A group of parents from the Nuestra Señora de la Providencia Infant Education School in Palma have complained that seven 5-year-old pupils have been separated from the rest of the class and put in a room that’s so small it’s like a den.
One of the parents claims that his son and the other six minors will never come into contact with the other 19 pupils because “they have to eat in their own room and are separated from their classmates by a red line in the playground.”
The parents say they don’t know why their children were chosen to be separated from the others on the first day of the new school term and have raised their objections with the Centre's Management.
"The Director said that nothing could be done about it and told us to report it to the Department of Education," they said.
The school is based in an old convent, but the parents point out that if the building doesn’t have enough space "they should have looked for an alternative," but the school says its hands are tied.
"There cannot be more than 20 students per classroom, so the ratios had to be reduced,” said School Secretary, Elisa Carrillo, who admitted that the room the children have been put in is not a proper classroom.
“It’s the only space available that meets the required criteria of being a ventilated space with natural lighting which has a bathroom for the children.”
Bubble groups
Elisa Carrillo says deciding who would be put in a separate class was based on month of birth, maintaining a mixture of older and younger children in the class and balancing the number of boys and girls.
She also pointed out that the children can’t mix because they have to stick to their bubble groups.