Representatives of the parent-teacher associations (AMPAs) of Manilva and Casares, together with members of the school council and pupils from IES Las Viñas, met this afternoon with Izquierda Unida national deputy Toni Valero to explain the situation at the school and their demand for a new secondary school in the municipality.
According to the AMPAs themselves, Valero is the third deputy from three different political parties to make himself available to the group of families that has been calling for months for a solution to the overcrowding at the school.
During the meeting, the families’ representatives set out to the deputy the shortcomings which, they say, the school has, as well as the overcrowding and the growing unrest among the education community. He was also given documentation on the steps taken by Manilva Town Hall since 2021, including information on objections lodged by the Junta de Andalucía, delays in the processing and the various plots offered for the construction of the new school.
The AMPAs also described the attempts made by the education departments of Manilva and Casares to arrange a meeting with the provincial delegate for Educational Development in Málaga, Miguel Briones. According to the AMPAs, these requests have not received a reply so far.
Other Izquierda Unida representatives, including Antonia Pineda, also took part in the meeting, and the AMPAs shared with them the steps and protests they plan to carry out in the coming weeks.
Questions over a budget allocation announced in 2023
During the meeting, the families asked for an investigation into what happened to a budget allocation announced in 2023 by the Andalusian Regional Ministry of Education of the Junta de Andalucía, together with the provincial delegate and the provincial president of the Partido Popular, Patricia Navarro, which, as they recall, was to be used, among other measures, for the construction of the new secondary school in Manilva.
In this regard, the AMPAs question whether that allocation was ever actually funded and what its current status is.
According to the AMPAs, the Izquierda Unida representatives answered during the meeting the families’ questions about the administrative steps that remain in the process, now that the plots for the future facility have been submitted and any existing objections have been overcome.
In this context, the associations expressed concern at the approach of a new election period and the possibility that the project could again remain a matter of announcements or promises. They therefore insisted that the protests will not end until there is official confirmation of an agreement signed between the Junta de Andalucía and Manilva Town Hall for the construction of the new secondary school, as well as a budget allocation guaranteeing its execution.
The AMPAs insist that they will not end their protests until there is a signed agreement between the Junta de Andalucía and Manilva Town Hall for the construction of the new secondary school and a specific budget allocation backing the project.
Finally, the associations thanked the various political parties that have taken an interest in the situation for their support, while asking them to work together to achieve the construction of this educational facility. They also encouraged mothers and fathers in the municipality to keep informed through their AMPAs about forthcoming actions and protests.
As of today, the families say they are still waiting for an official response from the Junta de Andalucía and from the Ombudsman for Children (Defensor del Menor) on the situation raised.
