Teachers' unions in Mallorca are calling on the regional education ministry to provide financial aid for the cost of school field trips.
Issues with the availability of coaches and the prices asked have been rumbling for the past couple of years. It is argued that high tourist demand allied to a longer tourism season is affecting availability. This tourist demand has also pushed up the prices. Unions now say that schools are having to cancel trips because they are too expensive.
Víctor Villator, president of the ANPE union believes the ministry should create an aid programme, in particular for schools with the most vulnerable students. They are the ones most affected by the situation, especially as they are most at need of the kind of stimulation they lack at home. Another option would be to subsidise the cost directly for families.
Another union, UOB, believes the situation represents "yet another instance of the marginalisation of teaching staff and the local people, because ultimately it condemns students to be treated like foreigners". It also argues that the ministry must provide the resources to prevent the cancellation of school trips.
It is, the union stresses, "the students who suffer", adding that trips and extracurricular activities are a fundamental aspect of students' education. "They are an opportunity for students to learn about the world around them and to experience and reinforce what they have learned in the classroom."
One teacher cites the example of a planned trip to the Puig de Sa Morisca archaeological park in Calvia. "The coach operator was asking for 459 euros for 18 students. It was outrageous. We didn't even respond."