The Secretary of State for Education, Abelardo de la Rosa, has presided over the opening ceremony of the Classroom of the Future, an innovative educational space promoted by the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports (MEFPyD), through the National Institute of Educational Technologies and Teacher Training (INTEF).
The ministerial director, accompanied by the Provincial Director of Education, Elena Fernández Treviño; the General Director of Management and Educational Planning of the Ministry of Education, Susana Tejadillos, and the Director of INTEF, Julio Albalad, has stressed that Melilla “could not be alien to technological development, methodological innovation and didactic renewal that involves incorporating technology in education” that is transforming the educational system throughout Spain.
In this sense, he has defended that the Classroom of the Future represents a key tool to “anticipate, prepare and offer the future to our students”. “We are in a privileged environment, significant for the methodological and technological renewal of education,” he said and made it clear that “the future is not expected, it is prepared, and that is exactly what we are doing today in Melilla with this space.”
The Aula del Futuro is one of the dozen spaces in Spain. “It is a very significant reality, for what Melilla represents and for the special attention that the Ministry pays to this city. This initiative symbolizes an educational and politically close and committed look,” he said.
The aim of the classroom, he explained, is to offer teachers practical and innovative training in new technologies applied to teaching, allowing students to access digital tools in a guided and pedagogically adapted environment.
De la Rosa has highlighted the important investment of the Government in the field of educational digitization in Melilla, which in the last five years has exceeded 7 million euros, which includes the 325,000 euros destined to the provision of portable equipment for students, the 72,000 euros in digital tablets or the approximately 3 million euros in digital classrooms, in addition to the complementary investments in software and technological tools for educational management.
The day was also attended by teachers and management teams from the city, to whom De la Rosa reminded that the use of technology in classrooms “must always be critical, guided and accompanied by teachers”, to ensure an inclusive and quality education.
With the opening of the Aula del Futuro, Melilla consolidates itself as a benchmark in educational modernization, reinforcing the Ministry’s commitment to digital, inclusive and equitable education.
“Bridge of opportunities”
The Provincial Director of Education, Elena Fernández Treviño, for her part, after visiting the different spaces of the Aula del Futuro, which she has defined as “a wonderful ecosystem of digitalization”, has pointed out that it is a bet of the Ministry of Education “to open a classroom in Melilla that means a bridge of opportunities”.
“Today we inaugurate a space that represents a modern, flexible and connected educational ecosystem. This classroom symbolizes the Ministry’s firm commitment to digitisation and methodological innovation in the centres of Melilla,” he said.
During her speech she highlighted the pedagogical approach of the project, which combines digital technologies with active and participatory methodologies, and which allows students to become protagonists of their own learning process.
“This classroom represents not only technology, but also new ways of teaching, flexible spaces, creativity and critical thinking. It is a bet that opens doors to the world, to employment and to the future for our young people,” he said.
Fernández Treviño also highlighted the role played by the training of teachers in the development of the project and the joint work of the technical team of the Provincial Directorate, whom he thanked for his involvement, especially the head of mechanization, Pepe Cerdán.
“We take an immense leap into the future. Those of us who come from an education based on the book and the page see here a universe of possibilities that complements and expands that humanist base. It makes you want to go back to school,” he added.
The Provincial Director also expressed her gratitude to the technological companies involved, making a special mention to Samsung, and stressed the trust and proximity of the Ministry of Education with the city of Melilla.
“Having the Secretary of State with us for two days, knowing full well what we are doing here, is a gesture of institutional commitment and a real commitment to Melilla education. There is a blind confidence of the Ministry in the work we do in this city, and that is to be thanked,” he said.
With this new classroom, Melilla joins the national network of the Aula del Futuro project, which promotes the pedagogical use of technologies and promotes an integral transformation of the educational model.