A couple of weeks ago I entered the teacher’s conference room at school to find a big glass box situated in the middle of the table. I had no idea what the box was for but figured that the school was using it for some sort of activity. A couple of hours later, during snack break, I began to notice that the box was actually there for a different purpose. As I was sitting at the table eating my banana and mandarin I noticed the director walk into the room with a determined, “down-to-business” expression on her face. She had in her hand a stack of small papers that she set on the table. They appeared to be ballots of some sort. Then, one by one, I saw teachers beginning to flood the conference room with more serious expressions. Normally I would expect to see about 5-8 teachers in the room during the break while the others watch the children play outside or stay in their classrooms. Today, however, almost every teacher was in this room.
At this point, it was very obvious to me that something important was about to take place. I turned to one of my co-teachers and asked what was going on. That’s when she told me that all of the teachers at the school as well as all of the other schools in the community of Valencia were going to take a vote in reference to the manifestacion, the demonstration in educational reform that has been so evident in the community of Valencia.
I watched as, one by one, the teachers answered the 2 questions with a yes or no, folded the ballot, and placed it between the slit in the box. Most of them were pretty secretive about it. As they placed the ballots in the box, there was one teacher (I suppose that she was the designated person) who checked off the names of each teacher as he/she turned in the ballot. Being curious, I happened to peak at one of the empty ballots just to figure out what was being said. Although the ballot was written in valenciano, I could actually make out almost all of it. Basically, the government explained the proposed budget cuts in education in the community of Valencia and what it would mean for the staff and the students. The yes/no questions following the explanation gave the teachers an opportunity to agree or disagree with the budget cuts. If the majority of people (in the community of Valencia) agreed then action would be taken to reduce the salaries of the teachers and change other school regulations; and if the majority of people didn’t agree then everything would continue to be at a standstill and the people would most likely keep striking.
I watched the teachers’ reactions as they filled out the ballot. Some of them filled it out quickly and quietly, others were a bit more prolonged and dramatic about it and a couple of people even shook their heads, said “no” out loud as they checked the respective box and went about with their business.
Although I have already been fully aware of the “Manifestacion” in Valencia (it’s almost impossible not to be), seeing the “vote” that day definitely made me even more aware, and a little nervous, about the future of the educational system and of the economy in Spain.
Yesterday I noticed some of the teachers talking in valenciano about who was and wasn’t going to show up for school the next day. After hearing the conversation I figured that there would probably be another strike coming up. Sometimes, the teachers are so concerned with all of the things going on around the school that they forget to tell me about these things. After eavesdropping on the conversation yesterday, I went to another teacher to confirm what I thought that I had just heard. She told me that there was going to be another huelga at school on Tuesday (read about the first one here).
Just like the first time, only a handful of teachers were going to show up, one for each cycle (there are 3 cycles plus the infantil classes) in addition to the director and the secretary of the school. A letter was once again given to each of the students to take home to their parents that contained the details of the huelga. Because the school was observing the strike, the students had the options of showing up to school or staying at home. For those that decided to attend school, there would be teachers available but actual classes wouldn’t take place.
After talking to the teacher a bit more she told me that she wasn’t going to show up on Tuesday and that she was going to go to Valencia instead to protest on the streets. She then advised me to ask my supervisor if I needed to come to school the next day. Because my supervisor wasn’t there (she went along with the 6th graders on their week-long excursion to Barcelona) I asked the director of the school instead. When I asked her, she expectantly said, “no, no hace falta” which roughly translates to “we don’t need you,” and she told me to enjoy my day on Tuesday… and so I did.
Today another national strike is held in 14 different autonomous communities of Spain for teachers and service personnel. The strike was called about by the main educational unions in Spain (UGT, CCOO, ANPE, STES and CSIF) and has resulted in the closing down of many universities, vocational schools, and primary and secondary schools. Through this strike, both the teachers and students show their opposition to the cuts in the public education system imposed by the Spanish government which include a sixth-year reduction and work-force, increased rates and increased tuition fees among many others. In the community of Valencia, many students, teachers and organizations are participating in the demonstrations throughout the cities of Valencia and Alicante.
This year, there have been budget cuts worth 3 billion Euros to educational spending. This has lead to larger class sizes and increased average university tuition fees. The people are both angered and worried, as they should be. At a time in Spain when unemployment is 24.4% for the general workforce and 52% for those aged under 25, the last thing that people want to worry about is the fact that their children won’t get as good an education because the class sizes have increased by 20% or that they are no longer able to send their teenagers to college because university fees have increased by 50%.
In addition to the class sizes and increased tuition fees, teachers in the public school system will also be affected significantly. Next term, around 40,000 to 50,000 teachers will be dismissed. Teachers will also have to increase their teaching hours by cutting the time used to prepare for classes and their salaries will be affected. According to unions, 70 percent of teachers in primary and secondary schools responded to the strike, while 90 percent of professors in universities responded.
These budget cuts began by the socialist party and Spain and intensified by the popular party elected into an absolute majority last November. The central government wants to reduce spending on education by more than 10 billion Euros by the year 2015. This will bring education spending down to a 3.9% share of GDP, well below the European Union average of 5.5%.
Living in Spain has made me more conscious than ever about the economy, social reform and the citizens’ roles in times of crisis. Although Spain (and all of Europe) is going through a very deep financial crisis at this time, it is still very encouraging to see that its citizens are not just sitting back hoping things will work out. They are taking positive action against what they believe to be completely unjust, and I can definitely appreciate that.
I have never witnessed anything like the manifestaciones (demonstrations) and huelgas (strikes) in Spain. I’ve never seen such a significant amount of citizens in one country all come together for a purpose such as this. I have seen strikes in the USA, but they were all rather small in comparison. Although I do not discuss the huelga much, it is a topic that I am constantly reminded of in Spain, whenever I walk around town and see big banners outside of the schools, whenever I listen in on heated conversations between my co-workers and whenever I turn on the TV to watch the news.
I’m not sure what and how long it will take for the European economy to get back on track, but I hope that it will be soon and without too many casualties in the educational system, after all, education is just one of those things that shouldn’t be taken lightly.
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