translated from Spanish: Mayors reject Minister Figueroa’s position for face-to-face classes

Several elected mayors from different communes of the country signed a letter in rejection of the position of the Minister of Education, Raúl Figueroa, who did not set sanctions on the supporters of municipal schools in areas without confinement and who have not started face-to-face classes. “We will examine whether any action is necessary for municipal supporters to fully comply with the obligation to carry on,” said the secretary of state, which has been widely criticized from the proxy to Congress, from where they will discuss a possible constitutional indictment. For their part, 19 mayors issued a letter rejecting the “economic pressures” against the supporters and teachers, who “have had to overcome the onslaught of the pandemic and the improvisation of the Mineduc.” In addition, they indicated that Minister Figueroa “confuses the citizens because it is impossible to predict what the health situation will be in the coldest months of the year,” especially because of the high numbers of infections that have been recorded in recent days. The community leaders noted that they will act “responsiblely, without pressure and observing the data of the territory as a whole and in coherence with the participation of local educational communities”, reiterating that they will continue with telematic activities, working on “concrete actions” to provide connectivity for students. They finally called for “generating improvement plans to address the infrastructure deficits that are necessary for a return to classrooms. In this regard, we regret the decline of public education support funds (FAEP) that allow financial processes to be standardized and infrastructure repaired.” The letter was promoted by the mayor of Independencia, Gonzalo Durán and has the signatures of different communal chiefs, such as Daniel Jadue (Recoleta), Jorge Sharp (Valparaíso), Mauro Tamayo (Cerro Navia), Claudia Pizarro (La Pintana), Claudio Castro (Renca), Gerardo Espíndola (Arica), among other elected mayors of communes such as Estación Central, Maipú, Ñuñoa, Viña del Mar, San Miguel , etc.” Mayors obviously want a return to face-to-face classes, yet we have seen the very high rates of contagion that persist in the region, and in many regions of the country,” said the mayor of Independence. Therefore, attempting economic blackmail with the grant’s resources is truly unpresentable.”

Original source in Spanish