The vice president, Gimena Llamedo, and the Minister of Finance, Guillermo Peláez, will temporarily take over negotiations with the trade unions, which will resume this afternoon
The Government of Asturias has recognized today the commitment and work carried out in the field of Education by Lydia Espina, who resigned this morning to facilitate a solution to the conflict in the sector. The regional government has also extended a hand to the trade unions to reach an agreement that will benefit public schools.
The President of the Principality, Adrián Barbón, has praised on his social media the generosity, honesty, and dedication of Espina. “He believes that by taking a step back, she facilitates finding solutions and understands that this is what she must do for the service of Asturias, because for her, the general interest comes first,” explained the head of the Executive.
Also, the spokesman, Guillermo Peláez, has highlighted the legacy of the minister, “which is evident in specific improvements in public education.” “Lydia Espina will go down in history for developing the regional network of 0 to 3 centers known as Les Escuelines/As Escolías, a project that was absolutely pioneering in Spain,” he emphasized.
Peláez, who held a press conference this morning following Espina’s resignation, reiterated that the Government of Asturias “is the government of public education” and the only one that guarantees its constant improvement, “as evidenced by international reports such as TIMSS or PISA, where students in the Principality are national leaders, with results above the Spanish and OECD average.”
Regarding the mobilizations of teaching staff, the spokesman advocated for dialogue with trade unions to be “sincere and rigorous” and to focus “on proposals and measures to improve public education.” He also called for avoiding “personal attacks as seen in recent days.”
The next negotiation meeting will take place this afternoon, with the Vice President, Gimena Llamedo, and Peláez leading the Principality’s representation. Also participating will be the Director General of Centers and 0-3 Years Network, Cristina Blanco, and the Directors General of Public Employment, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, and of Teaching Staff, César González.
Regarding the demonstration called by the teaching unions yesterday, the Finance Minister considered that right-wing and far-right groups “should be embarrassed” to attend: “Their only interest is to erode public schools in favor of private education, as clearly seen in the territories they govern.” “They do not believe that public education is the true engine of equal opportunities and take advantage of this situation to undermine the progressive and reformist unity government, without presenting a single proposal,” he lamented.
During his intervention, the minister recalled several achievements of the Education Minister, who, as he indicated, will be remembered for putting Asturian education “at the forefront,” with initiatives such as the strategy for students with autism spectrum disorder or the program to prevent school bullying. He also reviewed other decisions such as strengthening the staff of Therapeutic Pedagogy and Audiology and Language professionals or the agreement to improve public education, which will reduce the teaching hours of Primary from 25 to 23, costing 23.5 million and hiring 486 more teachers, as well as implementing a flat rate of 4.5 euros in school canteens managed by the Principality.
** The resignation letter of Lydia Espina as Minister of Education is attached.
