Teachers denounce working conditions in early childhood education in Mallorca

TEACHERS from the first stage of early childhood education concentrated in Palma de Mallorca Spain on Monday to demand decent working conditions in ‘escoletas’.
Congregating on Plaza de Santa Payesa, workers denounced their low salaries, which do not comply with the State Collective Bargaining Agreement. Euro Weekly News understand that the agreement promised that no salary would fall below €1,000 in 2020 for the early education level, but this hasn’t been fulfilled. According to the Workers’ Union (CCOO), it is “outrageous, shameful and a sign of absolute disrespect”.
The union also expressed their distaste that the Improvement of Educational Quality (Lomce) does not consider teaching children under 3-years-old as an an educational stage “but merely as assistance in the sector”.
They also denounced the lack of regulation in education centres from the Ministry which discounts the requirements of spaces, training and the ratio of teachers-to-children in each class. The union has questioned how the government can offer childcare “without having to meet these fundamental conditions”.
In February, the same group initiated protests against the new collective agreement, which concluded in a national strike and which closed many ‘escoletas’ in Mallorca. The union point to the same action if early childhood education does not become a political priority.