The president of the Teachers’ Association, Mario Aguilar, criticized the Ministry of Education (Mineduc) on Tuesday, October 13, for not suspending classes across the Metropolitan Region. The region is under a red alert because of the thunderstorm that brought rain and hail to Santiago.
According to La Tercera, the union leader called for the measure adopted by some municipalities and education services for Wednesday, October 14, to be extended across the region.
The first municipalities to suspend classes were Ñuñoa and Providencia. Both will use the day to assess the damage caused by the rainfall. According to Pauta, Providencia’s municipal government will devote the day to cleaning schools and high schools.
Santiago’s Local Public Education Service (SLEP), the state body that administers public schools in that municipality, later joined them. The suspension covers its preschool, primary and secondary levels. In Las Condes, 12 private schools decided to suspend their activities.
Aguilar said that it took him an hour and 45 minutes that day to get home from the union’s headquarters. The trip normally takes him between half an hour and 40 minutes. "If the city is under a red alert, the question is, why have there been no announcements about tomorrow’s classes?" he said.
The union leader described the rain as "unheard of." He said it flooded streets and homes, brought down cables and left traffic lights out of service. He therefore called for a statement from Mineduc or the government. "Two municipalities suspended classes, but what about the rest?" he asked.
Aguilar also questioned what he called the ministry’s "silences," which he said had occurred during previous downpours and disasters. In his view, classes should be suspended in most of the region’s municipalities, or even all of them.
The available sources do not include a response from Mineduc to the union’s criticism. Nor do they detail how many schools in the region sustained damage.
The Chilean Meteorological Directorate issued an alert for thunderstorms and possible intense rainfall over short periods between the Coquimbo and Biobío regions. According to Pauta, the day brought flooding, power outages and transport problems in Santiago. In Talagante, the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred) ordered the evacuation of the Ribera del Río settlement because the Mapocho River threatened to overflow.
As of publication, the suspension applied only to Wednesday, October 14, and only in Ñuñoa, Providencia, schools run by Santiago’s Local Public Education Service and the 12 private schools in Las Condes.
