TEACHERS AND PARENTS PROTEST AGAINST EDUCATION CUTS
Friday 3rd February 2012

Teachers, parents and students braved the wet and cold on Thursday evening to protest against cuts to education that have recently been implemented by the Valencian government. Sheltering under umbrellas in the front of the town hall building in the Plaça de l'Ésglesia, the 200 or so protestors listened to speakers outlining the damage that could be done to the education system across the Comunidad as a result of attempts to reduce a massive 1 billion euro hole in the autonomous government's budget and have pledged to continue to make their opposition known.

The approval of Decreto / Ley 1/2.012 on January 5th by the Generalitat Valenciana, which aimed to reduce the deficit level of the autonomous government, has provoked plenty of opposition across the region and last month more than 40,000 concerned teachers, parents and students protested in Alicante. For Jávea, it was a more modest gathering but the strength of feeling was just as passionate for the future of education in the municipality.

A spokeswoman for the Comunidad Educativa de la Enseñanza Públic de Jávea  addressed anxious teachers and parents from a town hall balcony, calling the approval of the act last month as an attack on all areas of education as a result of the consequences of poor government over the past few years. She revealed that there was no money left in the pot for schools with even basic needs of heating and electricity being affected; last month it was reported that IES Antonio Llidó expected to be about to default on paying their electricity bill. There was no cash for school canteens and thus no opportunity to provide school-children with nourishment during the school day. There was no money for school transport or for providing books, pencils and other tools that allow children to learn. Teachers were being forced to accept cuts in their salary and changes in their working conditions, including reductions to some social benefits and working beyond standard retirement age.

The spokeswoman added that it was felt that cuts were being made in an area where there should be investment, regardless of the economic climate, and these cuts were damaging not just future of the children but also the future of everyone. She said that the community was to ask for the support of the town hall of Jávea in ensuring that the concerns for the town's educational future would be addressed by the appropriate authorities. And she finished by demanding accountability from those who had approved the cuts and whose mismanagement had led to the current situation.

Last month, a joint statement from the representative trade unions STEPV, CCOO, CSI, ANPE and UGT claimed that the cuts would see the deterioration of the public education system whilst there was little effort to streamline government or the public sector.