Asunción, Agencia IP.- The Senators’ Chamber approved the rejection of the derogation of the agreement between the government and the European Union to finance projects to support education. The agreement has reversal notes to be discussed in Congress that modify the objectives and terms of the agreement.
The derogation of the cooperation was initially presented in November of last year, between protests of parents and religious associations, which qualified the European Union as an intromission in the Ministry of Education and Sciences (MEC, by its acronym in Spanish) and the “inclusion of the gender ideology” into the educational system.
Its legislative process included approval in the Chamber of Deputies, rejection by the Senate in May of this year, ratification by the deputies in August, and, finally, its rejection by an absolute majority past Wednesday.
Given the possibility of derogation of the non-refundable financial cooperation of Є 38 million (from which was already executed Є 5 million), the government’s authorities that took office in August began talks with the EU to modify the points that gave rise to the protests.
This led to the presentation of reversal notes on October 2, which modified the agreement ratified initially by Congress in December 2020.
The rejection of the derogation of the agreement had 33 votes, achieving the majority required (23 votes) for the Senate to ratify its sanction of May.
Changes in the agreement
Among the modifications of the agreement with the UN is that it will no longer be called «Support for Educational Transformation» and will propose changes to the MEC’s educational curriculum.
Instead, it will be a project of “Strengthening of the Educational System” and will finance mathematics and reading comprehension programs.
Besides, all the concepts of “gender,” “family,” and others that generated controversy will be interpreted based on the definitions of the National Constitution.
It will no longer finance school snacks and purchase school kits with these cooperation funds.
When the rejection of the derogating was known, the Ministry of Education and Sciences announced that the agreement with the EU has “a substantial change” in its vision “to make sure it is not contrary to the values we defend.”
“From Paraguay’s government, we reaffirm our commitment to the model of the traditional Paraguayan family, which we will protect and promote as our Supreme Law dictates,” says the announcement.