Jo Green

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By Jo Green - Fri 26th Oct 2012

 

If I haven't Blogged for a while you will have to excuse me, having a new baby* and all that and trying to simultaneously entertain a hyperactive 5 year old at the same time.

Even though it has been a good few months, the one issue on 'all things Expat Mummsy' that seems to have endured in the Spanish press since before and after the summer months is this : School Dinners.

Back in May Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy effectively gave permission for the various regional governments to start charging for the privilege of allowing pupils to take their own packed lunch to school. Basically charging pupils for NOT having school dinners.

To be fair, Rajoy has played a blinder on this one : Not only has he put the regions under enormous pressure to cut their education budget, but he has then given them the permission to take this drastic move. He can then stand back and deny that the measure has anything at all to do with the central government.

With more a more families having less and less cash, and with those lucky enough to have work being able to collect their children at lunchtime - or even afford to pay for school dinners - sending the kids to school with a packed lunch seems to be the only viable option.

So why charge what is often as much as 3 Euros per day - or 60 Euros per months - to allow a child to sit at a desk and eat his or her own food ?

In my opinion the answer is this : since the start of 2012, when the PP were voted in central government and admittedly finding themselves in an impossible position, they have slashed the education budget by a whopping 30 - 35%. At the same time they are leaning on the regions to slash their overspending.

However, at the same time Electric, Water, Gas and other utility bills are increasing. And with teachers having their salaries slashed it is perhaps understandable that they are reluctant to offer their assistance during what is in effect their own lunch hour, meaning that the school has to hire in extra staff. So the schools are coming under increasing pressure to cut costs, yet provide an essential service whilst supervising children at lunchtime.

As distasteful as I find the whole issue I feel quite sorry that schools themselves are being blamed for the issue. Whilst their handling of the situation has often been quite poor, I feel that they have ultimately been left with little or no other option to make ends meet by the central government.