported another parent whose child attends the same school- as at the beginning of every school year at least on class of children have to be taught by multiple substitutes teachers while they wait on their permanent teachers to be assigned to their class by the board. This has a negative affect on the children, specially this is not suitable for children of primary age, and it would be interesting to know how this class academically fairs at the end of the school year with the parallel classes in their year, questioned one mother.
As with the “IES Playa Flamenca” school, the “CP17 Los Dolses” suffer many internal problems such as the fact that there are a number of children still waiting to be allocated places on the school bus, considering that we are now in the 6th month of the 2009/2010 school year with only 4 months of school to go. When a lack of school bus allocations prevents primary age pupils attending school the situation then becomes a blatant abuse of our children's basic right to an education and actually this is denying some children their right to a pre-school education thus placing them at a disadvantage in relation to their peers, concluded this mother.
One of the parents of the “CP17 Los Dolses” school informed us regarding renovation work carried out at the school. He informed Pedro that it took nearly one year for the actual work to start and during the work being carried out one class of children were squashed together in a classroom half the required size for one whole school year. How can a teacher be expected to teach his or her pupils in such conditions, questioned the parent, the children had to practically sit on each others laps!
Pedro went on to inform us regarding what another parent had told the CLR party regarding funding at this particular school. The parent had attended a meeting at the school to discuss funding and the division of funds for schools in this area. The mother reported that the local government allocates funds to the schools to purchase equipment and materials annually and these funds should be divided equally between the 18 primary schools in the Orihuela area. The mother was very surprised, and angry, as it appears the primary schools on the coast receive less than other schools. Surely all the schools should be treated the same!
Pedro would like to thank the parents for taking the time to inform him and the CLR party regarding the terrible conditions at both schools. It is very sad that the education of these youngsters – the next generation – is not as important to the local governing PP party as one would like to think, commented Pedro Mancebo.
We would welcome the chance to be able to speak to other parents, either from the schools mentioned, or other schools in this area who are also at a loss as how to improve the conditions at the schools their children attend. These conditions cannot be tolerated any longer -concluded Pedro- and we must start taking the required actions to alleviate the matters that the PP party is clearly not solving. If you are a parent and are worried about your child´s education or the conditions of the school they attend, please contact us on telephone number 966 76 1956 or email us to pedro@centroliberalrenovador.es to discuss further.