The Parliament has not missed the opportunity offered by the monograph on education to set aside political disputes and agree on concrete and scheduled actions in favor of the academic success of Catalan students. The plan to reactivate Catalan education has been voted unanimously, with the exception of Vox, which has abstained. The Plenary has approved all the proposals presented alone by ERC, practically all of those presented by the PSC-Units and by JxCat, most of the common ones and almost half of those of the CUP.
And in a demonstration that the new climate of cordiality offered by Minister Anna Simó is serious, ERC has reached agreements with most political parties, except for the conservative side.
These resolutions propose, among other measures, a Catalan pact for education, deploying an inclusive education system, making the 0-3 years stage free, ending school segregation, and recognizing the work of teachers .
In addition, at the proposal of the PSC, the Catalan Chamber has approved promoting a Catalan pact for education before the end of 2023 with the objective of “rebuilding trust with the educational community” through an education roadmap.
What was approved today defines the priority objectives that must mark the remainder of the legislature for the Government in terms of education: the school dropout plan and the improvement of the skills of Catalan students from the next academic year, including reading comprehension and learning of English. The increase in places for O-3 years and the promotion of vocational training are also addressed.
At the same time, a vote was taken to draft a national pact in defense of schools and the Catalan language “in the face of the systematic attacks of the Spanish State” and “the risks of the extreme right”, in a joint proposal by Junts and ERC, with 2 votes to in favor of En Comú Podem and the abstention of the CUP. This pact specifies that Catalan “as a vehicular, common language, shared by the entire educational community, is a basic factor for social inclusion and the backbone of Catalan society.”
Regarding strictly educational matters, ERC, Junts, PSC and the commons presented a compromised proposal that urges the deployment of a “compensation plan” to reduce students with low academic performance and increase those with high performance to the level of the European average. For this, it is proposed, among other aspects, didactic training for teachers, from initial to continuous, and for families, as well as measures to promote reading.
Reading comprehension and the promotion of reading are the focus of this resolution, which proposes to implement the school library plan adjusted to the education law and the preparation of a plan for the “progressive and urgent” application of all areas to all areas of knowledge from January 2024 in the centers with the worst results and extend it to the rest before the end of the next academic year.
The fourth point addresses school dropout, which is urged to implement the already established plan starting next year, with a set of actions “prioritized, specified, scheduled and budgeted” to reduce the rate, which is currently at 17%, below 9% in 2030. And starting with the centers that accumulate the greatest failure, incorporating the investment of resources for the 25% of centers that accumulate 50% dropout in their classrooms.
And it includes the creation of an interdepartmental commission of experts with a data system between all administrations to monitor. The progressive deployment of new counselors, mainly in ESO and FP, and the approval of the guidance decree.
In this way, it is advocated to share the data of the students with the municipalities (for the moment, those of 4th ESO are shared), to be able to accompany them and guide them if they do not enroll in training after leaving secondary school.
Special focus is placed on the most vulnerable, due to their easy dropout from school, whether for socioeconomic or health reasons (disorders, disability or emotional well-being), for which reason they are alerted to work jointly with the municipalities and various Government departments for detection or accompaniment . The deployment of counselors in educational centers before the end of the next academic year is also contemplated.
Likewise, it is requested that the legal and economic viability of the centers of new opportunities be analyzed to provide them with stability. And that more resources be provided to the centers that concentrate the highest dropout and the lowest level of skills (some 70 centers in Catalonia).
It is worth noting the section on foreign languages ??that had been expressly proposed by the Socialist Party. In this sense, it has been voted to promote English or other foreign languages ??during the period 2024-2030 so that young people reach 18 years of age, after completing high school or higher vocational training, with a guaranteed B2 level, which implies investing in assistants. of languages ??and agreements with institutions. And it is striking another specification regarding languages ??that at the end of ESO, students must prove their linguistic competence through tests in official language schools.
This battery of proposals has also included an increase in places from 0-3 and a plan to modernize VT, urging the Government to correctly dimension the offer of places and adapt it to the sectoral and territorial needs and the training demand of the citizenship.
The emotional well-being of young people has also been addressed, in terms of mental health, and also to prevent bullying. Inclusive education is promoted with 100 million for support professionals already in the next course, and more resources for mental health centers.
