The Ministry of Education, Vocational Training, Physical Activity and Sports of the Government of the Canary Islands has approved the tender process for a new educational assistants contract, with a budget of 79,818,334.74 euros for the next three years. This service, running between 2027 and 2029, is designed to provide support to students with disabilities, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), severe behavioral disorders (SBD), and other health conditions enrolled in public schools across the islands.
The primary objective is to meet the needs of these students during their school day, fostering their inclusion in the mainstream education system. The contract, with a maximum duration of three years, foresees an annual investment of 26,606,111.58 euros, with the possibility of extension up to five years through renewals. This tender resolves a contractual nullity situation that has persisted since 2021.
Key improvements include expanded coverage for support during the school day and in complementary and extracurricular activities, even those requiring overnight stays. Measures to expedite substitutions and ensure service continuity across all islands are also incorporated. Minister Poli Suárez highlighted that this initiative addresses a long-standing demand, ensuring a stable and enhanced framework for an essential service.
The new contract increases the maximum daily presence of staff in schools from five to 6.5 hours. It also includes support during school lunch service and assistance in residential schools. The management of substitutions and new services will be a crucial award criterion, valued at up to thirty points out of sixty allocated for qualitative criteria.
Service quality and organization will weigh more than price in the tender, with 60% of points assigned to qualitative criteria. An online attendance control system for staff will be implemented, and the availability of coordinators and the frequency of their center visits will be considered. The projected investment for 2027, amounting to 26.6 million euros, doubles the thirteen million allocated in 2023.
85% of the investment will be financed by the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+). This tender is part of the efforts by Poli Suárez's department to bolster support for diversity, which has seen an increase in teachers (from 2,638 to 3,726) and assistants (from 941 to 1,907) during the current legislative term. 48 new Enclave classrooms have been created, and a new Special Education Center has been opened in Adeje.
