Ceuta reinforces school security in the face of the presence of migrants on the streets

To Olivia and Ana, ages 6 and 3, their parents have explained as best they could "who these people who sleep on the streets" of Ceuta are. They have made it clear to them that they come from a neighboring country, that life there is not easy and that they do not have the money to pay for a house here. Also that they didn't do things well to come. "That's why you have to study a lot, right?" their father asks them.

Starting tomorrow, Tuesday, approximately 18,000 Ceuta students will return to the school routine. There will only be one difference with other rentrées: every day of the week, for 24 hours, there will be reinforced private surveillance inside the educational centers, especially during entry and exit. This measure was activated on September 1, the date on which the faculty returned to the schools to prepare for the start of the course.

In addition, the Ministry of Education has proposed that there be police accompaniment on the different school routes, as well as a reinforcement of security in the vicinity of schools during the afternoons and nights so that unauthorized personnel do not enter these buildings. Along these lines, the security plans contemplate the presence of the National Police, as well as that of the State Security Forces and Bodies, according to sources from the ministry directed by Milagros Tolón. Be that as it may, the Government insists that the course "will begin normally."

The plan was established last week in the Ceuta Local Security Board, although there is still one last meeting, which will be held today, to close all the issues. The Secretary of State for Education, Abelardo de la Rosa, has announced that the Ministry is going to implement in the Ceuta centers "an intervention plan so that the students who may be suffering the most from this situation can integrate it, digest it and minimize its psychological effect."

Despite the reinforcement of security that the authorities have planned due to the exceptional situation that the autonomous city is going through, uncertainty is rife among parents, who will have to redesign their routines to take or accompany their children to school.

"They told us to take them half an hour early, at eight," says Santiago's mother, who is starting third grade at a downtown school. "In the end the most worrying thing is the older kids, the high school kids, they can't afford to miss class." For this mother, adolescents are also more at risk than little girls: "Many walk to and from class alone."

Given the fear and insecurity that neighbors perceive, there are those who consider delaying the return to classrooms for a few days, at least until they verify that the security measures implemented are effective or give them some peace of mind.