Marbella’s Mario Vargas Llosa School: Local Assembly Demands No Closures of Public Education Lines
The Local Assembly of United Left IU Marbella-San Pedro has demanded that the Board not close any educational lines in the public centers of the municipality for the next academic year. They also urge Mayor Ángeles Muñiz of the People’s Party to stop being complicit in the deterioration of public schools and to take a stand, speak out, and take action.
Accusations of Premeditated Closures of Public School Classes
Juan José García, a member of the IU Marbella’s collegial leadership, reveals that the Andalusian Board continues to close public school classes in the municipality year after year, under the pretext of declining birth rates. This is done even before knowing how many applications are available. Meanwhile, subsidized schools do not lose any classes.
Anticipated Closure of More Educational Lines
García points out that more educational lines are expected to close for the upcoming academic year. The closure of classes in early childhood education over the years results in the closure of lines in later stages. Despite having enough applications to maintain the same number of classes as the previous year, they want to close lines for the first year of early childhood education for the upcoming academic year.
Call for Quality Public Education and Lower Class Ratios
García informs that IU is calling for no more public school classes to be closed in the municipality. They advocate for quality public education with a decrease in class ratios, which currently exceed the legal limit in some classes. Some educational centers are overcrowded and cannot properly attend to their students. Especially with this decrease in ratio, better attention can be given to students with special educational support needs.
Proposal for Closures in Subsidized Schools
IU proposes that if any educational lines are to be closed, it should happen in subsidized schools, which never suffer any line cuts. Victoria Morales, the coordinator of IU Marbella, recalls that the Education Department has been keeping students from the IES Cilniana in prefabricated classrooms for several years, breaking promises and deadlines with the complicit silence of the City Council.
Demands for the Mayor to Speak Out
IU calls on the Marbella City Council and Mayor Ángeles Muñoz to speak out in response to the claims of many families. These families will be displaced from their area of influence due to class closures, despite having available places.
