- The precarious socio-economic context prevails in the Mare de Deu de Montserrat school in Terrassa. More than 97% of the students are children of migrant parents, and the school has just been rewarded for achieving very good results thanks to the collaboration of teachers, parents, grandparents and neighbors. For every five students, they have one adult in the school, among teachers, tutors and volunteers.
“The child sees the mother or the neighbor teaching in the classroom and feels important, they are a reference for them and they want to learn, they want to show what they know, and also the environment is perfect,” they say from the school.
Mothers who have moved to Catalonia from abroad (mainly from Morocco) also receive literacy classes and this allows them to achieve greater autonomy.
Keys, community and coexistence
The focus is on the community, which holds sessions with the participation of all students and neighbors of the neighborhood. In particular, these sessions focus on ways to improve coexistence. “The success of the child in the studies is important, but it will not happen if coexistence does not prevail in the school environment, and we will achieve coexistence if the whole community strengthens in this direction,” says the director of the center.
They emphasize that the results are beginning to be perceived and that absenteeism and conflicts have diminished significantly. Academic results have also improved.
In Mare de Deu de Montserrat they have a clear idea of what they will do with the prize money: they will be able to go to the municipalities.