Ecuadorian Public Schools will Increase their Class Hour Schedule

For the new academic year, class hour will increase in charters and state schools, announced the Ecuadorian Secretary of Education, Monica Franco,on Wednesday. The disposal is part of the new Intercultural Education Law, which is expected to be approved before the registration process begins. With the measure, the teaching hour load will increase from 22 to 30 hours per week.

Franco explained that the hours will be distributed in the following way: six hours for teaching classes and two will be used in order to have teachers to upgrade their knowledge, to attend pedagogical training, to review students work, to develop community work. They will also use that time for parents meeting, among other activities within the campus rules, which had been neglected in the current system.

“With this mesasure it is expected that teachers can have a more effective presence in the institution so that students can count with the advice and counsel from their teachers in their growth process,” she said.

As soon as this provision would be applied fewer hired teachers will be required in the educational units. This is stated in Circular 002 of the Ministerial Office. The document says that institutional authorities must renew the contracts that are strictly necessary through a validation process.

“There must be one teacher in a classroom for every 35 students,” said the Sub-Secretary of Education, adding that the excesses are being reviewed in the institutions. “If a school has hired a teacher without any justification, that teacher would be relocated in a different school.”

Source: El Universo