22
Año XV - Nº 175 - Abril | April | Avril - 2021
WHO’S WHO IN FUERTEVENTURA
Yamile Hernández Sar-Álvarez – Director of the School Residence of Puerto del Rosario
“The whole team of teachers is fantastic, and they take it very seriously” FMHOY - Fuerteventura We visited the School Residence of Puerto del Rosario together with its director Yamile Hernández. We are first surprised by how magnificent the premises are. Upon entering, we get the impression to be in a pleasant little hotel, everything seems new, clean and welcoming and as we carry on visiting the rooms, bathrooms, gymnasium, kitchen-dining room, entertainment areas and the different classrooms, we get a really nice impression of this school residence. Yamile, can you tell us about your experience as the director of the Residence? Although I arrived in 2005, I was in other schools first until I got here three years ago. We can see that, although the building is old, everything is quite new... Since I arrived, three years ago, we have refurbished the Residence, both the buildings and the furniture in order to bring it up to date and make it more welcoming. I believe it was a good decision. You are not from the Canaries, are you? No, I am Cuban, but I have lived in Spain for 21 years. So, you trained in Cuba? Partly, yes, because I graduated in Education in Cuba, although it was different, as over there it is a diploma in Education with a speciality in English language and
looking for children who lived in villages that didn’t have schools and this Residence was created for that purpose. From Monday to Friday the children could stay
I homologated it here for a Primary Education diploma and later, in Spain, I did a Master in Psychology and various additional advanced classes. Tell us how the project of this Residence came about? From what I understand, this was a school at the time when literacy became compulsory, and they started
over without having to go back home daily. I was told that there was a bus that would go from house to house asking people if they wanted to send their children to school, without having to worry about the transport. At some stage, they had up to one hundred children in this establishment that was called
“Escuela-Hogar” (School-Home) at the time. Is this the only establishment of the kind on the island? Yes, it is, although there are 16 residences in the Canaries, but we all work in slightly different manners. We are not a University Residence, but this is one of our objectives. We have demand for a Nursing School and from people who come to study other subjects because they couldn’t find space on the other islands, but because we cannot stay open at the weekends, we are not considered as a University Residence, and we don’t have as much space as we need either, although it is available, and I aim at getting it back and adapting it. Our main purpose is geographical, mostly for students who come from the south of the island who come for Professional Training of medium and higher levels. It is difficult for them to get access because of the timetables and the costs. We are here as a solution to this geographical inequality. On the other hand, we have students who are still in compulsory Primary and ESO education and come from families that have socioeconomic difficulties. Those students are here from Monday to Friday and go back home for the weekends. Our students are aged between 6 and 22 years old. Is the age difference not difficult to manage? No, it isn’t, curiously, the older ones tend to care for the younger ones naturally. How many students do you tend to have here? Before the Covid situation, we had 55 students and since the beginning of the epidemic, we have had about 40. This is a lot of work and very varied... The whole team of teachers is fantastic, and they take it very seriously, I am really delighted, we couldn’t do all we do without them. You also organise workshops for professional training or introduction. Tell us more about this... Yes, indeed, we have various workshops: Canarian wrestling, aesthetics, hairdressing, videoclip creation, sex education, etc., and some handcraft workshops for all ages and some specifically for children. We can also ask for activities that the Cabildo offers. However, because of the Covid epidemic, many projects that were scheduled had to be cancelled. And how is the Residence financed? We receive some funds from the Canarian Government, and we also get extra funds from groups and associations that come from other islands that need our premises for the weekends. The Cabildo pays a grant of €200 to students, which has helped a lot. The adults pay, although it isn’t a large amount, and they can also ask for a monthly grant, which covers the total cost and there is even some money left, but it is free for the under 18-years old.