More than 10,000 children and adolescents will return to Benidorm's schools and colleges next Monday

More than 10,000 children and adolescents from Benidorm will return to the classrooms of public, state-subsidised, and private schools in the city next Monday for the start of the 2025-2026 academic year, which will run from September 8 to June 19, 2026. Of these, 1,599 will be enrolled in the second cycle of Early Childhood Education; 3,785 in Primary Education; and around 4,600 in Compulsory Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, and Vocational Training courses taught in the fourteen schools and five publicly funded secondary schools, according to the Councilor for Education, Maite Moreno, who publicly wished students, teachers, and families a happy start to the school year.

Of all these children, just over 520 3-year-old students are entering the education system in the second cycle of Preschool, in addition to another 90 2-year-old children who will do so in one of the P2 classrooms located in five local schools: CEIP Serra d'Aitana, Mestre Gaspar López, Vasco Núñez de Balboa, Puig Campana, and La Cala.

Following the trend of previous years, Benidorm City Council has already launched various grants to collaborate with families and reduce the expenses that the return to school entails for many households. These grants will "represent a total investment of close to €500,000 in direct aid to those registered in Benidorm," explained Maite Moreno. One of these is related to the purchase of school supplies for the second cycle of Preschool, for which the City Council is allocating a total of €72,000. The councillor recalled that last year, more than 1,100 children between the ages of 3 and 5 received these grants, amounting to 63 euros per student, and that, to date, the Department of Education has approved 887 individual grants, although "the application period remains open until September 30, so there are still families eligible."

Likewise, the Local Government Board has also approved a 159,000-euro allocation to subsidise school transportation for preschool, primary, and secondary school students at the Salt de l'Aigua complex, which houses the Mestre Gaspar López and Gabriel Miró public schools and the Pere Maria Orts i Bosch, Bernat de Sarrià, L'Almadrava, and Beatriu Fajardo secondary schools, as well as for students at the IES Mediterrània. The City Council also extends this aid to students in post-compulsory education, complementing the aid granted by the Generalitat Valenciana (Generalitat Valenciana). The councilor explained that with this municipal aid, which reached more than 750 students last year, "100% of the cost of the service is covered for students in the second cycle of Early Childhood and Primary Education, who travel free of charge, and part of the price is covered for students in Secondary, Baccalaureate, and Vocational Training, who must apply at City Hall."

In addition to this aid, there is also funding intended to cover part of the psychopedagogical treatment for students with special needs or behavioural or learning problems or disorders. This aid can reach €2,000 per child and benefited 160 children last year, with a municipal investment of €195,860. Additionally, it covered educational support for primary and secondary school students with poor academic results, which last year totalled 230 children, with a total amount of € 69,000.

Maite Moreno stated that "we are aware of the financial strain that the 'return to school' represents for many families, which is why the City Council reserves almost half a million euros to support households each year, both at the beginning of the school year and throughout the rest of the year." The councilor also reiterated her "firm commitment to continue working to ensure that education is an accessible and equal opportunity for all children and adolescents in our city."

Improvements in centres and progress in integration

Ahead of the start of the 2025-2026 school year, the Benidorm City Council has carried out renovation and improvement works at various schools in the city. Classrooms have been painted; fences, pillars, and playgrounds have been repaired; a gymnasium roof has been replaced; and flooring has been refurbished, with an investment of €168,856. In addition, nearly 80 classrooms have been adapted for the installation of the 115 interactive panels that the Ministry of Education has added this year to ten preschool and primary schools to advance the Interactive Digital Classroom project.

Likewise, ten schools and secondary schools in Benidorm will participate in two programs promoted by the Ministry to strengthen their students' reading comprehension and math skills.

Finally, Maite Moreno noted that in addition to all these improvements, a new UECO (Specific Unit in a Regular School) classroom will be added to promote the inclusion of students with special needs. This classroom will be located at the Gabriel Miró school and joins the existing ones at the Mestre Gaspar López, El Murtal, and Ausiàs March primary schools, and at the Mediterrània and Beatriu Fajardo secondary schools in Mendoza.