Students, parents and teachers are very concerned about the situation of schools on the islands, after the completion of the third phase of the placement of substitutes. Despite recent recruitments, the gaps remain serious and widespread, two months after the start of the school year... Despite recent recruitments, substitutions remain minimal in relation to actual needs, resulting in large and critical educational gaps remaining open two months after the start of the school year.
The staffing problems that occur throughout the country are multiplied on the islands due to the special conditions. The high cost of living, as a result of the high cost of living, which disproportionately affects island regions, combined with the difficulties of finding accommodation even for nine months, and low salaries, make it difficult to attract teachers.
Despite the knowledge of the problems, the government and the Ministry of Education are not taking effective action. Insularity, which should be a central pillar of policy, remains absent from the planning. The result is schools understaffed, classes without basic specialisations and pupils still waiting for teachers.
The consequences of this inaction are serious:
- unequal access to education for students,
- fragmented school year,
- loss of teaching hours that are not made up,
- burnout of the few teachers in service,
- families forced to seek solutions far from home.
It is unthinkable in 2025 to have island schools operating on the edge, without teachers and teachers in basic subjects. This situation undermines the fundamental right to equal access to public education for children.
The Democracy Movement urgently calls for immediate and comprehensive planning, adapted to the real conditions of the islands:
1 Immediate coverage of all teacher vacancies, with special attention to small and inaccessible island communities.
2 Establishing incentives to attract and retain. Financial, housing, transport and career development incentives so that teachers can live in dignity.
3 A permanent, real-time monitoring mechanism, with a rapid process for the placement of substitutes.
4 Integrating insularity into education policy, not as a formal reference, but as an essential planning criterion.The «Equivalent» in education: A Necessary Condition for Islands
Insularity requires the implementation of an educational «Balance». A teacher serving on an island must have equivalent economic and functional living conditions to any other region of the country.
Necessary measures in this context:
1 Expansion of the institution of inaccessible schools to all islands, especially tourist islands.
2 Special financial and salary incentives for appointment and retention.
3 Increased locality points to attract local teachers.
4 Tax exemptions for islands with up to 3,000 inhabitants.
5 Application of the Transport Equality to teachers.
6 Housing policy, through rent subsidies or the provision of free or subsidised housing.
A Debt to the island family
On the occasion of the 52nd anniversary of the Polytechnic uprising, the struggle for education remains relevant. We owe the children of the islands the obvious: to have their teachers from the first day of the school year.
Democracy Movement
Island Policy Sector
