Lokizaldea consists of six joint valleys, west of Navarre, in the area of Estella: Amezketa, Allin, Metauten, Egaibar, Lana and Berrotza. Last Thursday, the educational community of Lokiz school closed the school year and it was then that the association of parents made an appearance to explain the situation of the school and announce a campaign for its transformation.

Lokiz College was closed seven years ago. He had a Spanish model, there were about ten students left and was "about to disappear", as his parents explained to ARGIA. They then bet on model D in Euskera, and eight minimum students to expand the line, of different ages. "It was possible to keep alive at the hands of municipalities, citizens, families and teachers", points out the association of fathers and mothers. Since then, Lokiz School has grown steadily, and in the last year 42 children have been enrolled, 38 in Model D in Euskera and four in Model G.

In 2019-2020 the representatives of the political groups of the Parliament of Navarra visited the school and from there came the commitment to obtain a new building for the school, which is still not fulfilled today, "because they have hijacked in some office the key to deal with the construction of the new school". The Lokiz school is located in the village of Ancín, in a building in 1930 and, according to his parents, no additional “needle” is included. The lack of new buildings prevents the growth of the school, “and even more serious, it questions the future of our valleys and villages,” the families have denounced.

“We have not been depopulated, we have been depopulated”

The parents have linked the situation of the School with the policies developed by the Government of Navarra in the depopulated areas. “We are always applied to the scales of the big centres of the urban areas: the nature of the transport and dining offer, the day, the management of the dining room (which eliminated two jobs in the valley along with the destruction of the pedagogical food project) or the high interinity of the teachers”. They have accused the government of behaving like “empty chess pieces” with the teachers, “displacing one, two, three or four teachers according to the number of students enrolled!”

Families accuse the government of placing the money above the needs of the children and the region. “Because we have not been randomly depopulated, we have been depopulated!” they denounce, while explaining their intention to deal with it: “We want to claim that we have chosen to live in these small villages, knowing that this option places us outside the economy and society. However, we are committed to our people, our land and our culture, and we want to express aloud that we will not give up the right to live our lives with dignity.”

The Lokiz College is not the first time that this course has been denouncing the attitude of the Government of Navarre from the small towns. Last week, for example, families, political representatives and the Observatory on Linguistic Rights denounced that the Department of Education of Navarra is hindering teaching in Basque contrary to what is established by law.

The families of the Lokiz school have launched a campaign to get a new school: “We call on the Government of Navarre, once and for all, to put life at the centre and fulfil the given word.”