The effects of DANA have forced the closure – temporary, if not definitive – of 92 educational centers throughout the Valencian Country. The directors of the Horta Sud schools – public, private and subsidized – received late on Friday a circular. The Department of Education reported the reopening of 49 of them – 47, finally. This Monday, according to the same document, 22,000 students from Benetússer, Algemesí, Alaquàs and Torrent They could return to the classrooms. Families and teachers, however, denounce that “physically impossible“and criticize the”advertising campaign“orchestrated by the Government of Carlos Mazón.
“Inspection personnel have attempted to visit each of the affected centers [para comprobar su estado]but it has not always been possible to access. The Department assumed that some schools had not suffered damage; did not send cleaning resources and did not take into account that many centers continue to be used as logistics points“insists Rubén Pacheco, president of the federation of families FAMPA Valencia. The department headed by José Antonio Rovira sent a second message on Sunday to confirm that other 50 schools and institutes They would gradually return to normal over the next few weeks. Students from 20 other centers will have to be relocatedbecause the facilities were completely destroyed.
The CEIP Virgen del Pilar de Algemesí appears on the Generalitat’s list as one of the centers that is, supposedly, in conditions of resume activity. The 135 students should have returned to the cole this Monday. “Reopening under the proposed terms was almost impossible. The only ones who have been able to come are the 30 who live in the neighborhood; the others can’t get there. The streets are full of heavy machinery and access is dangerous.“, acknowledges Eva Moya, school director, on the phone. The teaching team has contacted all the families and has launched a campaign to collect school supplies, because “many boys and girls have lost everything.” The center will close again this Wednesday like many others in the Valencian Countrybeing in the area on alert for rain.
The same has happened with the students of the CEIP Blasco Ibáñezin Benetusser. The Generalitat contemplated its “progressive opening” starting this Monday, just two weeks after DANA. “What the Ministry says is impossible, completely impossible. The children’s area, for example, is occupied by veterinarians; Right now, in fact, they are operating on a dog… You can’t imagine a normal school,” they point out from the center. Firefighters, Police and UME troops They use the facilities as a workspace. “How are we going to start classes without evacuating, sanitizing and cleaning the center?“, ask the same sources.
Verónica, mother of two children: “They are afraid to go out and it will rain again”
Catarroja woke up this Tuesday with all its schools and institutes still closed. The municipality has a dozen centersbut they are still not “safe spaces” – not even those that have not suffered material damage. “The city is still affected and The priority has to be the safety of the boys and girls; something that, at the moment, is impossible,” they confirm from the Consistory. Veronica Peris He has two children aged ten and five who study at one of the local schools. “They have had a bad time and they are crazy to come back; in fact, they need it. Children need other children, they give each other strengthbut we don’t know when it will be possible,” she acknowledges. Her husband has lost his job after the floods.
“He shock It has been tremendous. The children were on the balcony and watched the water go downwith a terrible force; how houses fell and cars piled up. On Wednesday they woke up, went out to the balcony again and couldn’t stop crying. They are afraid to go out; They are afraid that it will rain againbut they want to see their friends and it will be good for them to get back in touch, go back to school,” continues Verónica. Save the Children insists on the need to “protect” minors and make available to them the “necessary tools” to accompany them not only on an educational level, but also on an emotional level.
Mental health, forgotten (once again)
The boys and girls of l’Horta Sud have experienced an unprecedented catastrophe; some have lost their homes and carsothers, to their family or friends. The Ministry places the number of centers that cannot open their doors at 20, not even in a progressive manner. Most are in Aldaia, Alfafar, Catarroja or Sedavífour of the municipalities in DANA’s ground zero. Students from these schools will be “displaced” to other locations; far from what remains of their towns; of his companions and his reference tutors. “These children have to join the course as if nothing had happened, starting from scratch in centers where they don’t know anyone. It is a trance, which adds to the traumatic experience they have experienced with the floods. The administrations have not had the slightest consideration in this regard,” laments Rubén Pacheco.
The Generalitat says in one second circular that teachers, without specific training, must provide psychological and emotional attention to students. The note contemplates the possibility of “adapt programming, evaluation of learning and accompaniment” of minors, “with special attention to the most vulnerable students.” Rodrigo Hernández, responsible for the emergency response in Save the Childrenconsiders that the measures are insufficient: “Children do not have to recover the skills to multiply by two; They have to recover their childhoodsafe spaces to play and interact with other children. The circular leaves attention in the hands of the teachers, but teachers also need reinforcement and psychological support, because many have been victims of the floods.
“The circular leaves care in the hands of teachers, but they also need psychological support”
The students who are going to be relocated still do not know what their fate will be and remain, in many cases, without schooling. “Travel is an important issue and we cannot ignore it. The Department can relocate minors to other centers, but if DANA left them without a car and the buses cannot circulate normally, how do they get there?“, asks Hernández. The Intersindical Valenciana criticizes that “families have hardly been able to receive the information” about the return to work. colebecause The Generalitat sent the first circular on a Friday afternoon and the areas of l’Horta Sud continue “with poor coverage.”
The image washing of the Mazón Government
The houses in the region are full of mud and the little ones have nightmares at night; Some still hide under the bed when they hear a noise that is louder than normal. “The Ministry does not contemplate the possibility of introducing professionals trained to provide psychological care to teaching staff and to the creatures. What worries them is not that the children have a pencil and a notebook, nor their well-being, nor the recovery of normality… Mr. Rovira is concerned about his position as councilor“, slips Rubén Pacheco, president of FAMPA València, and then adds: “The Government is not doing well and with this advertising campaign, it is trying to hang the medal on itself.”
The letter from the Generalitat also urges the centers to “facilitate telematic teaching” during these first weeks, but towns are still without Internet connection and many students, homeless. The dining room scholarships, the regrouping of the kids and the school transportation service They also worry the educational community. Rodrigo Hernández, spokesperson for Save the Children in the Country Valenciasentence: “The 18,000 boys and girls from the affected populations who enjoyed the dining room scholarship they have to continue receiving this service; For many, it was the only healthy meal of the day. It is also important to maintain groups of friends and colleagues in the new centers, so that no one re-victimizes them, so that they are not the children of DANA“.
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