"It's desperate": the situation in schools affected by the DANA, five months later

ValenciaTeachers' lounges, libraries, and offices converted into classrooms. Students relocated to other schools, a lack of buses for transportation, and schools and secondary schools closed while awaiting the start of reconstruction work that will take years. Five months after the floods caused by the DANA (National Flooding Damage), the return to normal education in the Valencian Community is still a long way off. So much so that families are beginning to despair. They report feeling exhausted and abandoned, but also warn that they still have the strength to protest. Believing that the Generalitat (Catalan government) "only" pays attention to them when they protest, they state that they will not stand idly by.

One of the educational communities that has mobilized this week is the one made up of the nearly 200 families from the Paluzié school in Catarroja, in the region of l'Horta, the hardest hit by the disaster. They did so to denounce the delay in the construction work at the center: almost the entire ground floor, which was swept away by the water, needs to be rebuilt. But the work is moving very slowly. "They've only made 20 to 30% progress because there are only two workers working. Furthermore, they don't come every day. They haven't been here for two weeks now," laments the president of the Parents' Association (AMPA), Miriam García, who questions whether the regional government will complete the work before the start of the next school year, as has been confirmed. "It's desperate," she emphasizes.

The situation isn't much better at the Blasco Ibáñez school in Beniparell, where 146 children attend. The school's basement was badly damaged, and there are concerns about the building's safety. Therefore, they have been relocated to a center in the neighboring town of Silla. They are demanding a third bus to transport students, given that they currently only have two vehicles and one must make two trips, causing students to arrive half an hour late to class. "The regional government only tells us they can't provide any more buses," explains Elisabeth García, president of the Parents' Association (AMPA). Families also complain that the precarious and temporary nature of the situation is creating an emotional toll that adds to the trauma of the catastrophe. According to Elisabeth García, the overcrowding of the host schools is affecting social interaction. "Families are increasingly anxious, and students are exhausted from so much change," she summarizes.

Aware of the families' complaints, the Ministry of Education maintains that the Generalitat (Catalan government) has allocated all the resources at its disposal and made a "very significant" logistical effort, including the granting of extraordinary dining aid, the installation of prefabricated classrooms, the provision of new materials, and the hiring of additional teachers. "The floods have created an exceptional and unprecedented situation in the education system," they emphasize.

Education admits that reconstruction will take years.

The regional government also emphasizes the need to grasp the scale of the challenge. They recall how the floods affected 48,000 students in 115 schools. They also note that thirteen days later, more than 22,000 students returned to classes, and that before the Christmas holidays, 100% of students resumed classes in various forms. Regarding the future, they are committed to installing all the remaining barracks by the time students return from the Easter holidays, with the exception of those at the Berenguer Dalmau secondary school in Catarroja, one of the largest—it houses 1,485 students—which will not be ready until May. Regarding the reconstruction of the eight most damaged schools, they admit that it will take years.

The Valencian Education Workers' Union believes the regional government is making a very complacent assessment and accuses it of "inaction." "Especially during the first few days, when it was the families and teachers who cleaned the schools," emphasizes spokesperson Marc Candela. Rubén Pacheco, president of the Gonzalo Anaya Confederation of Parents and Students, shares this criticism, criticizing the Generalitat (Catalan government) for not having created a monitoring committee like the one for the COVID pandemic. "They tell us they're already doing everything possible and that, therefore, there's no need for coordination or collaborative work," he laments.