Almost a week later, the Generalitat left the families affected by DANA in the Valencian Community to their fate in the educational field. At least 22 municipalities in the region find themselves without a single useful school or institute, according to a circular sent by the Ministry of Education, which limits itself to reporting that there will be no classes this week in these municipalities and exceptionally opens the possibility of Whoever is interested can go to another center. But, this note adds, they must manage it themselves and request it themselves from the centers where they wish to go.
Furthermore, it is not even his own idea: it was transferred to him by the association of directors of primary centers ADEP-PV, affirms its vice-president Fran Perea, who also regrets the pace at which the administration is evolving. Until this Monday, the Department led by the popular José Antonio Rovira has not summoned the educational community to inform it of the situation or seek common solutions, regret the unions, families and directors. The meeting will take place next Wednesday, eight days after the floods.
This newspaper asked the ministry for information on the impact of DANA, the number of students, teachers and schools affected or their future plans, but did not receive a response. The only official information available is that in 23 localities “it will not be possible to provide the educational service”. These are Albal, Alfafar, Algemesí, Alginet, Alcàsser, Benetússer, Beniparrell, Catarroja, Cheste, Chiva, Dos Aguas, Godelleta, L’Alcúdia, Massanassa, Paiporta, Picanya, Sedaví, Siete Aguas, Utiel, three districts from Valencia; Castellar Oliveral, La Torre and Horno de Alcedo and Yátova, in addition to Aldaia, where the schools located in Aldaia-Barrio del Cristo are operational. Efe adds Montserrat, which was going to carry out a pilot test to determine if accesses and facilities can operate normally, and Xirivella, which will not open this Tuesday either. Alaquàs will close its doors between November 4 and 6, even if they are not on the Generalitat list.
The Generalitat has in fact measured the impact on professional training centers, according to another circular. In this case there is more information: there are a total of 21 centers affected, which housed almost 7,000 students and with damage estimated at 16 million euros.
In Albacete, the 34 students and eight teachers of the Letur school, the population most affected by the effects of DANA in Castile-La Mancha, resumed classes in the neighboring town of Socovos, where they were greeted with applause .
The impact on the little ones
Meanwhile, concern is growing among professionals and non-professionals alike about the impact that everything that has happened may have on the mental health of the little ones, who have seen their known world collapse beneath their eyes. In its circular, the Generalitat limits the information to the current week (“it will not be possible for reasons of force majeure (…) to provide the educational service from November 4 to 8”), but several sources which have seen the The state of the affected educational centers says that in many cases it will not last a week, it will take months to rebuild the most damaged centers, they warn. Some schools will have to throw it away entirely, they predict.
“Understanding the difficulty of organizing something, there cannot be a plan for the children,” laments Rubén Pacheco, president of the AMPAS Gonzalo Anaya Confederation, the main family association in the region. “There should be an alternative that allows them to get out of the quagmire they find themselves in, which is mentally unhealthy, a mine. We know that even simple access [a algunos municipios] It’s complicated, but the fact that there is no plan so that the children – who should be able to continue attending the centers – have an alternative is quite worrying,” he reflects.
The educational community – directors, teachers, unions, families – criticizes the fact that the Department has no plan to resume the activity of children left without school, beyond the fact that it is “evaluating the necessary measures to restore the educational service”. as soon as possible,” according to the circular sent by Education. “The educational community acted before the Department,” explains Vicent Mañes, former president of Fedeip, the association of directors of early childhood and primary education, and resident of a devastated municipality.
“We, teachers and the educational community, must plan now to address the solutions that must be applied now in the educational centers that are in the areas, cities and regions affected by DANA,” asks Francisco González, head of the education at the UGT of the Community. “From the beginning, there was an abandonment of functions,” says Rafael Martínez, head of CCOO’s Union Action for Non-University Public Education. “Given that we are in an area where we are clearly at risk of this happening, it would be good to have a pre-practiced plan. Not only educational, but also evacuation, accident prevention…” adds Mañes.
The main concern now is to mitigate, as much as possible, the impact on the youngest. María Bilbao, child psychologist, believes that “the most important thing at the moment is to give them a feeling of security”, a recommendation taken up by Save the Children or the NGO Educo. “What happened threatens the integrity and sense of security of everyone, but especially of the youngest. You need to provide them with physical proximity, cuddles, if they need to sleep together, do it… Symptoms like separation anxiety can also appear,” warns the psychologist.
Others emphasize the importance of resuming routines, which in this case implies returning to class, explains Pilar Orenes, general director of the NGO Educo, specialized in action in emergency contexts. in the world. “It is very important that the boys and girls who suffered from these terrible floods can return to normal as quickly as possible. “This includes resuming classes, because in these types of situations, school is an emotional refuge for them, in which they can express themselves and share their emotions with their classmates while guaranteeing their right to education .”
Bilbao emphasizes that it is important “that parents are able to make sense of what happened”, to create an understandable story “that helps them process the situation in their head”. To do this, it is important to speak, but taking into account “the fact that children do not always speak like adults. “Sometimes they talk with drawings, sometimes with games,” insists the psychologist on the importance of creating spaces that make these activities possible. Rodrigo Hernández, director of Save the Children of the Valencian Community, highlights the risk of post-traumatic stress and long-term consequences, a concern shared by Bilbao, who recommends “turning off the radio and television, it’s terrible to hear people say that “I thought he was going to die, it’s retraumatizing”.
A cracked plan
There are psychological reasons for resuming school activity, socialization, education although less, even pragmatic, which allow adults to also return to their lives, explains Fran Perea, vice-president of ADEP-PV and director of the Reyes Católics school in Silla, one of the few municipalities in the area to have avoided flooding.
“Families need to get back into activity. I don’t see a problem if kids miss a week of school, but in many cases parents have to get their jobs back. “I know a lot of families who can’t entrust their children to anyone because everyone they know is like them,” he illustrates.
Because the plan to find a center for interested families raises more questions than it answers. “This circular does not even explain what type of family placement will take place in these centers, if it will be at the same level as the children, if as far as possible it will be linked to other students coming from the same center, if they will have public transport as until now where each family will have to transport them – without taking into account the fact that most have lost their vehicle -, whether dining room service is provided or not, whether there will be additional services at the end of the courses. “, lists Pacheco, from the Gonzalo Anaya AMPAS Confederation. “Furthermore, most families will not be able to receive this information under any circumstances. They do the cleaning, many without electricity or connection [a internet] a good part of the day,” he adds.
In the medium term, the sources consulted estimate that, given the impossibility of recovering many centers in the coming weeks, we will try to relocate students in a slightly more structural way. The Generalitat has asked the centers to identify the spaces that they can set up for this reception, explain the directors. Perea believes that a well-structured and “quick” plan is necessary. “It’s getting out of hand. It is not acceptable for a person from another municipality to come to my center for a week simply because I know the family. “The same thing should be done at the local level, by connecting the reference cities.”
Many future problems come to this director’s mind. “We must take into account the situation of teaching staff. There are centers in which 50 to 60% of teachers come from the affected areas. In my school (located in Silla), I am lucky that out of nearly 40, I am missing four or five. But in others, eight or ten will be missing. We should structure the reception, if they want to transfer the students, perhaps their teachers should accompany them,” he improvises.
The unions also confirm that at the work level “information is conspicuous by its absence”, according to Martínez, of CCOO. “We have had many cases of teachers who found themselves uncertain about what they should or should not do… From centers that had water problems to teachers who were unable to go to class and didn’t know how to handle it. “, he maintains. The circular sent by Education is limited to asking teachers who cannot go to their center to inform them.
