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ARCHIVED - Hundreds of English teaching assistants in Alicante plan protest over lack of pay
500 British university students who signed up to a state education programme have not been paid a cent since October
Hundreds of English university students contracted to assist Spanish language pupils in primary schools across Alicante province have not been paid a cent since they were taken on in October. And teaching union UGT is now planning a joint protest to put pressure on the authorities to pay up.
The assistants signed up for a state programme that provides a grant of 1,000 euros per month for helping young students with conversational English, but according to UGT, "native speakers contracted in schools have not been paid for two-and-a-half months and, for the same reason, have not been able to regularise their situation in Spain".
"They move from their countries of origin and, pending their regularisation, find themselves in an unacceptable situation of precariousness in a democratic society", said union delegate Javier González Zurita.
Each assistant is contracted for 16 hours a week, but is not eligible for any financial aid.
"This is why the direct aid they should receive in compensation for their services, which began on October 1 and ends on May 31, is far more urgent and necessary", added González Zurita.
One of those directly affected is a student from Liverpool, who assured: "We still haven't been paid, neither me nor my colleagues. I am lucky. I have borrowed money from my relatives in England," he explained, accepting that others are not so fortunate.
At 25, he decided to sign up for the programme to get practical teaching experience in a classroom.
"Most of us want to be Spanish teachers in our home countries and the programme is a good opportunity to bring our native language to the students here. Experiencing life in the country of origin of the language we want to teach is a great learning curve", he explained.
According to the Ministry of Education, the delay is due to an "error" in data processed by the Treasury.
The department assures that both the Directorate General for Innovation in Education and the Valencia Government "are working together to solve the errors detected as soon as possible, so that the subsidies for October and November can be paid in December".
Meanwhile, the UGT remains steadfast and has offered to help the hundreds of affected teaching assistants "organise appropriate protests or demonstrations, if necessary".
Image: Wikimedia
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