Okay, this just doesn’t make sense to me but what do I know, right? The kids schoolbooks this year are to be subsidised by the government by way of a charged card which parents can then use to go to the nearest bookshop and purchase said books.
So does the teacher, who presumably has paid enough attention to the kids in her charge for the last two years to be able to identify the parents or guardians of the children in her class, maybe usher in one parent per family and have them sign for the card?
Uhm, no.
Does the parent or guardian receive the card in the mail? After all, the ed. board knows very well which children at each school are in which year and will require which books.
Aaah. Too simple.
Can the parent go with ID and completed form counter-signed by the kid’s teacher to the school secretary and pick up the card from there.
Now you are just being silly!
Does the school require an unseemly mob to gather en masse in front of the secretary’s office and demonstrate their skills at queue-jumping, elbow thrusting and scowling all to be given a number whereupon they must move venue to stand in front of the admin office and wait for the number to be called?
You got it!
Extra points are given to those parents who diligently take their kids to school every day, attend the parent-teacher meetings and follow the kids sheepishly round town on the school parade days but who are inexplicably not included on the register of parents. Instead of the afore-mentioned skills, a nifty turn in foot-stamping can be practised at the point when they are told that the flipping charged tarjeta must be picked up instead by the father who is always at work and never has the time to attend the school for anything.
Here’s a crazy thought. Seeing as how the books are to be paid for anyway, would it not benefit everybody (except perhaps the local bookshops) if the government subsidised the full value of the books and paid the amount directly to the schools which could then deal directly with the suppliers thus scoring a significant discount for buying bulk. The money saved can be added to the schools’ funds and used in whichever way it is needed.
Nah. That’s too logical. It would never work.
It would seem you are just a bit annoyed at the education authority. I did get a good giggle at the picture you painted. Hope the kids eventually got their books.
HI Julie, love reading your tales. They make me smile. You ought to write a book! Jan.
A book, you say? By the time I’m finished running about after the dogs, the kids and waiting about at the school for this flipping card I’m lucky to have enough time for a postcard.
[...] with the state school system in Tenerif e you can get an idea of what to expect by reading The Tenerife TexBook Fiasco and Tenerife Textbooks – the Saga [...]