25 Jan A school that breaks barriers in Palma-Palmilla
- On 12 January, Ayuda en Acción signed an agreement with lyntia, the benchmark neutral service provider in Spain’s wholesale telecom market.
- The partnership agreement aims to work with three public primary schools (CEIP Cerro Coronado, CEIP Doctor Gálvez Moll and CEIP Manuel Altolaguirre) in Malaga’s Palma-Palmilla district, taking into account the components of Ayuda en Acción’s school model.
- The agreement also aims to narrow the digital gap and promote equal opportunities and learning in the Palma-Palmilla district through the economic collaboration of lyntia. The intervention is slated to last 12 months.
Malaga, 25 January 2022. The purpose of the agreement is to establish collaboration between the telecommunications provider, lyntia, and the foundation, Ayuda en Acción, to promote an inclusive education system in the Palma-Palmilla (Malaga) district, with an initial duration of 12 months.
With the goal of promoting an inclusive education system in the Palma-Palmilla district that reinforces the drive of students in vulnerable situations to continue their studies, Ayuda en Acción has launched the “A school that breaks barriers in Palma-Palmilla” project at three local primary schools.
Ayuda en Acción’s intervention model considers it instrumental to work comprehensively to create an inclusive school model that takes into account the needs and abilities of the student body and eliminates all forms of discrimination, as well as barriers to participation. One increasingly pertinent obstacle resulting from the pandemic is the digital gap.
In the Palma-Palmilla district, high unemployment rates and a severe lack of professional training often causes social exclusion and intergenerational poverty. Moreover, the three public schools selected (CEIP Cerro Coronado, CEIP Doctor Gálvez Moll and CEIP Manuel Altolaguirre) face additional problems, such as absenteeism and segregation, substandard academic performance, digital gap, minimal presence and activity of the local PTA, and a socially disadvantaged student body. Taken together, these factors contribute to a serious lack of motivation among students to continue their education.
In an effort to quickly diagnose the status of education and schools in the district, the Ayuda en Acción team began working with two public primary schools to pinpoint the problems that exist and identify viable intervention alternatives.
After conducting a diagnosis, further infrastructure issues appeared affecting both education and motivation, in addition to a lack of human resources (teaching staff).
Given the social gap is wider than the digital gap, the latter also exists and is reflected in the difficulty of communicating with the families. In addition, many homes have no internet connection.
Although there are basic devices for students and teachers in schools, the technology is insufficient and outdated. Students in years five and six, for example, do not have sufficient equipment for individualised learning.
Through the partnership agreement with lyntia, the benchmark neutral service provider in Spain’s wholesale telecom market, which offers fibre optic connectivity services with extensive network coverage and excellent capillarity, Ayuda en Acción will implement a model prototype designed to promote inclusion, advance the digital transformation, and guarantee the efficiency, relevance, and sustainability of the actions carried out at the three public primary schools selected in Palma-Palmilla. lyntia will participate as an institute and volunteer in educational workshops with the schools, contributing to an awareness of networks and connectivity options for schools and households.
Ayuda en Acción in Andalusia
Ayuda en Acción joins the challenge of breaking down barriers that prevent inclusive education. For the 2021-2022 school year, it will work with 13 schools in 5 Autonomous Communities, including Andalusia, to promote an inclusive education system that takes into account the needs and abilities of the student body and eliminates all forms of discrimination, as well as obstacles to participation.
In Andalusia, it is considered a priority to take action in Malaga’s Palma-Palmilla district, which has a remarkably diverse population of roughly 30,000-40,000 people mainly of Romani and Muslim descent. Palma-Palmilla has three public primary and nursery schools, one subsidised private school, and one secondary school.
The organisation’s media spokesperson
Laura López Machín, Head of Communications and Positioning, Ayuda en Acción
646 242 957
[email protected]
Since 1981, Ayuda en Acción has worked to eradicate poverty and inequality, and improve nutrition, protection, and education for more than 850,000 children and their families. The organisation currently operates in more than 20 countries across Latin America, Africa, Asia, and since 2013, in Spain and Portugal through its social action programme.
QMS Comunicación
913431286/87
Diana Pérez
690 65 05 98
[email protected]
Marta Pérez
689 67 71 40
[email protected]
lyntia is one of the companies in the portfolio of Antin Infrastructure Partners, a leading infrastructure fund based in Paris, London, and New York. Antin focuses on the acquisition of majority interests in infrastructure businesses in the telecom, energy, environmental, transport, and social infrastructure sectors.