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Summer storm in Congress.

The opposition unloaded a shower of reproaches on the Minister of Education, Isabel Celaá, for having "washed her hands" and having filled the return to school with "improvisation" and "uncertainty" for her "lack of leadership."

Criticisms expressed by parties such as the PP, Vox, Ciudadanos or UPN with which they blame it in the first person for the "concern" felt by students, parents and teachers at the beginning of the school year due to the absence of more exhaustive protocols for deal with Covid.

Visibly angry, Celaá counterattacked lamenting the "way" in which the opposition behaves in Spain on this issue, unlike what happens in "other European countries" and accused her of "using education" as a political weapon against the Government and of "muddying the debate" with "falsehoods" about the course that generate "confusion" in families.

In this atmosphere, at times tense, the appearance of the Minister of Education in the commission of the branch in Congress took place, where Celaá did not contribute more news regarding the 29 measures and five recommendations that closed last Thursday in a sector conference with the autonomous communities.

A circumstance that was criticized by practically all the parties in Congress, who demanded more measures from the Ministry to guarantee the development of the course, for example, by lowering the ratio of students per classroom, increasing the workforce, providing more nursing staff to centers or looking for formulas through paid leave or sick leave for parents who have to stay home to care for a sick or quarantined child.

More than contributing new initiatives to the demands of the educational community, Celaá took advantage of the appearance in Congress to justify himself and defend that the work for the new course had been on track since June.

On the 11th, with an agreement with the autonomous communities on the course start dates and presence as the axis;

and on the 22nd, with a basic guide on sanitary measures. Clinging to both "verifiable" and "creditable" documents, Celaá wanted to get rid of the accusation of "lack of leadership" that, among others, Pablo Iglesias, a member of the same Government, given the growing concern of the educational community.

That the final protocol was approved on August 27, just before the beginning of the school year and with little room for maneuver, was justified by Celaá in that it was not an "late" date but, on the contrary, it was an appropriate moment to make the "adjustment" because it was already going to be known what the "real" evolution of the pandemic was going to be.

These explanations from the minister did not convince the majority of opposition groups.

Including some of the parties that facilitated Sánchez's inauguration, such as EH Bildu.

However, it was PP, Ciudadanos, Vox and UPN who spoke out most harshly to criticize the situation.

"We cannot trust you," said Óscar Clavell, of the PP, who reprimanded Celaá for having "lowered his arms" and made "abandonment of functions" by "delegating responsibilities" to the autonomies.

"The autonomous communities have had to be the ones to do the work and save it in discount time," he said.

In addition, he stressed that this "lack of leadership" in recent months has generated greater "confusion and unease" in families.

For Vox, the Ministry has plunged into "improvisation" and "inefficiency" and described the approved measures as "insufficient", since there are gaps and many unresolved situations or that are answered in a "contradictory" way depending on each autonomy .

Citizens regretted that Celaá has declared himself "incompetent" to "take the helm" hiding in the fact that the powers are transferred, and criticized that he has left "the ball on the roof" of the communities to fill in the "big gaps."

The hardest was Sergio Sayas, and UPN, who accused Celaá of having "disappeared" and "doing nothing."

Just an agreement "without content" with which to "make up" his management but which, in reality, is "an open bar for improvisation."

From the PSOE, María Luz Martínez came out in defense of Celaá to regret that there are parties installed in "generating fear and using a lot of demagoguery and truths to measure" and criticized that some autonomies like Madrid have done their homework "late and badly."

On the part of United We Can, Joan Mena rectified the tone regarding the criticisms expressed by his training last week but also pointed to the need for new measures such as lowering ratios, more teachers or providing a solution to parents who must take care of their children.

Thus, he asked the minister to "expand the dialogue" to respond to those needs.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • Back to school

  • Citizens

  • Vox

  • Isabel Celaá

  • PP

  • UPN

  • Education

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