Concerns at Daute-Isla Baja Music School Over Teacher Shortages
The Daute-Isla Baja Regional Music School is beginning the new term with concerns regarding the absence of two teachers. The director of the music centre, Juana Bolaños, stated that the schedules for the 2025-2026 academic year will be released on 17 September, unsure if these vacancies will be filled. Bolaños has been informed that efforts are underway to recruit the missing staff, a development announced on Wednesday, 10 September. The school serves students from Garachico, Buenavista del Norte, and Los Silos. The current president of the governing body and Councillor for Housing and Municipal Cooperation at the Cabildo of Tenerife, Sonia Hernández, did not respond to queries from El Día.
During the previous academic year, the position for the Violin teacher remained vacant due to a leave of absence. Additionally, the Percussion workshop was discontinued in November 2023, and now the absence of the Music and Movement teacher (for students aged between 4 and 7 years) adds to the challenges faced this year. These issues are “diminishing the quality of teaching at the centre, causing students to leave, and consequently weakening the school,” stated Bolaños. Violin and Music and Movement specialisations are essential for music schools to maintain their official status, according to the Decree 179/1994 of 29 July regulating Music and Dance Schools in Canary Islands.
Bolaños asserts that “the centre communicates its needs to the Consorcio Isla Baja, who are responsible for hiring staff. I trust, for everyone’s benefit, that the missing teachers will be recruited.” For the director of this northwest Tenerife music school, the Music and Movement specialisation “is the foundation and future of the school. Instrumental offerings commence from the age of eight. It is vital. Additionally, this is the area with the highest student enrolment,” she explained.
A Complicated Situation Since November 2023
The situation at the Daute-Isla Baja Regional Music School has been challenging since November 2023. The discontinuation of the Percussion workshop was the first sign of decline for an institution founded in 1998 as part of the Consorcio Isla Baja. The school’s circumstances deteriorated to the extent that local residents held protests at the end of June this year against the closure of the music education centre in Isla Baja.
