Thousands of teachers, students, and families have taken to the streets of Madrid this Wednesday to demand improvements in public education and protest against the educational policies of the Government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso. The demonstration, which started from Atocha at 6:00 PM, coincides with the beginning of an indefinite teachers' strike called to demand better working conditions, greater investment, and the reinforcement of educational resources.
The mobilization has gathered participants from different sectors of the educational community, including primary and secondary teachers, students, and early childhood educators. Under slogans such as "Hands up for education", "Not a step back" and "Mercedes, listen, the public is in struggle", the attendees have directed their criticisms at the regional president and the Minister of Education, Mercedes Zarzalejo.
The Ministry of Education places participation at 44.6%, while Comisiones Obreras raises it to 70%.
Fewer students per classroom, better salaries, and more investment
Among the main demands of the protesters are the reduction of student ratios per classroom, the decrease of teaching hours, the improvement of salaries, and the increase of teaching staff. They also demand more support professionals to attend to students with specific educational needs and greater resources for public centers.
The participants have denounced the difficulties in addressing the diversity of classrooms with the current means. Secondary and Vocational Training teachers have pointed out that the high number of students and the lack of specialized staff complicate teaching and increase the workload outside of teaching hours.
The salary situation has been another of the issues present in the protest. Teachers have linked their economic demands to the high cost of housing in Madrid, while early childhood educators, who have also participated in the march, maintain their own mobilizations to demand labor and salary improvements.
During the march, slogans such as "More investment in education" and "Fewer penthouses, more education" were heard, in addition to messages in defense of public services.
The Ayuso Government qualifies the strike as "political"
The demonstration has taken place amid the confrontation between the Ministry of Education and the trade union organizations over the reasons for the call.
The minister Mercedes Zarzalejo has accused the organizers of using the strike for political purposes and has argued that their goal is "to heat up the streets," instead of seeking improvements for the Madrid educational system.
The unions reject this interpretation and defend that the protests respond to labor and educational demands raised months ago, before the announcement of the advance of the general elections to November 29.
The general secretary of the Education Federation of Comisiones Obreras, Aída San Millán, has responded that the mobilization questions the educational policies of the Community of Madrid, but does not constitute a partisan protest.
"If they are asking whether it is a political strike, yes, it is against the educational policies of the Community of Madrid, which have been making education suffer for 30 years," she stated in comments to elDiario.es.
San Millán has also criticized the functioning of the negotiation tables with the regional Administration and has accused the Ministry of breaching previous agreements, a valuation that contrasts with the position of the regional Government, which claims to hold periodic meetings with the union representatives.
The police charges at Complutense mark the day
The first day of the strike has also been marked by the police charges against a group of demonstrators at the Complutense University of Madrid, recorded during the morning of this Wednesday.
The incidents have provoked criticism among the participants in the afternoon demonstration, where slogans such as "Less police and more education" have been heard.
Following what happened, the Government delegate in Madrid has requested an urgent investigation into the police action. For its part, Ayuso's Executive has defended the agents' intervention and has linked the incidents to the development of the protests.