Former school leaders from Asturias petition for a platform to express their perspectives and demand decent working conditions.
In the northern Spanish region of Asturias, a chorus of concern from both teachers and school directors has turned the educational landscape upside down. At a press conference in Oviedo, the city's main education hub, 85 school directors made their voices heard, calling for immediate attention to their demands and an improvement in the conditions of public education.
These educators, with hearts heavy and spirits united, expressed their desire for "dignified conditions" for their students, teachers, and administrators alike. With the slogan "Not one step back," they denied that their collective resignation was prompted by economic issues, instead attributing it to the "blockade" in negotiations between the government and unions, and the meager progress achieved during those discussions.
The directors' concerns center around three key areas: attention to diversity, salary equality, and resource allocation. They seek:
- An equity decree for fostering diversity within classrooms, ensuring that students with unique needs have access to the necessary resources and support.
- Equal wages and fair compensation in parity with other regions.
- More human resources, demonstrating their belief that optimal staffing levels are essential to the quality of education and reducing workloads that are currently causing distress.
The heads of these public educational centers implored the Asturian administration to take decisive, committed, and realistic action—not in three years, but now. Furthermore, they lamented that their concerns have been disregarded in previous negotiations, which were considered "unacceptably broken."
The unrest culminated in a mass protest involving thousands of teachers and supporters in Oviedo, under the banner of frustration with the current situation of precarious employment. Meanwhile, the unions have declared their intention to escalate mobilizations in the coming days, maintaining the indefinite strike in all non-university education stages.
The government has scheduled a new meeting with union representatives on Monday, following the breakdown in negotiations last Thursday. The unions are dissatisfied with the government’s initial salary proposal, which offers a monthly increase of 105 euros for all teachers and 170 euros for those with less than six years of service. The unions consider this offer insufficient, prompting their continued strike and calls for a more inclusive and comprehensive solution.
The ongoing turmoil in Asturian education, exemplified by the resignations of school directors, underscores the urgent need for systemic change and a renewed commitment to improving the working conditions and educational outcomes for all.
In the ongoing struggle for education and self-development in Asturias, the collective resignation of school directors is a protest against the current working conditions and negotiating tactics in politics. These educators demand dignified conditions, diversity, salary equality, fair resource allocation, and a commitment to reform the system in general-news.
