It has taken the Balearic Ministry of Education two years to give Pablo Valenzuela, a young man of 18 years with functional diversity, the opportunity to fulfill his dream of studying gardening. After denying it for two years, yesterday the Conselleria rectified the position it has maintained during all this time, and which was reaffirmed in the last meeting with the boy’s family, and offered support that will allow him to enroll in the Basic Vocational Training for Agrogardening and Floral Compositions in the Algarb institute in Sant Jordi.
On September 23rd, Pablo will start classes. This was communicated yesterday morning by the territorial delegate of the Ministry of Education, Margalida Ferrer, to the president of the Pitiusa Association for Educational and Social Inclusion (Apies), Lola PenÃn, who attended the meeting accompanied by José Agulla, head of the Social and Health Platform. Pablo’s mother, Carmen Ortuzar, chose to stay at home, waiting for PenÃn’s call, as she felt emotionally unable to endure another meeting at the delegation, as she herself confessed.
“We have found a way”, said the delegate as soon as PenÃn and Agulla entered her office at the delegation. “We have good news,” she insisted. Words that sought to reassure the representatives of Pablo’s family before starting the meeting. Half an hour later, PenÃn was walking out the door, with her arms raised, waving the Ministry of Education’s resolution and shouting “We did it!”. She then burst into tears with emotion, the news that Pablo’s mother received over the phone. From her home, she could hardly believe that on the 22nd she would be able to enroll her son in his longed-for gardening studies. In fact, she confessed that chose not to go to the appointment because she did not feel able to endure more bad news.
Finally, he will not be assigned a technical educational assistant, as requested by the family, but a specialist in therapeutic pedagogy who will be responsible for the necessary adaptations, explained Ferrer. “The auxiliary is for students with mobility, feeding or sphincter control difficulties. This is not the case with Pablo, who knows how to do all this on his own, but needs constant help. That is why he gets a PT,” explained the head of the ministry in the Pitiusas.
Ministry of Education has opened the door for other students
The delegate justified the Ministry of Education’s change of stance that applies a measure provided for in the new law of FP, “exceptionally” because so far the regulations have not been developed. “Article 4b of Article 44 contemplates the possibility of exceptional schooling for students with special educational needs up to 21 years,” detailed the delegate: “The new curricula are entering now and the law has been approved since 2020 because the development of a law is done little by little.” In addition, the delegate acknowledged “the insistence and strength” that the family of Pablo has shown in this time.
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