We have known from our colleagues in Daily Savings that in Galicia one in four children will pay in full the cost of school canteen, and - in addition - the price of this service will increase. This is already happening in other communities, that is, there is a scale based on family income, which determines whether families receive the service for free, or pay a share.
The goal is for families with 'high incomes' to collaborate in the sustainability of the education system. Like the parents associations of Galicia, I can't help but wonder 'What exactly are high incomes for the Government?'. And I wonder because many times one feels that the economically disadvantaged are those who have a normal income (ie fair) and 'visible'. Moreover, the school canteen I should never have entered the category of free service for everyone, because until now with the policies of books and complementary services free for all, many fathers and mothers who could have allowed it by far have benefited from transportation or dining at no cost.
You might think (and not without reason), that instead of paying between one and 4.5 euros a day (according to income) for eating at school, it would be better for children to eat at home, it sure comes out cheaper. But it turns out that in Galicia There are many poorly populated rural areas, and because of that many children must travel daily by bus to get to school (sometimes they make trips of up to an hour), under these conditions it is not feasible for students to return to their homes to eat.
But the Ministry of Education wants (apparently) to ensure the sustainability of the system and enable a more equitable mechanism, so that students belonging to families with low incomes can continue to enjoy a free service.
They have assured that mileurist parents (1000 or less euros per month) will not pay anything for school canteens. The planned reform will allow 57.7% of the total number of students to continue going to the siter, without their families paying anything.
On the issue of children being able to take the lunch box prepared at home, the government has not planned it, that is, for the moment, spaces and services will not be enabled so that students can leave and heat the food they provide.
The reactions have not been expected: the Xunta ensures that when a family can afford it, it is not fair that the cost of the dining room falls on public money, parents who enter just over 1000 euros a month, will have difficulties to defray the service, and many think that the fact that the dining room has remained free for a long time, that is also unfair, because the really high incomes have benefited for quite some time.
Finally, it should also be noted that the dining places under the Galician Government will be increased, and a total of 9000 dining room managed users will be managed directly by the Xunta, whose claim is also to assume those services dependent on AMPAs, suddenly removing the prominence of the organized movement of parents. The latter has also surprised me quite a bit 'why deny it!', I don't really think there are objective reasons for these associations to be deprived of intervening directly.
