The public claim of parents, teachers and coordinators who They demanded the continuity of skiing and school mountaineering was not heard and The Rio Negro government decided to cancel the program, which each year benefited 2,000 children from Bariloche and nearby towns.
“The complex national economic context, to which the province is no stranger” was the justification invoked by the Executive in the communication released today, which confirms the decision to “postpone” the program to give priority to other investments related to “the functioning of the educational system.”
He specifically mentioned the maintenance of “food services in schools”, transportation for students who need it and “the payment of salaries in a timely manner.”“, which absorb “the financial efforts” made by the province to compensate for “the lack of transfer of national funds.”
The Ministry of Education thus ignored the requests made from this city for more than a month, when the teachers realized that they were not called (as usually happens at this time of the year) and that the procedures and preparations for obtaining ski passes, equipment, transportation and other things had not begun. hiring necessary to implement the program.
Was notes “with hundreds of signatures” sent to the Board of Education by the families of the children who, upon reaching fifth grade, were waiting for their ski week. Also lThe teachers and some parents showed up with posters at patriotic events, at Municipal Council sessions and carried out campaigns on social networks, but nothing was achieved.
The detail provided by Education indicates that The execution of the program with the same scope as in previous years would have required a budget of 622.4 million pesos this winter“without considering variations” due to inflation until August and September, when departures usually take place.
This total arises from adding 354.1 million for ski equipment and boots for the children, 29.5 million for transportation for the ski program (up to zero Cathedral) and another 76.9 million for transportation for mountaineering activities in Villa Llanquín , plus 44.6 million for the hiring of 31 teachers, instructors and coordinators and 117.2 million to hire ski passes, with the company Capsa.
A message between the lines
Although he says he hopes that “the educational community understands” the decision made, communication released by the government It doesn’t seem to close the door completely. He talks about the “postponement” of the school ski program and also includes a significant phrase, in which appeals to “the social responsibility of the concessionaire companies to provide the opportunity of this experience to the students.”
The school ski program was born in 2003 as an extension activity of the UNCo Physical Education Teacher career, reaching only three schools in Bariloche. Then it was expanded to others, consolidated with a national budget, and The province finally adopted it with universal coverage for all fifth grades in public schools in the region.
From Education they highlighted today that the continuous week of skiing, that it is enough for the boys to master the basic technique of that sport, “It is a unique experience” and they also valued “the importance that the project implies in school trajectories”. But they insisted that the current context forced them to give priority in the use of provincial funds “to having schools open” and to students “with classes and with the necessary services.”
