Several demonstrations organised by the Platform for Inclusive Education in the Canaries took place on Sunday, demanding a public school system with “real support” for students with disabilities or specific needs (NEAE), stating that “no child should be excluded.”
The protests occurred simultaneously in Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, and Tenerife, with families from La Gomera and La Palma also participating in the latter.
They emphasised that they are not only asking for support assistants but also for professionals to enable co-teaching, which has been successfully implemented in other autonomous communities. This is to ensure that children with disabilities enjoy “real inclusion” and receive the support “where it is needed.”
They refer to the need for students not to be automatically directed to special education, where “there is no academic curriculum,” and explain that it is “exceptional” for any child to “pass the filter.”
“Their condition seems to justify discrimination: because I cannot provide the resources they need, I remove them from the mainstream system… they are saying that our children do not belong,” they criticise.
They further highlight that among children with intellectual disabilities, who “cannot all be put in the same box,” there exists “widespread illiteracy,” as “there are no qualifications.”
The only alternatives left for these children once they complete the required programme are the NEAE +21 programme or adapted vocational training, “to allow them to remain within the system for a few more years.”
However, “the majority,” emphasise representatives from FIMAPA, remain at home with their families “not knowing what to do, without the opportunity for professional development. This is an education that disables,” they lament.
They add, “If they are not given the tools to be socially useful and to develop professionally, tomorrow we will have more dependency.”
