Friday, March 02, 2012

Blog 7: Students Reach Boiling Point

The students of Valencia high schools in Spain are protesting.  These students are protesting because of the budget cuts placed in local high schools.  Valencia is in debt because they owe the regional government thousands of dollars.  The students go to school by day and protest by night.  The students of high schools such as Lluis Vives are being put in classroom filled with at least 50 students.  Some schools are cutting different departments in the school and utility bills are not getting paid.  Some students have stated that they carry blankets to school because of the lack of a heating system in the school.  Conditions in Valencia for student are bad and the students are fighting for some change.
The students of Valencia have to suffer because of this debt.  Out of all the school systems in Spain Valencia seems to be one of the worse off educational systems.  This situation displays the inequality in education.  These students are getting basic resources taken away from them which are needed.  Many studies show that classroom climate and environment has an effect on academic achievement.  If students are in overcrowded, non-heated classrooms then they will more likely not perform as well.  The educational system is setting the student of Valencia up for failure.  Richer parts of Spain such as San Sebastian do not have to worry about budget cuts and lack of resources.  When it comes to funding the lower-economic schools tend to get less funding and is more susceptible to budget cuts.  This inequality needs to be fixed because it is hurting student’s educational development.  This not only happens in Valencia, but the US, Asia, Europe, etc.  The quality of education needs to be improved and equal for all schools.  Funds need to be distributed equally among all schools so no school’s debt will be greater than other, like in Valencia.

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