With the aim of ensuring a safe and quality educational environment for children, families from Hortaleza were called to a peaceful concentration last Friday, April 24. The action took place in front of the La Gran Vía nursery school, located on Silvano Street, in support of the indefinite strike by early childhood educators and teachers that began in Madrid on Tuesday, April 7.
The strike, which is gradually extending to other autonomous communities, responds to various demands, according to the manifesto of the Plataforma Laboral Escuelas Infantiles (PLEI). These include the need for a dignified salary, as they currently earn the interprofessional minimum wage, and the recognition of their professional category as teaching staff, not administrative personnel.
Other key demands include reducing ratios, seeking to equalize those in the Community of Madrid with those of the City Council (two educators per six babies, two per eleven children aged 1-2, and two per fourteen children aged 2-3). There is also a call for greater investment in safe and accessible infrastructure, more support for Early Care Teams, the remunicipalization of indirectly managed schools, and the creation of a national regulatory framework.
“"We firmly believe that dignified conditions for educators and teachers are not only fair but essential to guarantee a safe, stable, and quality environment for our children. For this reason, we want to show our support jointly and visibly."
In addition to the strike and informational pickets, the PLEI has organized weekly mobilizations: concentrations on Tuesdays in front of the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports and on Wednesdays before the Ministry of Family, Youth and Social Affairs of the Community of Madrid. On Thursdays, performances are held in Callao Square to highlight the precariousness of the sector. Meetings have been held with administrations and the Ombudsman, and a delegate for social policies has committed to studying the demands within municipal competencies.
After four weeks of striking, a national strike in Early Childhood Education has been called for Thursday, May 7, and a demonstration in Madrid in front of the Ministry of Education on Thursday, May 23. To sustain the indefinite strike, a Resistance Fund has been created.
