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INPRIMATU
Communities of the Ordizia Jokin Bildarratz Public School
Ordiziako Euskal Eskola Publikoaren komunitatea 2021eko martxoaren 04a

On 12 January and 17 February, Jokin Bildarratz, Minister of Education; Begoña Pedrosa, Vice-Minister of Education; Eugenio Jiménez, Director of Centres and Planning; and Amaia Urzelai, Head of the Territorial Delegation of Gipuzkoa, approached to visit the Urdaneta Public School in Ordizia to learn,

Ordizia is the locality of the CAV with a higher migration rate among municipalities with more than 10,000 inhabitants (18.35%). As regards schooling, this rate is even higher (23%). In the Public School, 87 per cent of the total number of students from families of foreign origin in Ordizia is educated. This imbalance is even more evident in Early Childhood Education. This basic imbalance in enrolment is aggravated by intensive tuition throughout the course. In fact, 86% of the students enrolled from the beginning of the course go to the Public School.

"The representatives of the Public School do not agree with the measures proposed by the Education Counselor. In Ordizia the present and future of the Public School is at stake, the coexistence in Ordizia, the attention to diversity, inclusion and Euskaldunization"

During the visits, the Ministry of Education gave the reason for the imbalance between the schools of Ordizia and the main solution to it in students from families of foreign origin. However, the members of the Public School of Ordizia, through data and showing the consequences of each measure and decision, explained that the balance between the two centers of Ordizia depends on the registration of families of Basque origin and compliance with the current standards.

According to Ararteko and the Prosecutor’s Office in Gipuzkoa, during the 2018-19 academic year the Department of Education acted irregularly in both planning and enrollment. A total of 11 families of Basque origin were left without a teaching position in the ikastola Jakintza. If it had led them to the public school, the imbalance in their origin would have been compensated by 14.2 points, far above any other measure. On the contrary, the decision taken by the Department of Education maintains the underlying problem and risks perpetuating or increasing the imbalance.

At the meeting, the highest educational leaders proposed local initiatives as a solution to the situation and that students who register after the beginning of the course be transferred to concerted centers. However, this last measure, besides focusing attention on students from families of foreign origin, would have a very low impact on the basic imbalance, even in the medium-long term.

The choice of the school centre for the children in charge of the families is legitimate, but as Ararteko points out in his resolution, this freedom cannot prevail over cohesion and balanced coexistence. The maintenance of this imbalance, the fact that nothing is increased, affects the coexistence and inclusion in the people, hinders the processes of Euskaldunization and prevents diversity from living in an enriching way.

Representatives of the community of the Basque Public School of Ordizia informed the representatives of Education of the initiatives they have carried out in the last four years at the local level and in the Basque Country.

The Department of Education urged the counselor to stop taking measures to increase the imbalance at source and to comply with Ararteko ' s recommendations.

To this end, the community of the Public School of Ordizia considers it essential to adopt measures to ensure the balance between students from families of Basque origin and from other backgrounds. In view of the registrations in the two centers of origin of the families of recent years, in order to achieve balance, it is necessary to limit the number of classrooms and lines authorized and planned in Infant Education at Ikastola Jakintza, and once the classrooms and planned requests have been overcome, the students must be sent to the Public School of Ordizia.

The representatives of the Public School do not agree with the measures proposed by the Education Counselor. In Ordizia the present and future of the Public School is at stake, the coexistence in Ordizia, attention to diversity, inclusion and Euskaldunization. The community of the Ordizia Public School therefore requires the Department of Education to take effective measures to balance the imbalance.