The Commissioner for the Economic and Fiscal Regime (REF) of the Canary Islands, José Ramón Barrera, presented this Thursday the new educational story from the pedagogical project Edu-REF, titled “Yo quiero ser tú” (I Want to Be You). The work narrates the friendship between a girl from Madrid, Begoña, and a boy from the Canary Islands, Rodolfo, who grow up separated by the sea and discover the inequalities and difficulties that insularity can generate in aspects such as studying, traveling, or communicating.
The presentation took place at the CEIP San Matías primary school, coinciding with Canary Islands Month activities. Around fifty 3rd-grade Primary students attended, along with teachers and the territorial director of Education, Miguel Delgado. Writer Ernesto Rodríguez Abad narrated the story, while illustrator Víctor Jaubert drew one of the characters live.
“Yo quiero ser tú” is the second title in the educational collection promoted by the REF Commissioner. Through the protagonists' shared passion for football, poetry, and reading, the story explains in an accessible way the role of the REF as a tool to compensate for the disadvantages arising from remoteness and insularity, aiming to ensure equal opportunities for those living in the Canary Islands.
“"This story shows us how we have progressed thanks to the measures of our charter and how, by understanding our differences, we can build a more just and cohesive country. The collection seeks to bring to students the importance of specific treatment for the Canary Islands."
After the reading, students received copies signed by the authors and t-shirts from the symbolic ‘Equipo REF’ (REF Team), featuring the number 8 on the back, referencing the eight islands, and the slogan ‘equal islands’.
The story is available on the website of the Canary Network of Educational Centers for Digital Learning (READ), accompanied by a didactic guide. It has also been distributed to all Primary and Special Education centers in the Canary Islands, municipal libraries, hospitals, and Education faculties of public universities, as well as in digital format via eBiblio.es.
The Edu-REF project continues to expand its educational content and offers an online teacher training course on the REF, lasting 15 hours, which has already been completed by nearly a thousand professionals. Canary Islands Month, under the slogan ‘We are Heritage of the Canary Islands’, includes over 110 activities to promote the archipelago's identity and traditions.
