The school and the biblical curse

2022-09-22T10:40:02.604Z

The school does not have exactly the same functions that it had originally. Increasingly, education is an element of segregation and not of equalization

The general secretary of the Socialist Party in the Community of Madrid, Juan Lobato, has proposed extending the opening hours of schools so that children can spend more hours there outside of school hours.

As is often the case, the debate is approached less from the technical point of view than from the moral point of view (or, as Sergio del Molino has written, from the point of view of moralism).

The most exalted voices said that they would never leave their child, let's say, 12 hours, in a center: as happened with divorce or abortion, there is always someone who believes that what is allowed is obligatory.

They pointed out that the problem is working hours.

It is not incompatible: we can defend more rational schedules and that schools are open longer.

In a country with many self-employed and small businesses - and family models - measures circumscribed to labor legislation have a limited effect.

More information

Conciliation: someone to take care of the children or allow the parents to do it?;

by Sergio del Molino

Others in the educational community have objected, saying that the center should be the child and not the parents.

A recent report by EsadeEcPol pointed out that the continuous day has been extended in many public schools, especially in infant and primary education.

There is no clear data on the benefits for students, but we know that it benefits teachers: putting children at the center usually means that.

And we also know that it hurts families.

According to the Living Conditions Survey, the loss of income as a result of the morning school day is around 8,000 million euros.

Almost 70% of the impact is concentrated in the wages of mothers.

Some rightly point out that it is neither the primary function of the school nor a complete solution.

But the school does not have exactly the same functions that it had originally.

Students with more resources can have more hours of extra training: more and more, education is an element of segregation and not of equalization.

People often talk about the advantages of childhood in the villages: basically more hours to be in a safe place with your peers.

Extending the schedule can have something of both.

Work is a curse, as the Bible said.

And the specialization is another: we already know that it would be better to be able to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, take care of the cattle at twilight and dedicate the night to criticism.

While that is fixed, it will be necessary to solve the problems little by little and in several directions.

@gascondaniel