Zaragoza is a city of 700,000 in northern
Spain, about 90 minutes from either Madrid or Barcelona via our high-speed
train, the AVE. The city was founded on
the banks of the Ebro River more than 2,000 years ago by the legions of Caesar
Augustus.
The University of Zaragoza was established in
1542, less than 40 years after Columbus’s last voyage of discovery. It has a long and respected history. A School of Education was incorporated into
the university structure in 1970, since then evolving from a College to the
bonafide university Faculty that we have had since 2001. Our Faculty of Education attends to a range
of educational issues, extending from teacher formation at all educational
levels to the investigation of psychopedagogical questions. We grant both masters-level and doctoral
degrees.
In spite of the recency of our status as
Faculty, we strive hard to be the equal of any such Faculty among Spanish
universities. We pay as much attention
to the education of our undergraduates and graduate students as we do to
international research. We conduct our
own educational research, work in cooperation with Latin American universities,
attend conferences with educators from both American and European universities,
and participate in the Erasmus Student Exchange program. Currently 4% of our student body is drawn
from countries outside of Spain.
Our problem has been space—or lack
thereof. We have lived to a great extent
in space borrowed from other departments.
The offices of our 174 professors must be shared in some cases by up to
10 people. We have no adequate space for
meeting with groups of students or for tutoring students. We presently conduct classes in six far-flung
spaces that other university departments provide for us.
These structural insufficiencies—severe
hindrances to the training of teachers as well as to many other aspects of our
educational mission—were becoming apparent in the late 1990s.
Realizing the need to provide more space to
the new Faculty of Education, university officials considered a number of
possibilities, and finally, in 2006, a construction project that would have
situated us in a very fine building at the heart of the university campus was
publicly presented.
But then Expo 2008—held in Zaragoza—came
along, and because the construction of this international showpiece was given
the highest governmental priority, the building of our new facility was put off
to a later date.
In 2009 I was chosen to be Dean of the Faculty
of Education, and, after a very serious effort, I and my colleagues succeeded
in getting the university finally to put the construction of our building out
to bid.
In March 2010 the contract was awarded to
Sacyr-Ideconsa, and work began three months later. The project was to be completed by March
2012. But during this period the
international monetary crisis began to heat up.
Then Spain fell into a banking crisis to the point that in June 2012 the
government was forced ask for an international bailout of its banks. Construction ground to a halt. Now the university has a cash-flow problem
and, as a result, has been unable to move forward with the construction of our
building. It stands unfinished in the
heart of our campus (see enclosed photo), with no promise of construction being
resumed in the near future.
What does this mean for us? It means that the dream of 3,000 people who
wish not only to work in a worthy and dignified profession, but also to study
and train in dignified surroundings, has been hindered, if not frustrated. It means that the place where the initial
formation of professionals who would one day be the educational engine driving
the development of the Spanish economy has been left in limbo.
The enclosed photo may make it appear that the
project is nearly finished, but this is an illusion. Several million euros worth of construction
remains to be accomplished before the facility can be used.
I’ve knocked for assistance at more doors than
I can count. Of course my principal
efforts have been with the political leaders and administrators whose job it is
to see this project through to completion, but their response has been
disappointing.
I am therefore sending you this letter to ask
your help in seeing this important project through to its long-delayed
conclusion. In return for your partial
assistance with this project, the university would be happy to dedicate a
portion of the building in your name. In
return for your full assistance in completing this project, the university
would very gladly name the building itself in your honor.
Possibly you will consider me a shameless
beggar, knocking at the wrong door. But
I assure you that I am forced to do so by the growing lack of interest in
education among our political leaders.
Education is a soft target for budget-cutters. But it’s the wrong target. We are training the men and women who will
themselves train the leaders of the future, and at the moment we are forced to
do so under conditions that are totally inappropriate for a society that calls
itself developed and cultured.
Thank you for your attention and for the time
you spent in reading this somewhat lengthy letter. It was lengthy only because I felt it
necessary to explain the reasons that have driven me to ask for your
assistance.
I would be most happy to give you more detailed
information upon request.
Yours very truly,
Entradas
