The Government delegate in the Canary Islands, Anselmo Pestana, today presented the Master Plan for the coexistence and improvement of safety in educational centers and their environments that the Government Delegation has developed for the 2024/2025 academic year and that includes measures of awareness, prevention and early detection of risk situations in the educational field of the Archipelago.
In the presence of the Subdelegate of the Government in Las Palmas, Teresa Mayans, the Chief General of the 16th Zone of the Civil Guard of the Canary Islands, Juan Hernández, the Chief Commissioner of Operations of the Superior Police Headquarters of the Canary Islands, Sagrario de León, and by the Delegation of the Government in the Canary Islands the Director of the Functional Area of High Inspection of Education, Pedro Hernández, the Head of the Unit of Coordination against Violence on Women, Alberto García, and the Chief of the Civil Protection Unit, Dominguez.
“Citizen security in the Canary Islands is one of the most important competences that we have in our hands in the Government Delegation as representatives and integrators of the services of the State Administration in the Archipelago. This security includes that of girls and boys, whose well-being is also a priority for our work, and not only in the academic sphere,” says Anselmo Pestana.
“Therein lies the importance of this Master Plan. In the educational centers, the citizens are built and the future of the Canary Islands as a society goes through the schools and institutes. The awareness, therefore, that violence does not lead anywhere, that we have to respect each other, that we do not have to discriminate against anyone because of their race, sex or sexual identity, that we are all equal is built from here. We are very clear that for the success of this Master Plan we need the collaboration of the entire educational community, including families. And this will end up reversing the success of our society,” he adds.
The Master Plan for Coexistence and Improvement of Security in Educational Centers and their Environments is a framework instrument for collaboration between the Ministries of Interior, Education and Professional Training and Equality of an annual nature with which the Government Delegation in the Canary Islands, through its Functional Area of High Inspection of Education, seeks to increase security in the educational field through a series of initiatives.
These include training and information activities, visits and other activities in educational centres aimed at children and adolescents and given by members of the State Security Forces and, where appropriate, by Civil Protection professionals.
Among the subjects that are addressed in such activities are bullying and cyberbullying in schools, violent youth groups and their cruel and vandal behavior, drug and alcohol consumption, violence against women and equality, hate speeches, as well as emergencies such as floods, fires and earthquakes.
More than 225 requests for activities in the Canary Islands
So far, the Delegation of the Government in the Canary Islands has received requests for actions within the framework of this Master Plan from 227 centers, associations and Associations of Mothers and Fathers of the Students (AMPA), activities that are not only directed to students, but also to the rest of the educational community, such as management teams, teachers and families.
From the coordination of the Master Plan, particular attention is paid to the information to be transferred to families, students and teachers, prioritizing the actions in the school areas or districts, in order to have a greater effectiveness of the preventive activity of the State Security Forces and Bodies, also taking into account the existence of the Welfare and Coexistence Coordinator in each center, figure of recent creation.
Among the objectives of the Master Plan of the Government Delegation in the Canary Islands is the strengthening of police cooperation with educational authorities to improve coexistence and safety in the school environment, as well as to improve the knowledge of minors about police resources that guarantee their safety in any environment.
It also seeks to increase the knowledge that children and adolescents have about the different forms of violence and risk factors to which they may be exposed and to warn about its possible consequences, as well as to train students in respect for fundamental rights and freedoms, in the values of dignity and equality between men and women, and in the need to eradicate violence.