Last Friday, the plenary hall of Calpe Town Hall hosted a meeting which brought together representatives of the educational community of the municipality: the directors of the schools and representatives of the AMPAS and the mayoress, Ana Sala, the councillor for education, Mariola Mulet and the councillor for Territory, Juan Manuel del Pino. Also in attendance on behalf of the Regional Ministry was the education inspector, Soledad Sempere.
The meeting addressed the two major current problems of the municipality in terms of education: the situation of blocking the Edificant Plan and therefore the projects of the second IES and CEE Gargasindi, but also the serious situation that the municipality will face next year due to the lack of educational infrastructure.
It is precisely this situation that has led the Town Council, at the request of the representatives of the schools and the AMPAS, to cede around 30,000m2 of municipal land located just behind the Silene de Ifac Nursery School so that the Regional Ministry can install prefabricated classrooms there for the pupils of the overflowing schools and a complete new IES. In addition, the Consistory will invest €3,200,000 for the clearing and adaptation of the land that will house the section.
The mayoress explained at the meeting the reluctance of the Town Hall to cede the land, considering that the provisional situation of the prefabricated classrooms could be perpetuated for years and delay the tendering of the works of the Plan Edificant.
The representative of the Consellería pointed out that the situation of delay in the works of the Plan Edificant is not exclusive to Calpe and that the prefabricated classrooms are a way out of the growing enrolment in the municipality, in addition this was the proposal approved at the last meeting of the Municipal School Council.
The directors of the schools agreed on the need to continue to push for the implementation of the Pla Edificant but insisted on the imminent problem that the increase in school enrolments from April onwards for the next academic year and the need to implement the modular prefabricated centre as an immediate and provisional solution.
The Town Council has invited Rafael Valcárcel, Director General of Educational Infrastructures, and Jorge Cabo, Director General of Teaching Centres, to visit Calpe and get to know in person the educational reality of the municipality.
The mayoress Ana Sala has declared that "this is not a war between the Regional Ministry and the Town Hall because we must go hand in hand, we all want Calpe to have the educational centres it deserves and the Town Hall will not be responsible for leaving any child without schooling, we will not give up the second IES or the Gargasindi School, historically claimed. In 1999, the year in which the IES was inaugurated, Calpe had a population of 15,000 inhabitants, today there are 25,000 people registered on the census. Education is essential and that the centres are of quality and in the conditions that the students and the educational community deserve, and it is not possible to operate with barracks even if it is a temporary solution, we continue to ask that the educational centres are put out to tender, the Town Hall will provide the Council with the land it needs but I insist on the need for greater involvement of the Council".