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Nya Raketskolan’s students in Kiruna are forced to stay at home today.
The reason is staff shortage.
– We have to solve this, we are not living up to the right to education for the students at the moment, says school director Viktoria Björklund.
The teachers’ union in Kiruna requests that there be a protective stop at the New Rocket School in the city, writes NSD.
The reason is that the school is understaffed, which has led to an excessive workload for the staff.
– Personnel do not have the opportunity to take their statutory break. They tell us that they stopped drinking so they don’t have to go to the toilet, says the Teachers’ Union’s chief protection officer Carina Lidberg, to the newspaper.
The school’s 220 students are therefore allowed to stay at home from today, reports P4 Norrbotten.
According to the school’s principal, it would be necessary to recruit five teachers, two or three student assistants and a couple of school hosts.
There are currently six middle school classes at the school. A consequence of the staff shortage is that there are up to 45 students per class in the worst cases.
In total today, there are 13 teachers at the middle school.
– We have failed with the recruitment and we have to act quickly now during the protective stop, says the head of school Viktoria Björklund, to the radio.
She also says that it is difficult to recruit teachers to Kiruna – partly because of the housing shortage.
– It is a difficult situation due to the lack of housing, urban transformation, our geographical location and the lack of people’s interest in working in school, says Viktoria Björklund.
– We have to solve this, we are not living up to the right to education for the students right now, she continues.