The acting Ombudsman of Spain, Francisco Fernández Marugán, considers that in order for this school year, which begins this week, to be safe, the collaboration of the entire educational community is necessary.
Fernández Marugán has called on all the administrations with competences in education to provide “the necessary support and backing” to schools to prevent this health crisis from having a negative impact on education. In addition, he has asked for a new effort to education professionals, students and families to face this new school year that “inevitably” continues to be marked by the pandemic.
Commitment to face-to-face attendance
The Ombudsman considers it essential that face-to-face education be guaranteed throughout the school day. In his opinion, non-attendance education has generated inequality gaps at the educational and social level that have a clear correspondence with the socioeconomic and cultural level of families.
For this reason, it asks the administrations to provide all the extraordinary material and personnel resources necessary to combine the safety of students and staff with the “desired” return to the classroom for the entire school day.
Some families have approached the Ombudsman with the need to increase safety and prevention measures against Covid-19 in classrooms. The Ombudsman shares the recommendations made by experts to use filters or air purifiers when it is not possible to achieve adequate ventilation and CO2 measuring equipment when there are doubts about the effectiveness of ventilation or in adverse weather conditions to ensure maximum healthiness and air quality in the centers.
Students unable to attend classes
The Ombudsman is particularly concerned about the impact that the suspension of face-to-face teaching activity has on students who, for various reasons, are unable to attend face-to-face classes. In this regard, since last year, the Ombudsman has been monitoring the educational attention that these students are receiving throughout the country.
At present, all educational administrations have established the criteria to be followed in situations of school absenteeism derived from the health crisis. However, given the wide range of existing cases, Fernández Marugán considers it necessary to remind the educational authorities that, following the criteria established by the Minors Unit of the State Attorney General’s Office, they must individually weigh the specific situation of the affected students and their families, taking into consideration the health risks in the school and family environment and always prioritizing the interest of the minor and his or her right to education.
Thus, the Institution considers that in order to effectively attend to these students, resources and reinforcement professionals should not be spared, since not everyone is equally familiar with the use of technologies and, in addition, many families do not have Internet connection or the necessary electronic devices to face a learning process by telematic means.
Fernández Marugán is aware that this school year will once again require an extraordinary effort from all the agents involved. For this reason, he asks the educational administrations for information and awareness of the educational initiatives and health measures adopted at all times to alleviate the concern of families about the development of the school year.
