The lack of educational infrastructure in Orihuela Costa continues to put the situation of schools in a difficult situation. Last week the School Council met. On the table was a decision about the local holidays for the next school year as well as the Ministry’s proposal for the number of classrooms that each centre will have.
While the general trend is for directors to ask for more classes to reduce ratios, the Los Dolses school was demanding that at least one classroom to be reduced. The reason, according to director, Isaac Bonafé, is that there is simply no more space.
The Orihuela Costa’s first school has been suffering from problems with housing its students for a few years now, to the point that, for some considerable time, they have had to sacrifice common areas such as the library, the staff room as well as teaching classes in corridors.
The school was established to provide 27 units for 675 students but currently over 800 are enrolled. Despite this the Department of Education continues to demand even more, proposing that the school now has 33 units, one more than last year due to this continuous increase in unexpected students, that is, those who arrive outside the enrolment period. Indeed, there were 20 new children enrolled into the school on 20 May, according to a post on the school website.
Meanwhile, the Playas de Orihuela school, requires four more units to meet the demand.
With this situation, the directors of schools on the coast are urging the Orihuela Municipal Council to urgently adapt the planned plot on Calle Níspero to erect the new prefabricated school and allow the expansion Los Dolses. It has been dragging it’s feet for far too long.
In Orihuela, while in the city the supply of places is in line with demand, the reality of the districts is different. The drop in birth rates sees centres like La Matanza and La Campaneta fight to avoid losing resources, despite the loss of students.
Differentiated festivals
In the case of holidays, there are different holidays in the town and on the coast. Orihuela has been differentiating holidays in the town and coast. In the city and in many districts the holidays fall more in line with Holy Week and other local celebrations, while on the coast they are concentrated on other dates that are more deeply rooted and celebrated by foreigners.
The coast, thus, has requested one day for carnivals and another two for the St Patrick’s Day while in the districts more days are spread across December, Carnival and Easter.
