The Ministry of Labor and Social Economy has defended that “it is logical” that there have been “tensions” over the contribution to the Social Security of students in vocational and university training practices. “It is logical that at the beginning there are some tensions, but the system is already implemented. It will mean that students are better protected”, said the Secretary of State for Social Security and Pensions, Borja Suárez, during the press conference to present the unemployment data for December.
The contribution of students in unpaid internships came into force on January 1, after a three-month moratorium. Some autonomous communities, such as Catalonia, had asked for a new postponement of the measure due to technical doubts that arose at the last moment and the difficulty of carrying out the management.
In December, a system was established to make it easier for educational centers to communicate to the Administration about registration for Social Security. On December 28, a royal decree extended the registration period until March, despite the fact that the student does the internship from January 1 to avoid collapsing the administrative services of the autonomous communities. The measure will affect more than one million VET and university students in Spain.
Suárez acknowledged that there has been “resistance, noise and concerns” due to the entry into force of this measure on January 1 and has shown “empathy” with VET and university institutions for the concern of the introduction departs from a new system that, in his words, “involves little economic cost and some management cost”. The measure is 95% subsidized by Social Security and the remaining 5% has been assumed this year by the Ministry of Education. Despite this, it requires administrative costs for registration which are assumed by the autonomous communities and, in the case of Catalonia, by the owners of private centers for students.
Suárez has been “very satisfied” with the fact that the new system is already being applied, news that he considers “extraordinarily positive for young people and for the system”. And he pointed out that this measure will increase students’ awareness “of the importance of being within the system, of the generation of rights that this entails and of the commitment to retirees”. Likewise, he considers that “it is a great advance that will also serve to improve the quality of the internships that are held now, which up until this point were activities that depended much more on the promoting educational entities and with this step forward it will be homogenized”. he stated
