The authorities of Magno College of Pilar’s Buenos Aires party, which a month ago they left eight students with disabilities without vacanciesreported this Tuesday the closure of the institution “from the end of the 2022 School Cycle”, an announcement that families received as “a very big shock” a few weeks after the end of the school year.
“We present to the Undersecretary of Education of the General Directorate of Culture and Education (Buenos Aires) the notification that we attach, in which we request the drop in enrollment from the school and announce its closure as of the end of the 2022 School Cycle. “, indicated the school through a statement that they sent to the relatives and to which Télam agreed.
Regarding this decision, Pablo Basz, father of Emanuel -one of the eight children affected by the decision not to renew their enrollment- expressed to this agency his “surprise” and “sadness” at the decision of the school authorities.
“We were focused on ensuring that our son could continue in school, that they reconsider. We did not expect a decision as blunt as closing the school that transcends the case of our children”Pablo Basz, father of Emmanuel
“We were focused on our son being able to continue in school, that they reconsider. We did not expect a decision as blunt as closing the school that transcends the case of our children,” Basz explained.
In this sense, he pointed out that “This is like if someone sells you a faulty car, you demand that they fix it, and some state agencies accompany you in the request, but the company -in response- decides to close the factory. Is very surprising”.
Meanwhile, Paula, mother of a fourth grade student, told Télam that they received the news by mail on Monday at seven in the afternoon.
“It was a very big shock, I think that as a family we are still trying to process the information,” she said anguished, and assured that they still cannot “make sense of it. It is unfair to the entire community.”
And he questioned: “How is it possible that a few weeks after the end of the school year an institution is closed leaving more than 500 children without school, teachers and staff who have been working at the school for years?”
The college’s arguments for closure
According to the authorities, the definitive closure “has nothing to do with the numerous difficulties that we encounter along the way, but with a new intervention by the General Directorate of Culture and Educationwhich for some time has shown signs of not following our plan”.
It is that the directors of the Magno not only left students with disabilities without enrollment, but also disregarded the current health and educational regulations during the coronavirus pandemic by opening the school despite the prohibition that governed the epidemiological situation during the first months of the year 2021.
“The decision is very painful because of the implications it will have in our community, both in the students, who have always been the center of all our actions, as well as their parents, and especially the teachers and employees, who at all times were willing to improve themselves, learn, teach and give the best of themselves, exceeding -every time- our expectations,” they said in the statement.
The school authorities listed ten points in which they tried to give an explanation for the decision adopted, and stated that “there were three factors (enrollment, prohibition and unfeasibility) that put the continuity of our educational project at risk.”
“The determining reason for the request to drop enrollment was the conclusion we reached about the unfeasibility of this project in the face of repeated interference by the authorities of the General Directorate of Culture and Education”
“The determining reason for the request to drop enrollment was the conclusion we reached about the infeasibility of this project in the face of repeated interference by the authorities of the General Directorate of Culture and Education,” said the school authorities.
And they added that they “always” respected the higher authorities of the State, “we have never accepted being prevented from doing what the law does not prohibit or being forced to do what the law does not mandate.”
“As we try to transfer to our educational proposal that firmness in the defense of all areas of freedom, we could hardly, ourselves, stop being consistent with this conviction,” they assured.
From the establishment they also pointed out that they were warned about the possibility of criminal cases for implementing a double schooling plan in 2021, and there was a precautionary measure from the provincial educational portfolio.
“Given the growing animosity and the level of progressive interference in our decisions, it is more than clear that a school like Magno College is not welcome in the educational system of the Province of Buenos Aires,” they concluded in the note sent to the relatives.
Regarding these arguments, Basz stated that “it is a very strange thing that draws our attention, it surprises us. It would seem that for the province this school is not welcome.”
Also, the man added that “dads and moms are trying to process the novelty and, above all, better understand what is the ability of the school from one day to the next to make that decision weeks before the end of the school year.”
“We are going to find out if there will not be some type of normative spring that stops the decision of the school or that at least postpones it for a while”he pointed.
“It is a moment of so much concern, surprise, anger and sadness,” Basz explained, and said that among families there is “a climate that confirms whether the school closes to start looking for other schools.”
Given the uncertainty, the families decided to call a meeting for the community of the Colegio Magno next Thursday at 7.30 at the door of the establishment.
“Parents, students, teachers and non-teachers come together to continue being the great Magno family,” they spread.
