Santaní: School occupied for a week as parents demand reinstatement of teaching position

Academic activities at the Dr. Raúl Peña Basic School in Santaní, Paraguay, have been suspended for a week due to a parent occupation demanding the reinstatement of a teaching position for the afternoon first-grade class. The Ministry of Education and Sciences (MEC) has yet to provide a satisfactory response to the community's grievances.

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The idea presented by the official was that, while the process to obtain the requested position is underway, one of the local teachers would take charge of teaching the 1st-grade children.

Parents initiated the protest after a teacher covering the first-grade afternoon shift was granted a special leave of absence due to health reasons in mid-2025. The replacement teacher has reportedly been working without pay since then. A proposal by the departmental education director to have another teacher temporarily cover the class was rejected by the parents, who remain firm in their demand for the MEC to officially reinstate the position.

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We are not sending our children to school because of this problem, but the teachers can do nothing to prevent them from making this decision.

The ongoing protest affects more than one hundred students from initial to sixth grade. Parents have expressed their determination to continue the occupation and are considering blocking the main PY03 highway to pressure authorities. They specifically request the intervention of the Minister of Education, Luis Ramírez, to resolve the situation.

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Hopefully, the MEC authorities can intervene in the case as soon as possible, especially by listening to the parents' request.