The housing problem causes the educational system to fall

The housing problem affects one of the fundamental pillars of the welfare state: public education. For years we have been seeing how access to housing is limited by rising prices and negatively affects our educational system.

On one hand, in the Pityusic Islands there have been problems for years in filling teaching positions because the high price of accommodation and the uncertainty of knowing whether one will have to leave the room when the heat arrives, causes many teachers to refuse to go there to work. This fact, which began in Ibiza and Formentera, has spread to Mallorca and Menorca and, increasingly, students in the Balearic Islands are being harmed by the lack of teachers that the public education system suffers from.

It should be noted that the Ministry of Education and Universities has implemented some salary supplements to mitigate this problem. However, the response of the free real estate market has been a proportional increase in housing prices to match these supplements, a fact that forces the affected teachers to live in the same conditions. It has been proven that ending the housing problem requires something more than patches and circumstantial measures.

On the other hand, society and politicians throw up their hands when the negative results of the PISA tests come out. The blame lies with teachers, immigration, Catalan, education laws... And what about housing? Does it have nothing to do with it? Does someone who has to share space or does not have a suitable place to open a book have the same academic performance? We must think that the housing epidemic is increasingly affecting more people and that in the end, it will be reflected in the classrooms.

The Balearic Islands cannot afford an educational system with a shortage of teachers and with students suffering from situations of vulnerability that do not allow them to enjoy decent conditions to be able to dedicate themselves to study. For this reason, on November 11th, it is necessary to take to the streets to defend the educational system and demand bold policies to guarantee the right to housing.