After nearly three months since the start of the school year, scheduled for February 23 by the Ministry of Education and Sciences (MEC), third-year students at the Colégio Técnico Nacional (CTN) began in-person classes this Monday in all eight technical specialties of the institution.
The return comes after a long period of distance learning, caused by the excessive delay in infrastructure works financed by the Itaipú hydroelectric plant. On May 7, Itaipú had announced the return of final-year students to in-person classes, but the return was partial: many groups only organized equipment and furniture, without effectively starting classes, as reported by parents of students.
Families also complained that the company responsible for the remodeling, Companhia de Construções Civis (CCC), did not return all the laboratory supplies that were stolen during the works in September last year. CCC was hired by Itaipú for US$ 4 million (more than G. 29,500 million), and its legal representative is Mauricio Javier Cordero Codas.
This Monday, all third-year students were able to return to in-person classes. In the coming days, they will also be able to use the laboratories and workshops. Students of Civil Construction have already carried out their first outdoor practices, preparing cement mixtures and handling bricks. Young people from other specialties, such as Chemistry and Automotive Mechanics, had theoretical classes in the renovated rooms.
“Finally, all third-year students were able to return to classes; now we will wait for first- and second-year students to return,” said a relative of the students.
About 500 young people returned to in-person classes from this date, while 1,000 enrolled in the first and second years of the eight CTN specialties continue with virtual learning, nearly three months after the start of the school year nationwide.
The School Cooperative Association (ACE), the student center, and authorities are still analyzing alternatives for this group, as the works continue at the school. One option is for students to carry out their laboratory and workshop practices at the headquarters of the Faculty of Engineering of the National University of Asunción (FIUNA), on the San Lorenzo campus. There is also consideration of using facilities from other technical schools, or a staggered return to CTN while the works are completed.