The Ombudsman of the Valencian Community, Ángel Luna, has decided to file an ex officio complaint with the Ministry of Education, Universities and Employment in order to "investigate and supervise" incidents in the awarding of teaching positions in the centers public teachers at the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year.
The actions of the Ombudsman, who also has the status of Defender of the Rights of Children and Adolescents, seek to "find out whether the constitutional and statutory rights of minors to quality and equal education have been violated."
Consequently, this institution has requested information from the Department of Education on the following issues: whether the teaching staff for the 2023-2024 academic year of public centers at the current date are covered and, if not, the temporary forecast to correct this deficiency .
It is also interested in the list of currently existing unfilled vacancies, determined by public educational center; the list of positions currently unfilled due to resignations or absences of the staff responsible for them and the causes of delays in the processes of awarding teaching positions - both for interim staff, assignments for career civil servants and trainee or trainee staff. stabilization processes.
The Valencian ombudsman also requests data on the measures adopted to resolve the obstacles that have prevented the positions from being filled, a "specific temporary forecast" where appropriate, to cover the vacant teaching positions and whether the specialist Vocational Training teachers have been incorporated into the centers. If not, a temporary forecast is also requested.
The Ombudsman's list of questions also includes "whether the incorporation of teaching staff in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd years of Compulsory Secondary Education is planned to cover the extension of the teaching schedule by two hours." If not, ask about the measures adopted or planned to guarantee training for students during these hours.
Finally, ask for information about the actions adopted and planned for students to recover the classes that have been stopped since the beginning of the course due to lack of teachers.
From now on, the institution points out, the educational administration must respond to the Ombudsman with the requested information within a period of one month, which may be extended to another month if requested in a justified manner.
