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Fourteen of the fifteen parents associations (AMPAs) in Benalmádena and three trade union organisations took part in a protest on Wednesday afternoon to denounce the saturation that schools in the municipality have been suffering for years. The protest was held to demand solutions from the Andalusian government, in the form of new schools and more teaching staff to alleviate the "overcrowding".
Hundreds of people attended the rally organised by the associations outside the Casa de la Cultura in Arroyo de la Miel. Carrying banners calling for new schools, they said that since 2008, Benalmádena has had the same number of schools run by the Andalusian education authority: a total of 15, among secondary, primary and infant pupils, despite the fact that the population has grown by 35 per cent in this time. They compared this situation with that of the 11 private schools and one state-subsidised school in Benalmádena, claiming that it is a "covert privatisation" of education in the municipality.
A statement read at the protest said: "The AMPAs have been fighting for years and demanding from the Junta de Andalucía the construction of new schools, real and immediate solutions to the overcrowding, more support inside the classrooms, both material and human, adaptation of the facilities that have deteriorated for so many years without proper maintenance, and more agility when dealing with bureaucratic procedures such as the substitution of teachers and personnel."
They also criticised the fact that the 'bioclimatisation' law is not being applied with shaded areas in school playgrounds, and they also rejected the installation of prefabricated classrooms "because they are not a solution". "The families are fed up of not being listened to," they stated emphatically. They also showed their "unconditional support for our teachers and staff, so that the whole educational community is finally heard, listened to and respected".
The associations announced their intention to continue fighting for the construction of the two educational centres planned by the regional ministry of education in the municipality. One of these is for infant and primary schoolchildren, for which the planned date for its construction is unknown. The other is a secondary school, which will be located in Benalmádena Pueblo and which, according to the education delegate, Miguel Briones, will begin to be built next year.
"These are centres that have been approved for more than ten years, and which on top of that are too small," responded the associations, who were not satisfied with the explanations of the delegate. They also announced that they will continue to fight "to find available land for the construction of all the centres which are necessary to have one hundred per cent public and quality schooling".
"From the educational community of Benalmádena we want to say loud and clear that enough is enough of degrading public education, and that we will continue to mobilise until we achieve each and every one of our demands," they said.
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