Laurence Dollimore
PARENTS and students of a Malaga international have held protests today after seven much-loved teachers were sacked yesterday.
Seven teachers were fired from their position by the company and management who run St George’s International School of Malaga.
But parents claim the reasons given were unjustified and unreasonable.
More than 250 people demonstrated this morning, coinciding with the last day of the course, demanding the immediate re-hiring of the professors.
The teachers, some of them British, are both recent and long-standing staff, some of whom started work shortly after it first opened in 2000.
The teachers affected include Alex Mitchell, who has worked at the school for 16 years as the head of science, and Jim Riley, a popular history teacher, who has worked there for over a decade.
Ahead of the protests, a group of alumni students told the Olive Press in a statement: “These teachers have either taught or supported us over the years of attending the school – it’s time to do our bit and support these teachers back!
“This does not only affect the children who attend the school, but work colleagues, past students, parents as well as the teachers’ own children such as Mr Riley’s son, and Maria’s two children who will now have to leave the school.”
The group have set up a Facebook page and are calling on ex-students and parents to like the page and provide positive character statements.
“Any help, no matter how small will help bring justice, whether just supporting this page, or writing a short summary of how any of these teachers helped you and your feelings towards this poor misuse of authority,” they said.
“Any statements shared can be used to help support these teachers to create a strong defence case to fight against this in court.”
The school’s management has sent an email to families informing them of ‘the recent events that have taken place regarding the restructuring that we are carrying out in the school to continue improving the quality of the education we provide’.
According to the school, the restructuring required several dismissals.
“In addition to being a difficult decision, we believe it is necessary,” the school said.
I would like to express my disgust at how the company who run the St George group have treated some of their employees at the Malaga school. Some exceptional teachers who have been dedicated to their role for over 10 years teaching high quality education have been treated in an appalling manner. St George’s in Malaga had provided fantastic education in past however due to poor management, dismissing the best teachers for unjustified reasons has caused many students, parents, staff and even past students to lose faith in this school group. I would urge all those who attend any of the schools in the St George group to be wary of the people who run this.
The greed of the owners is incredible. Profit First,education and safety of children last. Obviously this has nothing to do with an incredibly large debt the company must repay next year.
I taught Madrid private academy students for 5 years. “Profit first” is the rule for most “academies” (i.e., teacher employment agencies). Education & knowledge are secondary and, if they occur, coincidental. The best students demand the same excellent teachers year after year. They’re very loyal to each other. Students un-request “profit first” teachers/academies.