More than 13,500 students begin the school year in Benidorm on a day marked by normality

More than 13,500 children and teenagers have returned this Monday to the classrooms of Early Childhood Education, Primary, Secondary, Baccalaureate and Vocational Training in Benidorm after the summer holidays, in a day that has developed with normality in the 19 centres of the city supported with public funds and that has been marked by the emotion and nerves of many families. Above all, those of the youngest. The mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez, has welcomed this academic year 2024-2025 together with the Councilor for Education, Maite Moreno, at the CEIP Ausiàs March, one of the two centres in the city that this year opens the so-called UECO classrooms, specific units in ordinary centres for students with special needs.

At this school, Toni Pérez greeted schoolchildren, teaching staff and families and visited the facilities of this new specific UECO unit, where he was able to learn about all the particularities of the school from the director of the centre, Rosa Ana González. The mayor stressed that, with this classroom and the one that the Ministry of Education has also set up for secondary school students at the IES Mediterrània, “we are taking another step towards inclusion, in this case by expanding the attention of students with special needs in ordinary centres and guaranteeing the principles of quality, equal opportunities, equity and universal accessibility to education”.

He also announced that this simultaneous return to the classrooms in Infant, Primary, Secondary, Baccalaureate and Vocational Training has taken place “with complete normality and with the centres prepared to receive the students”, after which he wished the entire educational community of the city “a happy 2024-2025 school year”.

Of the total number of children who have participated in this day of return to the classrooms, “more than 1,400 are in the second cycle of Early Childhood Education; 7,532 in Primary Education; and 4,644 in Secondary and post-compulsory Baccalaureate and FP education” in one of the thirteen public schools, five institutes and a catholic centre in Benidorm, to which are also added the students enrolled in the private education offer of the city, Toni Pérez recalled.

Among all these children, 525 3-year-old students are joining the educational system this 2024/25 academic year in the second cycle of Early Childhood Education, in addition to another 90 2-year-old boys and girls who do so in one of the P2 classrooms set up in five schools: Serra d’Aitana, Mestre Gaspar López, Vasco Núñez de Balboa, Puig Campana and La Cala. “A figure – the mayor has gone into detail – that we also complete with children from 0 to 2 years old who have obtained a place in municipal nursery schools and for whom education this year will be completely free, thanks to the commitment of the City Council and the Generalitat Valenciana to early schooling.”

Finally, Toni Pérez has recalled that this measure joins others that the Council has already put or is going to put to “reduce as far as possible the expense that the return to school represents for many families.” “From the City Council we maintain our commitment to the families of Benidorm, making available to them measures of help and support, and increasing them according to the needs, especially where no other Administration reaches,” said the first mayor.

On this matter, the Education Councillor has stated that this year there will be nine public schools offering the ‘Escola Matinera’ and ‘Escuela de Tarde’ services, extending the hours beyond school hours “to favour the conciliation of many families who have to leave their children at school before 9 or pick them up a little later than five”. This service, which is developed in collaboration with the FAMPA Marina Baixa, will be carried out in the CEIP El Murtal, La Cala, Ausiàs March, Vasco Núñez de Balboa, Serra d’Aitana, Bautista Lledó, Puig Campana, Els Tolls and Serra Gelada, “some with both services and others with only one, depending on the demand of each of the centres”, she added.

Maite Moreno also recalled that the City Council has already approved 888 individual grants worth 63 euros for all registered children aged 3 to 5 enrolled in the public and private schools in the municipality. These grants are intended to help families with children enrolled in the second cycle of Infant Education in the purchase of school supplies and “the application period remains open until 30 September, so you can still apply”.

Likewise, the City Council is also going to allocate this year nearly 158,000 euros to subsidise school transport for Infant, Primary and Secondary school students in the Salt de l’Aigua complex, where the public schools Mestre Gaspar López and Gabriel Miró and Pere Maria Orts i Bosch, Bernat de Sarrià, L’Almadrava and Beatriu Fajardo institutes are located, as well as for students from IES Mediterrània. The City Council is also extending the aid to students of post-compulsory education, which complements the grants given by the Generalitat Valenciana, and which reached nearly 700 students last year.

To control security at the entrances and exits to the town's educational centres, the Public Service Department with fifty local police officers every day, from Monday to Friday, will be in charge of controlling access and road traffic of 25 public and private centres.

New educational units

On the other hand, the Councillor for Education has reported that in addition to the two UECO classrooms that will be opened this year for students with specific needs – one at the CEIP Ausiàs March and another at the IES Mediterrània – the Ministry of Education has also approved the creation of four new educational units for Early Childhood and Primary Education for this academic year.

Specifically, as Maite Moreno has explained, a new 5-year-old Early Childhood unit, a fourth-year and a fifth-year Primary unit have been created at the Gabriel Miró public school, while the CEIP Serra d’Aitana will have a new 3rd-year Primary unit this year.

Finally, it is worth remembering that Benidorm City Council is investing more than 163,000 euros this year in carrying out various works to improve, renovate and adapt schools in our city, in addition to the maintenance, repair and cleaning work carried out throughout the summer by the municipal Technical Services workers and the concessionaire company FCC.