The Government did not wait for the Executive Council on January 9 to announce the names that make up the list of experts who must propose short and medium-term measures to reverse the poor educational results that reflect all the assessments that are they have done The last one, the PISA 2022 report, whose poor performance has particularly worried Catalan society and led the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, to bring together all the parties, except Vox, to reach an agreement. At the meeting, on December 19, it was decided to set up this group of experts.
A statement from the Department of Education yesterday revealed 15 of the 18 members, in the absence of the three directors of public schools (one primary, one secondary and one post-compulsory) who will be announced next week, when will meet the central board of directors.
The majority of experts are recognized by the educational community and have worked or are working as teachers, directors or have been linked to the public administration. Some of them are promoters of educational transformation, inclusion and equity.
The technical coordinator of this group will be Jesús Vinyes, current president of the School Council of Catalonia (now, Consell Educatiu de Catalunya). The names of the rest of the members are: Albert Bayot (College of Doctors and Bachelors in Philosophy and Letters and Sciences), Elvira Borrell (former inspector), Digna Couso (mathematics teacher), Montserrat Jiménez (principal of charter school) , Sílvia Lombarte (local bodies), Raül Manzano (Pedagogical Renewal Movements), Mercè Mas (primary teacher), Mireia de Mingo (families), Carme Ortoll (inclusive school), Marta Pujadó (Rosa Sensat), Coral Regí (former director and expert in education), Francesc Roca (FP), Víctor Saura (secondary teacher and journalist) and Joan Vila (principal of charter school). The first meeting will take place on January 10 and it is expected that in February they will already report some initial conclusions to the parliamentary groups.
The list of experts has been drawn up by the Department of Education and the other political forces have not intervened, with the exception of the Junts per Catalunya group, which has proposed several names.
Although Education has appointed them as “experts” in education, the appointment responds to their membership of a group. “We wanted to reflect the diversity both at the level of educational stages and at the territorial level, of the complexity of centers, of ownership and in the disciplinary field”, explains the statement, and taking into account “sectors such as professional training or experts in language immersion”, he adds.
The result is a composition very similar to that of the School Council (CEC), if the university world, employers and unions are excluded. The names provided by Education correspond to center management, families, local bodies, representatives of teaching and teacher associations, inspection and chartered schools that are already represented in the CEC. There is also the circumstance that it is proposed that the coordinator of the group be Jesús Vinyes, who is president of the School Council.
The CEC is a consultation and participation body of the educational community that emanates from the Education Law (LEC). Its members are appointed by the Government for a period of 4 years. Among its functions, there is that of being consulted “for general actions aimed at improving the quality of education and improving its adaptation to the social reality of Catalonia”. In addition, the council can “formulate on its own initiative proposals to the department on issues related to the quality of education (article 171.5 of the LEC). And reflect on current issues that “concern” the educational community.
In any case, the measures proposed by the experts, which will be applicable in the 2024-2025 school year, will go to the CEC to be “enriched”. In this context, Councilor Simó had already proposed 10 measures to improve student learning, some of which are already underway and are expected to produce results soon.
But the debate on education does not end here. The minister committed to Parliament, after the monograph that was dedicated to education in June, to present this January a battery of measures to the questions raised by the parliamentary groups, with their calendar and budget.
