Mayor reactivates city fountains; Election observers are needed; Cuenca schools will start classes in August this year; Biodiversity database established

Miércoles, 7/6/2023

Hola, Todos –

Titular –

Clases, en la Sierra, iniciarán en agosto (Classes in the Sierra will start in August) – On 22/6, schools will finish their 200 days of academic activities and end the scholastic year in the Sierra and Amazonia. There will be changes in the next school year, which will start between el 22 & 24/8 depending on the grade level. The system will change from 2 quimestres (5 month periods) in a school year to quarters (3 month periods) which will allow teachers to evaluate a student’s progress in time to remediate any lack of knowledge. There will be no remedial exams and students who are behind will receive supletorios (supplementary classes?). If they fail those, then they will need to repeat the year. Another change is that students in the 5th, 6th & 7th primary levels will not be promoted automatically.

Cuenca –

Schools in the sierra will begin classes in August this year, not September, in a major schedule change. (El Mercurio)

Ciudadanos pueden asumir rol de veedores electorales (Citizens can take on the role of election observers) – A delegation of the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) in Azuay has issued a call for citizens who want to be election observers in the upcoming 20/8 elections. If you’re interested, sign up on www.cne.gov.ec by el viernes. Applicants need to fill out a form that includes a sworn affidavit of being in enjoyment of their political rights and not being a member of any political organization. <I wonder if being a registered Democrat, Green, Peace and Freedom, Republican, etc. in the US counts?>

You cannot be a candidate or delegate, work for Electoral Functions, or have conflicts of interest. Foreigners can also be election observers if they will have been permanent residents of Ecuador for at least 5 years as of the date of their application to be an observer. Observers have the freedom of movement inside polling stations; and to communicate with candidates, people and organizations they wish to contact. They have the right of access to electoral documents and can interview electoral officials, authorities, directors of organizations, and citizens. <I think it goes without saying that your Spanish better be a lot better than mine.>

Volverán a funcionar las piletas en áreas públicas (Fountains in public areas will start operating again) – Mayor Cristian Zamora announced that fountains will start working again and will include colored lighting. <How long is going to take before some youthful citizens pour detergent into those fountains? Colored bubbles!> The fountains are taken care of by the Empresa de Aseo (EMAC EP) and ETAPA. <By the way, has anyone else noticed colored tags on some of the overhead cables and crews cutting cables? But they still leave them dangling from the poles.>

Sistema de información de biodiversidad (SIB -Ec) (Biodiversity Information System (SIB -Ec) – The Ministerio del Ambiente, Agua y Transición Ecológica (MAATE) presented the Sistema de información de biodiversidad del Ecuador (SIB -Ec) in Cuenca. The objective is to have an information base to articulate adminstrative, regulatory, and control processes of the biodiversity in the country. This platform allows interconnection services to be used by the community for access to information and for collaboration in specialized areas through the latest technology. <This is for all of you who are interested in environmental issues – assuming you fulfilled an equal interest in the mastery of Spanish. Yeah, I’m back on that rant – trying to figure out how to answer Cuencans who ask me “Why don’t gringos learn Spanish?”>

And that’s all for today so Hasta ? –

Jeanne