It’s official. The 2023-24 school year will begin in Catalonia on September 6 for primary and secondary students and a week later, on the 12th, for high school and FP students, according to the communication sent by the Department of Education to the centers educational. The rest of teachings, on September 18.
If this course, the advance of the start meant that the students attended an intensive session throughout the month of September, the intention for the upcoming course is that the classes follow the standard format from the beginning. The initiative of “educational leisure afternoons” was evaluated very negatively by the School Council in a recent report.
June 21 is the expected date for the completion of the course except for the students of the Baccalaureate, professional training and professional teaching of plastic arts and design, who will finish on June 17 the ordinary school activities and from June 18 to 21, they will take carry out extraordinary evaluation activities.
The statement does not indicate the non-teaching days throughout the course that must compensate for the lengthening of the course in September. This aspect, which will be discussed at the negotiating tables with the unions, the very first morning, can be done by extending the Christmas holidays, including days of free disposition or concentrating several days in a week (such as the white week), something usual in the rest of Europe to cut the long quarters.
UGT has already responded to the announcement of the school calendar indicating that the Minister Josep Gonzàlez-Cambray has made this statement without “prior consultation or negotiation” and has recalled that tomorrow, Friday, a negotiation table is scheduled where this issue should be discussed. “Is this a dialogue? Or rather a monologue? Is this listening and negotiating?” Precisely, the Ministry canceled the meeting it had this week with the School Council.
According to the Education Law of Catalonia (LEC), the maximum established is 178 days a year.
The school start on September 6 goes against what the teachers had requested, to have at least five days in September to prepare for the school year. And leave the month of July for the training that cannot be carried out throughout the course.
On the other hand, the families viewed the beginning of the school year in a positive way, the sooner the better, with a general consensus.
Bringing the course forward to the first week of September is a measure promoted by the educational administration that maintains that it is “especially beneficial for students in a situation of greater vulnerability, since it reduces disconnection in summer and guarantees equal opportunities.”
But it has been highly questioned by the educational community. In the last report of the School Council, it is highlighted that last year the measure was improvised and in this year there has not been time to discuss it in all the effects it produces, since it is not just a question of determining a start date, but of evaluating the time preparation for the school year by teachers, the duration of the quarters for children, the air conditioning in the classroom and compensation holidays, among other aspects.
Educació informs that there has been a consensus within the educational community, an agreement that is not included in the last report of the School Council, which explains not only the existing disagreements but also the way in which Educació has addressed the Council, first asking for their opinion about it instead of assessing the order of the calendar a posteriori. The family associations have recalled that the administration has a majority within the Council, so it is worth assessing the particular votes against expressed by teachers, unions, educators and the families themselves.
