More than 13,500 students return to the classrooms of schools and institutes in Benidorm next Monday

More than 13,500 children and adolescents from Benidorm will return to the classrooms of Early Childhood Education, Primary, Secondary, Baccalaureate and Vocational Training in the city next Monday after the summer holiday period. Mayor Toni Pérez and the Councilor for Education, Maite Moreno, have visited some schools together with other councillors of the Corporation to check the state of the facilities days before resuming one hundred per cent of academic activity and where Street Cleaning or Technical Services workers are busy carrying out the last preparatory tasks for the start of the 2024-2025 school year.

Maite Moreno has explained that of the total number of minors who will take part in this day "more than 1,400 will do so in the second cycle of Early Childhood Education; 7,532 in Primary Education; and 4,644 in Secondary and post-compulsory education in Baccalaureate and FP” in one of the thirteen public schools, five institutes and a concerted centre in Benidorm, to which are also added the students enrolled in the private education offer of the city, given that this year “the 9th of September has been set as the date for the start of the course in all these stages”, the councillor recalled.

Among all these minors, 525 3-year-old students join the educational system in the second cycle of Infant, in addition to another 90 boys and girls of 2 years old who do so in one of the P2 classrooms set up in five schools in the town: Serra d’Aitana, Mestre Gaspar López, Vasco Núñez de Balboa, Puig Campana and La Cala.

Following the dynamics 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. One of them is those that have to do with the purchase of school supplies in the second cycle of Early Childhood Education, for which the

The council allocates a total of 71,000 euros. Councillor Maite Moreno has reported that, to date, Education has already approved 888 individual grants worth 63 euros for all registered children aged 3 to 5 enrolled in the public and private schools of the municipality. However, she has recalled that “the application period remains open until 30 September, so there are still families who can apply”. “Almost certainly, we will end up reaching a thousand beneficiaries”, the councillor added.

The Local Government Board has also approved nearly 158,000 euros to subsidise school transport for Infant, Primary and Secondary school students in the Salt de l’Aigua complex, where the Mestre Gaspar López and Gabriel Miró public schools and the Pere Maria Orts i Bosch, Bernat de Sarrià, L’Almadrava and Beatriu Fajardo high schools are located, as well as for students from the IES Mediterrània. The City Council also extends this aid to students in post-compulsory education which complements that granted by the Generalitat Valenciana. The councillor explained that with these municipal grants, which last year reached nearly 700 students, “100% of the cost of the service is covered for students in the 2nd cycle of Early Childhood Education and Primary, who travel for free, and part of the price for Secondary, Baccalaureate and FP students, who have to process the application at the Town Hall”.

Maite Moreno stressed, “the firm commitment of Benidorm Town Hall to Education and the local educational community, promoting grants such as these for school transport or for the purchase of school supplies, as well as those aimed at psycho-pedagogical treatments or school support, which are also underway”.

Works in schools

On the other hand, the Councillor for Education has reported that Benidorm City Council is investing more than 163,000 euros this year in several works to improve, renovate and adapt schools in our city. Moreno has pointed out that throughout the summer, municipal Technical Services workers have carried out various maintenance tasks and small repairs on air conditioners, blinds, doors and other facilities in all schools, in addition to the cleaning work carried out by the concessionaire Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas, which has been intensified in recent days due to the return to the classrooms.

At Miguel Hernández school, the Council has invested 47,167.53 euros in the adaptation and remodelling of the bathrooms in the Early Childhood Education area. In addition, at the Les Caletes Municipal Nursery School, the vinyl flooring in all classrooms has been replaced, with an investment of 17,700 euros; while at EIM Les Fontanelles the plumbing installation has been changed to place water heaters in the bathrooms, with an investment of 2,287 euros.

In addition to these completed works, two others are underway: the complete renovation of the bathrooms and changing rooms at the Vasco Núñez de Balboa public school, with an investment of 47,875.24 euros; and the restoration of sports fields, improvements to the accessibility of the centre and the playground at CEIP Serra d’Aitana, whose project amounts to 48,236 euros.