The union CCOO has denounced that the Madrid region will close 88 infant and primary education classrooms next school year, with most cuts concentrated in working-class municipalities in the south.
According to CCOO, 52.5 of these classrooms will close in southern municipalities such as Parla and Valdemoro, which each lose ten, along with Alcorcón with six and Getafe with five. The union states that these closures will mean the loss of 89.5 teachers and that more than 400 teaching posts have been eliminated in the region over three years.
Aída San Millán, general secretary of the union’s Education Federation, noted that the regional government claims an overall positive balance due to lower ratios in secondary education, but she considers this calculation fictitious and temporary. She described the strategy as “deferred and meticulously planned privatization” that forces families toward private centers.
Closures are also concentrated in left-governed municipalities such as Rivas Vaciamadrid, which loses three classrooms, and in northern districts of the capital like Fuencarral, which loses eight. CCOO warns that this creates “public deserts” and hinders access to public education.