Preschools throughout Spain are set to stage a stoppage on May 7th, affecting parents of young children ages 0-3 years.
The Spanish Workers’ Commissions (CCOO) union has called for national walkout for preschool employees.
Public and private nurseries throughout Spain for ages 0-3 years old are due to close on Thursday May 7th, as result.
The union is demanding that the Ministry of Education and parliamentary groups include preschool in the draft law on student-teacher ratios and school hours, which was being discussed by the Council of Ministers this week, but excluded preschools. The model has not been modified since 2011.
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They are also calling for two teachers per classroom, extra resources for students with special educational needs, the reduction in the number of teaching hours and, “above all,” improved salaries.
“We demand that the salaries of public sector workers be progressively brought in line with those working in private institutions,” union sources stated.
Teresa Esperabé, general secretary of the CC.OO. Education Federation spoke to families directly affected by the strikes saying: “I take this opportunity to appeal to families, who must be involved in this fight because it is their children who are in these preschools without a model that guarantees quality”.
“Workers are having to take on other jobs to make ends meet because they can’t live on their salary alone. These are unacceptable conditions, under the umbrella of terrible bidding processes based on the lowest possible cost and not on a quality educational project,” she added.
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The Ministry of Education responded by saying it will begin to revise the royal decree to class sizes to include the 0–3-year-old preschools before the summer. Despite the government’s reaction, however, the nationwide strike is still set to go ahead.
On May 23rd, a demonstration is also due to take place in front of the Ministry of Education.
In Madrid, nurseries in the region have been on indefinite strike for three months, also over the student-teacher ratios in early childhood education.
Recently, regional Minister of Education, Mercedes Zarzalejo, sent a letter to the Minister of Education, Milagros Tolón, demanding that she regulate the reduction of student-teacher ratios for preschools.
