The Education minister for the Valencia region has announced that schools are not going to be given any funding for their anti swine flu hygiene protocols.

Schools are already under funded and it has been calculated that in having to purchase special gels and soaps they could utilise nearly 20% of their budgets.

The minister had said earlier that these products would be distributed to the schools .However this hasn’t happened and all that schools have been given is instructions and they have to download those from the internet.

Schools are understandably seeing this as a total turnabout by the education department and have been told that they must purchase things which follow all of the specifications laid out in the instructions.Schools across the region are far from happy about the prospect of spending their budgets on this type of project.

Each school expected their supplies by the beginning of the new school year  and then almost three weeks into the term they are told that they have to purchase these items themselves.That could take at least another three weeks and by that time it will be well into the flu season.Headteachers say that they will do their best to protect children in their schools and using basic good hygiene ,without special gels will go a long way to keeping the whole population safe.