Torrevieja faced a return to school on Monday with record numbers of children, in total, 13,294 students, which represents an increase of 1,009 pupils compared to the previous year.
In Early Childhood the numbers have increased from 2,026 children and 90 classrooms to 2,400 with ten more units, while in Primary the growth has been from 4,816 and 193 classes to 5,165 and 209. Meanwhile in Secondary schools there remain 124 classrooms, the same as last year, although the student numbers increase from 3,710 to 3,858. In Baccalaureate the numbers have increased from 1,733 to 1,871, with 36 classrooms.
“In the last three years we have grown at a rate of 2,000 students per course,” said the Councilor for Education, Ricardo Recuero, on Friday, who added that last year alone, from October to May, 1,382 applications were received in Early Childhood. and Primary, which “would fill three new schools,” he noted. He said that School Number 14, which will begin classes on the 25th, is already full.
This data puts Torrevieja in “a difficult situation”, he continued, which is why we need to create new infrastructures to be able to absorb these students. He said that it is one of the cities in the Community with the highest school pressure and ratio of students per classroom. In fact, some centres have had to give up teachers’ rooms and other spaces to use them as classrooms.
Among the new centres, he highlighted that on the 13th September the occupation certificate for the Amanecer School will be signed, which will then open for classes on the 18th, although the area housing the 2-year-old classrooms, will not be finished until November.
