Podemos Canarias has demanded this Sunday that the regional government meet the objective of allocating 5% of GDP to education, according to the Canary Islands Law on Non-University Education.
Podemos Canarias has called on the regional executive this Sunday to comply with the legal objective of allocating 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) to education, as established by the Canary Islands Law on Non-University Education. The party's education spokesperson, Ana Gloria Sánchez, rated the government a 4 in this area during a press conference where she denounced that public education "cannot be sustained solely by the efforts of teachers."
Sánchez emphasised that the Canary educational system "continues to drag deficits that require greater investment" and pointed out that the lack of resources translates into specific shortcomings affecting thousands of families in the islands. Among the main criticisms, Podemos has focused on the insufficiency of public places for the schooling of children aged 0 to 3 years, an educational stage they consider a priority to ensure work-life balance and equal opportunities.
The purple party has also denounced the lack of specialists to attend to students with special educational needs, a situation that, they claim, hinders the provision of adequate support in schools. "It cannot be that children with special needs do not have the necessary resources for their development," Sánchez stated, insisting that the government must increase the hiring of these professionals.
In the field of Vocational Training, Podemos Canarias has warned that the lack of resources is causing an overload for teachers and has called for the construction of new educational centres in Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, and the south of Gran Canaria and Tenerife to respond to the growing demand for education. "We cannot continue postponing infrastructures that are necessary for thousands of students," the spokesperson asserted.
The Canary Islands Law on Non-University Education, approved in 2014, set an eight-year deadline to reach 5% of GDP in educational investment, a goal that was to be achieved by 2022. However, the Canary School Council has repeatedly warned that this legal commitment remains unfulfilled and has called on the regional government for an increase in educational funding to comply with what is stipulated in the law.
Podemos has demanded that the executive present a concrete timetable to achieve the 5% of GDP and has announced that it will take this demand to the Parliament of the Canary Islands. "This is not a matter of ideology; it is a matter of complying with the law and ensuring the right to quality education for all Canarians," Sánchez concluded.
Podemos's demand comes in a context where the Canary educational community has repeatedly expressed its concern over the lack of investment. Unions and parent associations have reported that budget cuts are affecting the quality of teaching, with overcrowded classrooms, lack of materials, and an insufficient teaching staff.
According to the latest available data, educational investment in the Canary Islands stands at around 3.5% of GDP, far from the 5% mandated by law. To reach that target, the regional government would need to increase the educational budget by several hundred million euros annually, a figure that Podemos considers feasible if education is prioritised over other expenditures.
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