Orihuela and the Generalitat address the needs of students with special needs

The Mayor of Orihuela, Pepe Vegara, and the councillor for Education, Vicente Pina, met with the director general of Innovation and Educational Inclusion of the Generalitat Valenciana, Xaro Escrig, to discuss the municipality’s current Special Education classroom situation.

The discussion addressed the primary concerns of Orihuela schools regarding children with special educational needs. According to Councillor for Education Vicente Pina, “It’s one of the issues we have on the table and one that concerns us, because we’re talking about children who need specific resources appropriate to their situation.”

The municipality of Orihuela currently has UECO classrooms (Specific Units in Ordinary Centres) spread throughout the Josefina Manresa, Fernando de Loazes, Miguel Hernández, Los Dolses (Orihuela Costa), and Playas de Orihuela (Dehesa de Campoamor) elementary schools. In addition, the Oratorio Festivo de San Miguel Diocesan School provides four special education classes and two integrated support classrooms for pupils with various requirements, including mental and motor disabilities and developmental problems.

The future Integrated Vocational Training Centre should incorporate a classroom specifically for post-compulsory education, as suggested. The work of the Antonio Sequeros Special Education Centre, which provides specialised care to students with more severe educational requirements, was also recognised.

According to Pina, “We have also expressed the need to incorporate new units or adapt existing ones to better meet the municipality’s real demand, in addition to anticipating the resources that will be needed for the new educational facilities,” as the councillor clarified.

In addition to the institutional meeting, the director general spent the day visiting the Josefina Manresa and Fernando de Loazes primary schools, where she was able to see the schools’ daily operations firsthand and speak with management teams and diversity professionals.

Both the mayor and the Councillor for Education wanted to emphasise and express their appreciation for “Charo Escrig’s willingness and sensitivity, who has demonstrated great interest and commitment to improving resources for students with special needs.” Her visit gives us hope that progress will be made towards actual solutions for our schools,” Vegara explained.

The Mayor complimented the director general’s visit to Orihuela “very positively” and maintained that “in education, there can’t be first-class and second-class students.” Vicente Pina, for his part, stated, “It was a very intriguing meeting, a necessary opportunity to continue advancing towards a more inclusive education model, with the resources our schools need and deserve.”