This Wednesday the 15th there will be a 24-hour strike in all branches of public and private education. At 10 am there will be a march from Udelar to the Executive Tower, where the protest platform will be read, which includes “recovery of wage loss.” And in the case of schoolchildren “there will be items to improve the quality of comprehensive care for children”, and of all educational centers in the country.
Teacher Gabriela Arbeleche said that at the school level “children’s learning is being affected by the cutback of community teachers, who after the pandemic have not added support teachers affects them, when they should have prioritized them to help those children who Due to their situation of vulnerability, they did not have an Internet connection and all those situations that were experienced in the pandemic.”
Instead of adding more support “they are cutting it. Groups get together to cover the new schools, a class reaches 30 to 35 children in many Centers”, that high number of students in a grade “obviously affects learning”.
The cup and the plate
In schools that have a snack, Primary grants 10.80 pesos per day per child, for lunch 31.50 pesos per day per child, and for full-time schools 54 pesos per child for breakfast, lunch and snack, according to data officers. “When they tell us that a day of unemployment means leaving the children without eating, we have to ask the authorities what is happening, because in reality those who are responsible for food are not the teachers, however with 31.50 pesos for that each child eats means doing magic so that they have a balanced diet, and every day. Thanks to the promotion commissions and the neighbors who collaborate, the dining rooms can continue to be supported, said Arbeleche.
For children from the most vulnerable sectors, lunch at school is the “only dish they have per day because they don’t have enough to feed them at home, and that is known, it is noticeable, with the increase in poverty. And with how things go up every week, it’s very difficult to serve the dining room, it’s worrying.”
The Carmelite affirmed that “the department of Colonia does not escape the difficulties that exist in other schools in the country, they also have food problems.” And clearly a hungry child does not learn, that is on the cover of the book”.
Platform
The Coordinator of Education Unions of Uruguay (CSEU) this Wednesday the 15th will make a 24-hour strike and carry out the “national educational march at 10 am. We will start from the University and go to the Executive Tower passing by the Codicen and the Ministry of Economy and Finance”, Arbeleche indicated.
Educators from all over the country are expected to participate.
The platform is claiming “salary recovery and creation of positions; budget of 6 + 1% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for Anep, Udelar and Utec; and enough of union persecution”.
