TORREVIEJA’S 6,250 INFANT AND PRIMARY STUDENTS RETURN TO SCHOOL

A collective sigh of relief could be sensed around Torrevieja on Thursday morning as summer holidays finally came to an end and children returned or stated school. Torrevieja's Mayor, Pedro Hernandez Mateo also returned to school but only to visit Torrevieja's two newest facilities and the location of what should be the last one that the city requires, at lest for the moment.

Education is a subject very close to the Mayor's heart and per capita, Torrevieja has one of the best teacher to student ratios, a variety of courses for all ages and skill levels plus new facilities such as the Conservatory of Music, which is due to open in 2011. In total, Torrevieja has 6,250 pupils of Infant and Primary age, amounting to about 5% of Torrevieja registered population plus many thousands of Secondary pupils and adults involved in further education.

Hernández Mateo, accompanied by the delegate of Education, José Manuel Pizana, visited several schools to mark the start of the 2010/11 school year at Infant and Primary level. The first visit was to Public School No. 11 " “Ciudad del Mar ", located in the north of Torrevieja, on Calle Tirso de Molina (former Plaza de Toros). Torrevieja's latest school has 493 students, and was built with an investment of 5,724,423 euros.

The mayor said that 14 Torrevieja schools (13 public and one private) opened their doors for Infant and Primary students amounting to a total of 275 units (classrooms), an average ratio of less than 23 per class. The total number of Infants in Torrevieja has risen to 2,050 (89 classes), while the number of primary pupils is 4,200 (186 classes). The mayor also visited CP No. 10 Habaneras (Avenida Delfina Viudes), which opened earlier in the year but on Thursday began their first year in new facilities.

Mateo Hernandez and Jose Manuel Pizana concluded their tour visiting the former home of ‘Ciudad del Mar' which is a temporary arrangement of prefabricated classrooms, situated near the CdT Torrevieja on Avenida de los Nenúfares. Students from CP Acequión have provisionally been moved here while their school undergoes a major reconstruction. Once students have returned to CP Acequión, this site shall be turned into school number CP 13, ‘Ciudad del Ovideo', with whom Torrevieja are twinned.