Faced with an increase in infections by Covid-19, mayors and mayors reject the idea of ​​returning to face-to-face classes and accuse Minister Figueroa of “confusing citizens”

Minister Figueroa went from the attack to the threat of suspending subsidies to force mayors to open schools. The idea did not go down well in the opposition and even from the PS they warned the presentation of a constitutional accusation.

Parents and guardians joined the criticism yesterday and threw themselves against the head of the Mineduc, for his insistence on returning to face-to-face classes. “We do not trust this authority,” they said from the Coordinator of Parents and Guardians for the Right to Education (Corpade).

Today, mayors and mayors came out under pressure from the Minister of Education. Through a public statement, they expressed their total rejection of the “economic pressures” against the supporters and teachers and expressed their solidarity with both sectors, “who have had to overcome the onslaught of the pandemic and the constant improvisation of the Mineduc.”

Among the signatories of the document are Tomás Vodanovic, elected mayor of Maipú; Daniel Jadue from Recoleta, Claudio Castro from Renca, Macarena Ripamonti elected in Viña del Mar, and Jorge Sharp from Valparaíso.

The councilors say that “with the high numbers of positivity and infections in the country and the collapse in the ICU, Minister Figueroa confuses the public because it is impossible to predict what the health situation will be in the coldest months of the year.”

Faced with this situation, the mayors commit themselves to “act responsibly, without pressure and observing the data of the territory as a whole and in coherence with the participation of the local educational communities.” In this context, they ruled that they will continue with telematic activities – despite the problems of coverage and Internet access in numerous homes to have distance classes – “but also maintaining synchronization with all educational establishments. Not because of the minister’s anxiety, we are going to put children and adolescents at risk “.

Of course, the signatories unite to continue agreeing, with the whole of the educational communities, the conditions and opportunities for the return to classes in person, “because we understand the risks to the physical and mental health of children and adolescents by not attending to establishments “.

“We will work on concrete actions to offer connectivity and devices to students who do not have equipment so that online classes can be carried out effectively, as well as on methodological procedures to strengthen learning, including formative and summative assessments” , they expressed.

At the same time, they demanded “proactivity” from Minister Figueroa, since “the strategy of face-to-face classes will continue to fail to maintain the pandemic in the world. We also ask that the innovations be sustained in the pedagogical relationship with the aim of improving the experience educational “.

“We call on the minister to resolve future conflicts – with the creation of the new Local Education Services – such as the debts that corporations have.”

The call is also to the educational authorities “to deploy participatory processes in the communities and install work tables in order to collect experiences and opinions from the territory. Also, generate improvement plans to solve the infrastructure deficits that are necessary for the return to classrooms. In this sense, we regret the decrease in Public Education Support Funds (FAEP) that allow normalizing financial processes and repairing infrastructure “.

Finally, they extended the call to all municipalities in the country to “strengthen telematic strategies and educational prevention processes for the return to face-to-face classes, but that when the time comes it will be a diversified return in accordance with the reality of each educational community. “.

In the same way, they indicated that the mayors and mayors elected and in office, whose educational establishments are located in the local services, formulate the same call “to put the life and safety of the student community first.”

Word:

• Gerardo Espíndola, Mayor of Arica.
• Francisco Riquelme, elected mayor of Casablanca.
• Mauro Tamayo, mayor of Cerro Navia.
• Felipe Muñoz, elected mayor of Estación Central.
• Gonzalo Durán, mayor of Independencia.
• Claudia Pizarro, mayor of La Pintana.
• Javiera Reyes, elected mayor of Lo Espejo.
• Gonzalo Montoya, mayor of Macul.
• Tomás Vodanovic, elected mayor of Maipú.
• Emilia Ríos, elected mayor of Ñuñoa.
• Paulina Bobadilla, elected mayor of Quilicura.
• Daniel Jadue, mayor of Recoleta.
• Claudio Castro, mayor of Renca.
• Cristóbal Labra, mayor of San Joaquín.
• Érika Martínez Osorio, elected mayor of San Miguel.
• Luis Valenzuela, elected mayor of Tiltil.
• Carla Amtmann, mayor-elect of Valdivia.
• Macarena Ripamonti, elected mayor of Viña del Mar.
• Jorge Sharp, mayor of Valparaíso.

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