Benidorm will carry out ‘Activem els col.les’ initiative as a global project of educational support and extracurricular activities

As it was already announced at the end of last August, Benidorm City Council, through the Education, Culture and Sports Councils, has developed a global project -'Activem els col • les'- based on educational support and activities extracurricular activities to develop this school year.

The City Council presented this project to the call for subsidies launched by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports for carrying out activities aimed at the school population between 3 and 18 years of age. By provisional resolution, the project presented by Benidorm City Council has been granted the amount of 104,649.05 euros, an amount that the City Council will supplement with its own resources to cover the entire ‘Activem els col • les’ initiative. This has been reiterated by councilors Maite Moreno, Jaime Jesús Pérez and Mariló Cebreros who at a press conference have pointed out the particularities of the initiative.

'Activem els col • les' is a project that encompasses activities and programs designed by each of the three municipal areas and with which it is intended, explained the councillor Maite Moreno, that "through Sports, Culture and Education minimize as much as possible the negative effects of the health emergency situation caused by Covid-19 and compensate for possible situations of social, personal or economic inequality derived from it ”.

In the educational field, Moreno stressed that two programs will be developed focused on tutoring classes for students in 2nd and 3rd cycle of Primary and Secondary Education (ESO). The first will be developed from January and during the first semester of the course, "with the aim of improving academic performance", and the second, the very effective Summer Educational Support Program (PAEV) will be developed during the months of July and August offering a school reinforcement to Primary students who for various reasons during the course have not obtained good academic results. This program has been developing for several years, always in great demand among the school population.

The Department of Culture and Youth, its holder Jaime Jesús Pérez, has highlighted that three programs are provided, which already have a successful journey and very good acceptance among the child and youth population, and that are in line with the project's objectives' Activem els col • les' under the premise of "spreading culture among all audiences".

Pérez has pointed out the 'Joves Espectadors' theater cycle, which is focused on bringing the performing arts to Kindergarten and Primary school children and which will take place between the months of February and March 2021 "with concerted passes in on-air spaces free, complying with all capacity and health security protocols ”, highlighting that“ the cycle may be moved to the centers, with representations in the courtyards of each school ”. The second program includes the "Music at the School" initiative, with the aim of "promoting music schools and students and bringing the concerts of the three bands and the Conservatory closer to the centers; it is focused on music as an extracurricular activity ”. And as a third program, the cycles of exhibitions and visits to them.

The councilor Jaime Jesus Pérez has highlighted, it also includes both the Summer Program -with educational leisure activities aimed at young people from 10 to 16 years old, which takes place during the months of July and August and operates with fortnightly registrations-, such as the Espai Jove of the Youth Information Center, with its services and free activities.

From the sports field there are also two programs that join the global initiative ‘Activem els col • les’. Councilor Mariló Cebreros highlighted the extracurricular sports activities in schools and the Espai Obert project.

The extracurricular sports activities are already underway, he specified, "in the 13 public Infant and Primary schools of the city" and of them, he explained, "municipal sports technicians are in charge, who schedule physical / sports activities, linked to the Games Sports of the Valencian Community and adapted to the different stages of Primary ”. In most centers, it is held from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., except for CEIP Gabriel Miró and Mestre Gaspar López, which take place from 12:30 to 14:30 and from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. respectively.

As for the EspaiObert project, Cebreros pointed out that as of January 2021 and whenever the epidemiological situation allows it, sports will be taken to all neighborhoods of the city. The initiative consists, she explained, "in opening the sports facilities of the schools in six neighborhoods, thus facilitating children and young people to practice sports safely and close to their homes." EspaiObert will also be supervised by the City Council's sports monitors and it will take place from Monday to Friday from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in Vasco Núnez de Balboa and Aitana schools, in Madrid-Foietes neighborhood; at El Murtal and La Cala schools, in Poniente area; at CEIP Els Tolls-Puig Campana; and at Leonor Canalejas school, which will cover the downtown area. In addition, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at the same time the facilities of CEIP Miguel Hernández and Serra Gelada will also open.

The councilors have highlighted as a culmination that the current resolution is provisional, that the final one is pending, which will be known in the middle of next week; But still, the City Council, reiterated the councillor Maite Moreno, will carry out the global of this initiative of educational support and extracurricular activities to reach absolutely everyone and minimize the social and economic impact of this situation.