Half a dozen mothers from Fraga are appealing the allocation of places for three-year-old children and demanding that the ratios be adjusted to regulations after being assigned schools they had not chosen.
Half a dozen parents of three-year-old children from Fraga, who are starting their education this 2024-25 school year, have filed an appeal with the Department of Education of the Government of Aragon after their children were assigned places in schools that were not among their first choices. They are requesting that the student-to-teacher ratios be adjusted to comply with Decree 57/2024, which sets the maximum number of students per classroom in the second cycle of early childhood education at 22, not 20, as decided by the Government of Aragon for the city of Fraga and the 2024-25 school year.
María Labrador, spokesperson for the affected families, points out that the appeal is being filed after the parents of the affected students met with both the Mayor of Fraga, Mr. José Ignacio Gramún, and the Councilor for Education, Mr. David Casanova: “In fact, we also met with the Provincial Director of Education in Huesca, Ms. Mónica Martínez, but the result, in all three cases, was the same: empty promises and no solutions. We are simply asking that the law be upheld, because the Decree is very clear regarding the maximum number of students per classroom,” she notes.
The affected parents link their children's situation to the imposed creation of a single school zone in Fraga. “Until this school year, the system was different: there were several zones, which was particularly suitable for a city like Fraga, divided into two very distinct social, economic, and urban areas. Now, with the single zone and the downward revision of the number of students per classroom, our children have been assigned places in a school very far from their homes. These are three-year-olds who can't walk to school alone and are just beginning their socialization process. Having such a young child attend school far from their home, their family, and the other children they may have formed bonds with in parks, squares, and daycare centers is not the best option. Therefore, we ask that the Decree be followed and the limit of 22 students per classroom be respected. This will benefit our children, the schools, and the city,” emphasizes María, spokesperson for the group of parents of the affected children.
Due to work commitments, the parents of the affected children cannot personally accompany their children to school, forcing them to rely on other relatives, many of them elderly, to do so, or failing that, to opt for the school bus service, which the families do not consider suitable for such young children: “We're talking about walks of half an hour or more along very steep streets, and schoolchildren who will have to be accompanied by elderly people. The alternative is a bus which, admittedly, works well and saves time, but we mustn't forget that we're talking about three-year-old children who, in every case, have never gone anywhere alone. It's not the best way to start school, to be honest,” the families point out.
