- The Minister of Education, Cristina Uriarte, has acknowledged that on 18 May they do not have legal coverage to receive students in the educational centers of the CAV, so the Basque Government has postponed this possibility for a week. The end-of-course plan is being very complicated in the CAV.
Cristina Uriarte announced that the educational centers of Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa would open their doors on May 18, without reaching an agreement with the educational community, with 4th year students from ESO, Baccalaureate and Vocational Training. Both unions and other actors in the world of education have criticised unilateral action and have demanded that the Directorate of Education, considering that there are not enough health and safety guarantees, agree on measures and return.
Two days after the Economic Counselor, Arantza Tapia, assured that schools would be opened yes or yes, the Basque Government came to the surprise: each educational center will decide whether or not to open its doors and to which students. The unions have been even more disgusted by the “irresponsibility” of the Basque Government, trusting that this burden falls on the management of educational establishments and that this leads to a wider gap between schools and pupils. They have called on the Basque Government to shoulder its responsibilities and to negotiate measures to ensure the health of students and workers on the return of the company.
The Association of Fathers and Mothers of Pupils of the Basque Country (APYMA) has also claimed that "we must not return to the centres until there are no guarantees of safety".
The education community in general points out that in the Plan that the Basque Government has unilaterally proposed today, health guarantees are not enough, so 18 May is too close.
In addition, the delegate of the Spanish Government to the CAV, Denis Itxaso, sent a clear message to the Basque Government on Wednesday: in the first phase the centres cannot be opened.
All this has forced the Basque Government to change again, as Cristina Uriarte explained: “Although an agreement has been reached with the Spanish Government on the return to classroom classes since 18 May, the Basque Government has not yet received the necessary legal coverage for this purpose. Therefore, the students’ return from the planned levels will be on 25 May.” The spokesman for the Basque Government, Josu Erkoreka, added that it has been done "with the aim of providing clarity and security".