Due to the lack of solutions to several of the reported needs, parents of the
La Ulloa Educational Institution, held a sit-in with a list of demands.
DIARY OF HUILA, HUILA
By: Angelica Tatiana Andrade Quimbaya
Since 6 am last Monday, more than two dozen parents from the main headquarters and La Primavera of the La Ulloa Educational Institution, attached to Rivera, moved from the main park of the municipality to the vicinity of the two schools to demand symbolically the fulfillment of the guarantees that allow the integral provision of the
school services.
Among the petitions registered by the educational community are those related to the claim for the lack of teachers at the La Primavera campus for nearly three years, affecting dozens of preschool students, the allocation of places in the School Food Program, PAE, which was reduced by the year 2023, the provision of technological equipment for the computer room, the improvement of the infrastructure of the La Primavera headquarters that, since a little before the year 2015, is in good condition inadequate and the remodeling of the campus of the main headquarters, where the library and the teachers’ room have been used provisionally as classrooms that do not have the conditions required for this purpose.
problematic
In this regard, Norma Gisela Losada, mother of one of the girls enrolled in the preschool grade of the La Primavera campus, emphasized the repercussion that shortcomings have on the educational processes of minors.
“At this moment, the preschool and first grades are those that require a teacher, which is what we were demanding yesterday with our presence at the sit-in that we did both at the school’s main headquarters, and at the La Primavera headquarters where We were a large part of those directly affected. Until last week we had a problem with the PAE because we had 90 enrolled children who had been receiving normal rations, but the coordinator
informed us that for reasons related to the lack of registration of all the beneficiaries in the system, from the same program it was ordered to reduce the quotas to 60 rations, affecting all the students to benefit from food and, only until the week before, we were informed by the coordination that the problem was due to the fact that the information registered in the system had not reached those in charge and that prevented us from guaranteeing food for the
all of the students, in addition to the fact that they had taken away our kitchen assistant, leaving the burden to a single person to prepare that amount of food,” said Losada, one of the mothers of the La Ulloa Educational Institution, La Primavera headquarters. .
Added to the above, Gisela Losada pointed out that, for two days of the previous week, the students of the La Primavera campus did not receive food and that, precisely on Monday morning, when they arrived at the sit-in, the institution’s directives They reported that the PAE situation was resolved, returning all the quotas and reinstating the work of a kitchen assistant to prepare the rations.
“In view of the decision that we were informed of, we came to the conclusion that they found out about the sit-in to demand our rights and that’s where they got to work, in no time, to give us a solution to at least one of the many problems that arise at headquarters. In reality there are many inconsistencies that are becoming evident in the headquarters, for example in infrastructure issues, in the lack of teachers, in the remodeling of the classrooms because the schools are not suitable for the number of children there are and, in this At the moment, what we need most urgently is the teacher, another problem, without detracting from the experience and knowledge of the teachers, is that some of them do not have the patience to educate children of 6 or 7 years who are more hyperactive and this makes that education is further delayed, are an infinity of
non-conformities, but we are aware that if we can protest all the shortcomings that are occurring, we will not achieve a solution to one of the many situations. We hope that the Secretary of Education and the Ministry of Education will meet with us to explain to us what is happening, what are the reasons why they have so forgotten us, why they have left us aside, we are totally in the abandonment despite the fact that we are so close to Neiva we want the entities in charge to place their hands on their hearts and visit us so that they realize all the shortcomings that we have and year after year they have been postponing the solutions, I am a graduate and they are the same problems as when I was studying and now our children are the ones in need, we are already tired of this problem”, pointed out Mrs. Gisela Losada.
directives
In an interview with the rector of the La Ulloa Educational Institution, Farid Fierro Caupaz, told Diario del Huila that, on the morning of May 8, a group of parents held a sit-in outside the La Primavera educational establishment, demanding hiring a teacher that is needed.
“The parents had placed a padlock at the entrance of the school and were preventing the entry of the children, however, once we were present we established a conversation with them to allow the entry of minors, we listened to the disagreements and explained that In the case of PAE, from that same morning there would once again be all the assigned places, the reinstatement of a kitchen assistant in charge of preparing food and that the absence of the teacher be replaced with overtime, according to the advanced strategy. by the departmental education secretary” assured Fierro Caupaz.
Regarding the number of attendees at the demonstration, the rector insinuated that there were approximately 25 parents who arrived with posters and harangues, which is why the day had to be accompanied by the police, family police station, representative of the municipality of Rivera and delegate of the mayor of this.
For his part, with regard to the School Food Program, PAE, the rector made reference to the fact that, since March of this year, the educational institution had requested the allocation of all places to the education secretary, reason for which on Thursday, May 4, announced the positive response to the petition.
“The Secretary of Education informed us that as of this Monday we would begin to have the minutes of the PAE for 100% of the students enrolled in all the schools. This cut in quotas led to the suspension of one of the handlers, but fortunately we have already been authorized to reinstate all the handlers and the operator
announced that in the registration system application the information is already complete, therefore the characterization is ready and, therefore, the departmental entity proceeded to verify giving the go-ahead for the restoration of all the quotas, ”said Fierro.
In relation to the infrastructure, Fierro asserted that the needs have been present for several years and that there is already confirmation of the budget authorized for the works, since the Ministry of Education, the Departmental Education Secretariat and the mayor’s office have proposed an action plan that seeks to find a solution.
“We have a project that has already been approved, we have a contract for the construction of new classrooms, that project has been approved since last year, but the work has not started yet, what we know is that the contractor has already been legalized, so the plans for the construction of four school classrooms, a teachers’ room, a library and a sanitary battery for students that is already being studied, practically what we are waiting for is that you visit us
so that the work can begin”, complemented Fierro who also asserted that this information has been shared with the educational community.
Institutionality
In an interview with the secretary of education of the department of Huila, Milena Oliveros Crespo, it was obtained that the repeated manifestation of disagreements regarding the shortcomings in educational institutions is due to external situations related to the budget assigned by the Ministry of National Education and, As an action plan, the unit is providing a solution to the lack of teachers by organizing overtime so that full-time teachers can travel to the campuses and thus guarantee continuity in training.
Regarding the sit-in carried out by parents during the morning of yesterday, May 8, the official referred to the eventuality, indicating that a solution is gradually being given to the shortcomings that have occurred in the educational institution for several years and that the community should contribute to the continuity of the formation avoiding this type of
actions that affect the full compliance with school plans, since they prevent the normal provision of services by preventing students from entering to receive the respective classes.
“We already spoke with the community and they understood the issue. The protest has already been lifted and we explained to them about the assignment of overtime,” said the secretary of education for the department of Huila, Milena Oliveros Crespo.