Email
September 19
To the editor,
I would like to know if you or your readers are concerned with the standard of education in our schools.
My grandchildren attend the state school in Teulada on the Costa Blanca. Their school hours from June 1st to June 26 are 09.00 to 13.00 during which time they play for a while then have a break then return to do a lesson, or prepare for end of term show. From June 26, they are off school until September 8. They then return to the same format until the October 1st when they return to (so called full time) 09.00 to 17.00 with a 2 hour lunch break. But, their full time hours are misleading, throughout the rest of the year, they actually have lessons until 13.00 then they have their lunch break until 1500. By this time, the teachers have left and the dinner ladies are in charge until 17.00, during which time the children can either play, draw or do their homework under the supervision off the dinner staff. The dinner staff cannot answer questions.
I’m concerned because I fail to see with such short hours how the children can absorb the curriculum that should be standard throughout Spain, also bearing in mind the holidays for Christmas, three kings, Easter, and the other fiestas, which basically means they have 3.5 hours education per day for around 150 days of the year.
In my opinion, being taught in Valenciano doesn’t help the situation bearing in mind the amount of foreign students in schools on the Costa Blanca. Yes, some of the Spanish children speak Valenciano at home and Valenciano can be taught as a second or third language, but foreigners coming to Spain to live and work learn Spanish because it is important for here and the rest of the world. Nowhere else in the world speaks the Valencian dialect, it appears the school system is biased against the foreign students.
I’d be interested to hear if other schools in the region of Alicante are the same. I’m concerned for my grandchildren but also all the children in the school, Spanish or foreign.
Yours sincerely
I would like to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions at the school. Many thanks
