Following the student demonstration at the J. Guadalupe Velázquez A.C. Music Conservatory, it is now the teachers who are denouncing deficiencies within the institution. Teachers who prefer to remain anonymous have pointed out that working conditions are precarious and that the maintenance of the instruments is insufficient. “A university with out-of-tune pianos is unthinkable,” they said.
The teachers criticized that the school’s resources are not allocated to the basic needs of students and staff. “It seems unfair to us that they are being spent on other things and that priority is not given to what really matters,” said one teacher. They pointed out that the lack of tuning of the pianos and the lack of adequate working conditions are problems that have persisted for years.
“We have pianos that are very old, and apart from being old, they are out of tune. In reality, there are very few pianos that are in good condition,” said another teacher. They also emphasized that they do not have formal contracts or employment benefits, a situation that has generated uncertainty among the academic staff.
The teachers’ petition also demands improvements in infrastructure and working conditions. “We need teachers, there are classes where we are overwhelmed with work and they ignore our requests,” said a teacher, who denounced that the administration has offered low salaries to new teachers, which has made it difficult to hire qualified personnel.
Another point that has generated annoyance is the lack of dialogue with the authorities of the conservatory. “There is no openness to dialogue on the part of the rector. I think that no one is looking to do harm to the conservatory, what we want is to be heard,” said a teacher. They stressed that neither the rector nor the bishop of Querétaro, Monsignor Fidencio López Plaza, have responded to the demands of students and teachers.
“After all these days that have passed, there is no response. There is no rapprochement on the part of the rector or the bishop,” they added. They believe that the lack of communication has generated an atmosphere of tension within the educational community, since the absence of solutions has led to a growing division between students and academic staff.
The teachers indicated that, if a timely dialogue had been generated, the situation would have been different. “If they had approached and taken the students seriously from the beginning, this would not have escalated in this way,” said one teacher. They assure that, if they did not receive a prompt response, they will continue to raise their voices in defense of their rights and educational quality.
They accuse harassment at the Querétaro Music Conservatory; they ask for the intervention of Bishop Fidencio López
The complaints of the teachers add to those made by the students on February 18, when nearly 100 students demonstrated after a night mass to demand better conditions within the conservatory. In their petition, the students requested changes in the administration, transparency in the use of resources and improvements in the facilities.
Source: codiceinformativo
