A group of Secondary School Teachers in the Balearic Islands have accused the Ministry of Education of irresponsibility and negligence and “poor planning for the 2020-21 Academic year".
"The health measures included in the protocol of action against Covid-19 do not imply a reduction in the ratio per group, so that the number of students per classroom will depend on the resources and spaces that each Education Centre has,” they said. “Given the lack of infrastructure, many Centres have been forced to create groups of up to 30 people, but an ordinary classroom is up to 50 square metres, so the most important measure to prevent contagion, which is avoiding crowds, becomes an impossible fact”.
The teachers claim that, “With this dangerous scenario, contagion in the classrooms is guaranteed. Having had almost half a year to plan the next course, the Ministry inevitably focuses its staff on contagion and the parents of our students, who have already made enough sacrifices, are not aware of the Dantesque scenario that awaits us.” "The attitude of the Government contrasts with that of the Generalitat de Catalunya, which has hired 8,258 teachers for the next course to reduce ratios, which the Department of Education recognises as oversized."
The teachers claim that "in the face of the most difficult health and social crisis ever experienced, the Ministry of Education has abandoned us to our fate and ignored the need to set ratios that are rational."
Unió Obrera Balear
The Unió Obrera Balear, or UOB, blasted the teaching quota proposed by the Ministry of Education as "totally insufficient” and Union Representatives are adamant that they will continue to demand that "the teaching quota at the Education Centres is increased and the necessary space made available to guarantee safe distancing.”