This morning in Formentera, Sònia Cardona, Formentera's councillor of culture, and Gemma Tur, coordinator of the graduate studies programme at the Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB) in Formentera, unveiled details about the XIII annual Escola d'Estiu a Eivissa i Formentera, a summer session of university courses serving residents of the Pitiüsa Islands.

New this year, collaboration between UIB and Formentera's office of culture on a course titled Introducció al Llenguatge Cinematogràfic a Formentera (Introduction to Cinematographic Language in Formentera) has led to what will be the first ever locally-imparted session of the course, set to take place on 6 September.

Councillor Cardona hailed the fact that “opportunities like this bring the UIB closer to Formentera, and puts the University within the reach of people here.” She also highlighted other similar programmes – a university for the elderly and a recently constructed videoconference room – that were conceived as ways for Formentera students to participate in university studies.

Gemma Tur stated: “This year's Formentera class session can be regarded in either one of two ways: as a free-of-charge university-level conference, or as just one element of what is in fact a five-day course in cinema and cinematographic language.”

The class will be held at the hall of ceremonies (sala d'actes) of the offfice of culture from 10 am to 2 pm. Leading the session, Joan Marí, screenplay writer, producer and founding member of the production company Incortum and Enrique Villalonga, director, screenplay writer, producer and founder/director of the Filmotica production company.

Marí's segment of the class will cover writing techniques and screenplay analysis while Villalonga's will focus on syntax and cinematographic narrative. Closing the joint lecture, a screening of the Villalonga-directed film “El hijo del taxidermista” (The Taxidermist's Son) followed by a debate.

The 6 September session is one of five different conference-style classes comprising the XIII Universitat d'Estiu d'Eivissa i Formentera summer programme, a five-day series scheduled for 8 to 12 September.

Enrolment – cost-free – will only be required in the case of those participants that wish to obtain a certificate of attendance. To enrol, interested individuals can call 971.39.80.20.

For additional information, contact Sònia Cardona at 666.15.58.29.

Rollicking games. Eager kids. Proud parents and teachers. All were present yesterday in Sant Francesc and Sant Ferran, where a joint celebration between local schools marked the end of the 2014 summer school session.

This year the Formentera Summer School opened its doors to 160 boys and girls aged 3 to 12 and split activities between three local schools: Sant Francesc, Sant Ferran and La Mola. Included among the programme's staff of professionals was one head counsellor, twenty-two day camp counsellors and – for students with special learning needs – one instructor certified in Special Education.

Dolores Fernández Tamargo, councillor of Social Welfare and Youth Services, was on hand at the final closing ceremony that was celebrated at Sant Francesc's Mestre Lluís Andreu Primary School. She saluted the fact that the Formentera Summer School programme “gives boys and girls a fun, educational place to be in summer. It's also extremely important that the programme provide options for working families. For the majority of households in Formentera, summer is the busiest time of year.”

This year's activities were all conceived as extensions of the same unifying theme: “Time-travellers”. Students tread a path through different periods in Western history, with perspectives that were at times local and at times global. According to councillor Fernández Tamargo, the goal was to “impart a respect for diversity of customs, ways of thought and forms of expression. Parting from a place of tolerance and learning, we wanted to come away with raised awareness regarding the importance of cooperation and harmonious living between different cultures.”

The Formentera Council, via its office of education and culture and councillor Sònia Cardona, expressed disappointment about “the great opportunity that the Govern Balear missed by not moving forward with plans to build the new Sant Ferran primary school.” Cardona's comments came just after an announcement last week by the regional autonomous government that it would apply a plan to improve the educational infrastructure that exists in the Balearics.

Drafted with the goal of improving the quality of educational facilities, the improvement plan (Pla de millora d'infraestructures educatives) is backed by a budget of 27.7 million euros, a credit line provided by the European Investment Bank.

Councillor Cardona's disappointment came upon inspection of the third item on the plan of action – improvement projects and new facilities construction. “We expected to see a clear reference made to the Sant Ferran school, but instead we saw five and a half million euros for a early-childhood and primary education centre [known as CEIP for centre educatiu infantil i primària] in Campos, three million for the remodel of a CEIP in Manacor and two million for improvements to the CEIP in Bunyola.

Cardona highlighted the fact that construction at “the three schools mentioned in the improvement plan is scheduled to be completed in 2016. Given the fact that Formentera does not even appear in the text of the plan, we can assume that construction in Sant Ferran might be delayed considerably.” According to Cardona, “the Department of Education of the Govern Balear would have had us believe that the [Sant Ferran] school's construction was imminent. However, the reality is that the project does not even exist. The omission of Formentera in the Pla de millora d'infraestructures educatives indicates that construction will most likely not begin within this legislative session.”

Cardona reminds us that at the most recent debate (held in June) in which the state of the island was discussed, all of the political groups on the Council agreed to urge the regional government in Palma to accelerate construction of the Sant Ferran school. The Council has already located and turned over land for the new school, and these parcels have already been doted with the infrastructure necessary to proceed with construction.

The Institut Balear de la Dona, a local association established to fight for the rights and interests of women, together with the Formentera Island Council have this morning lent their signatures to an important joint accord. Acting as representatives of their respective institutions were Dolores Fernández Tamargo, councilor of Social Welfare, Youth Services and Equality of the Formentera Council, and Isabel Llinàs, director of the Institut Balear. The collaborative accord set out several different goals: preventing domestic violence; attending to the victims of such abuse; promoting equality and maintaining an actively-operating point of information, accessible to all women on the island.

By virtue of today's accord, the Institut commits to providing the Formentera Council with 9,000€ in economic support, one thousand euros more than any of the four previous years. In addition to its financial support, the Institut commits to providing training as required by the island's social care professionals.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Council, for its part, commits to providing the human and material resources necessary to managing abuse prevention and treatment programmes and to administering assistance to victims of such violence.