Since 13 March, we have been in lockdown and the school physically closed. Since then, all the students, teachers and administrative staff at EINA have carried on with the teaching activity and kept up the quality of learning as far as is possible, with the desire to keep going and not stop at all. This is and has been our aim, and this is what we have been told at all times by the authorities and the UAB. Students, administrative staff and teachers are working from home, with their own resources (what each of us has at home), with evident shortcomings and considerable extra effort. It should be understood that the difficulties caused by this situation affects us all the same, subjected as we are to the same privations and limitations as the rest of the population: people and children in our care, a lack of space, loss of material, health problems, financial complications and other related inconveniences.
I can assure you that all of you teachers and administrative staff are giving 200% to ensure the good working of the school and we want to thank you most especially. We also know – from you – that all of you students at the school are displaying endless patience and a very positive attitude, even though you may sometimes feel anxious at a lack of information or feel that your future projects are being held back. We also want to thank you and, above all, reassure you that we will do everything it takes for the present academic year to progress and end satisfactorily for everyone.
In this vein, we would not want the frustration caused by the excessive and compulsory duration of the lockdown, and the drawbacks arising from everyone’s personal situation and state of mind, to result in a feeling of dejection and defeat.
Design is a way of seeing the world, an attitude for turning challenges into solutions. This is EINA’s mission, our students chose us to turn their calling into a profession, and that is precisely what we are doing between us all. Education is a slow and progressive process of accumulation, especially in areas where experience and practice are as important as knowledge. Despite the inconveniences, this difficult situation will not harm our learning because every day we question, reconsider, transform, work to meet challenges. In short, we design! The present moment forces us to change our peaceful everyday lives, but it also inspires us and motivates us to change. This experience will give us more than it will take from us. When it’s all over (because it will be over, very soon), we will be the designers we wanted to be, and we will all have learnt some new things along the way.
Education is a service of great added value, carried out and taught by skilled professionals. At the moment, EINA is keeping up online teaching taught by around a hundred professionals providing a service to five hundred students.
We rely now and in the future on our students and their families in everything that we do, anticipating and detecting any difficulties (technological, state of mind, but above all financial) that our students may have. The Board of Trustees at the Foundation is studying an extraordinary package of financing measures to provide individual help to families and students in difficulties, including a financial emergency fund and specific enrolment payment facilities. Training and the continuance of learning is our priority now. We won’t leave anyone behind!
And to do this, we need the support of all of our community to keep EINA going, lessening discomfort and frustrations, and sharing the most complex teaching experiences we have known to date. We have a plan and we will be making the necessary adjustments to keep everything in its place, even if everything, is in fact, different.
The challenge is great and the uncertainty worrying. We are all working to take control of the situation. The lockdown will last a few months, maybe a bit more; even so, this period is fairly insignificant within the setting of a profession that will last years.
Our channels of communication (delegates, coordination, secretary's office, management) have always been and are always open to any suggestion and comments you may want to make.
Thank you very much for your hard work and we hope to see each other all very soon in the gardens and palace at Sentmenat. I can assure you with my hand on my heart that we’re really looking forward to it!
Pau de Solà-Morales, Director
Ramon Parramon, Deputy Director
Manuel Cirauqui, Eina / Idea