We are having a movidito course in matters of education, and parents who are as representatives in AMPAs even more, for the responsibility of transmitting, negotiating, questioning and trying to reach agreements.
We have known that Education suffers from budget cuts, that CEAPA is contrary to the large number of duties that children have daily, that the two State Confederations of Mothers and Fathers Associations disagree on the same subject, and even that it seems that the menus School children get worse.
So that not all is bad news, from Peques and Más we believe in the importance of Education and that is why Marcos tells us about different tools and applications that teachers can use in the classroom, as on that occasion when he told us how they can Use the video for educational purposes. We also know that the public school belongs to everyone and we place our full trust in it.
In my Autonomous Community, the administration has made "jump the hare" to propose the Continuous Day in the educational centers. From there I have discovered many contributions on advantages and disadvantages of educational times. I used to think that this situation would be good for my family: concentration of classes, more free time in the afternoon, etc. but of course not always what is good for one ends up being the most suitable for everyone.
In CEAPA's opinion, the continuous journey has some disadvantages such as shorter classes, more homework overload, need for external support (which not all families can face). Not counting that it does not contribute to combat school failure and is an obstacle to eliminating social inequalities.
According to Rafael Feito (who is a professor of Sociology at the Complutense University of Madrid), Little is known about whether it yields more or less in any of the days. It refers to one of the most complete reports on the issue (made by Caride in 1993), where it is pointed out that there is between 10% and 20% more school failure in the centers where the continuum is taught, however this does not It is a conclusive fact.
It seems that in our country the level of attention decreases after morning recess and rises again after eating, so it could be intuited that if continuous work is done, the last hour would be unproductive.
In the autonomous communities where the continuous working day is implemented, this decision has been irreversible, in no case has the student's school performance improved, the commitments acquired for its establishment have not been fulfilled (dining rooms disappear, transport is reduced by limiting the participation in extracurricular activities, the centers are closed in the afternoon ...), and the situation of children with more educational and social needs worsens.It is a mistake that the Administration delegates to families the responsibility of deciding the working hours of their children's teachers. For this reason each course there are so many clashes in schools. And many families want to avoid confrontation with teachers
I talked to you before I think In our case, the continuous journey would be more advantageous, at least as far as we would have more family time.. But this is not a situation that can be extrapolated to all families, in fact for many the fact that not having the day left would imply an important disbursement in academies, extracurriculars, etc., or that the children would enjoy a totally unproductive leisure. Remember that we are in a country that is not characterized by having very logical work schedules to favor family reconciliation.
This is the application of different school times in Spain, according to territories (I just offer information for the stage of children and primary school):
- Continuous journey, in the Canary Islands, Extremadura, Ceuta, Andalusia / Asturias, Castilla la Mancha, Galicia, Murcia and the Balearic Islands (in a percentage between 60 and 100% according to Communities).
- Split shift, in Aragon, Catalonia, Valencian Community, Navarra, Euskadi, Cantabria, Madrid, La Rioja and Castilla León. In a percentage between 60 and 100% according to communities.
Parents we don't want confrontations with teachers and we can even support your needs for changing work hours. But at this point we must demand that when we are informed, exact reference is made to the pedagogical advantages of the continuous journey, and that education is a public service that affects us all.
Now it is our turn, that of the parents: for those of us who manage AMPAs, it is a complicated task to correctly inform the associates and the educational community. For all it is necessary to inform us... the Ministry wants to continue with the project of the modification of the day, they ask us to provide the conditions. For the time being, we ask that the parents' vote be considered to be favorable when 75% of the censored parents are the ones who pronounce themselves in favor of the continuous day.
Where I live, the administration has already announced that where the continuous working day will be implemented, school canteens will cease to be financed, this seems to me to be a disadvantage, and a clear rupture of equal opportunities.
I can tell you that I think we should be actively involved, although sometimes I discourage the participation of parents ... like that time a few months ago, when in the elections to School Councils we had 40 votes (in a school where there are almost 400 students).
I have to add that - in any case - the entities and experts that recommend part-time, do so thinking about Infant and Primary Education, because of course when Secondary School arrives, the continuous day is much more advisable, otherwise the children would lose the opportunity of finding spaces and moments of leisure after homework and studying exams
