The driving group of experts who will advise the Government on educational matters to reverse the bad results of the last PISA report met yesterday for the first time after the Government announced on Tuesday the 18 names that compose it, to which was added a more member, decided at the last minute, but which is included in the Official Journal of the Generalitat of Catalonia (DOGC). This is the secretary of the group of experts, appointed by the Department of Education, who did not disclose her name. He will have a voice like the others, but not the right to vote.
At yesterday’s meeting, which was attended for the first few minutes by councilor Anna Simó and her management team and which lasted nearly two hours, the priority issues that this group will deal with and the calendar, which will be intense, were set , since they have until February to define the proposals. For this reason, Education will release them from their work in educational centers by appointing substitutes. The work of the experts will not be remunerated.
“The objective is to specify prioritized and viable proposals that can have an impact on reading and mathematics results and are applicable in the 2024-2025 school year,” detailed Jesús Vinyes, technical coordinator. “There may be others”, he added, “but these must surely be there”. In addition, they will prepare a report on measures to be developed in the medium and long term, with monitoring mechanisms for the proposed measures. “Educational policy is determined by the Government”, Vinyes wanted to clarify, “we will propose viable measures, based on consensus and with a desire for continuity”. Some of which, he expressed, are probably already being applied. “Not all will be exclusively methodological or curricular”, he clarified, “PISA says that social class is decisive in the results”.
These proposals will establish, as explained by the president of the Council of Education, the commitment to increase the budget planned by the Administration for this financial year. The Government plans to increase the education budget by 9% in 2024 in response to the social alarm created after the PISA report.
“It is a very plural group, made up of people who have experience and the ability to reflect on practice”, considered Vinyes. Regarding the methodology, he did not define anything. “Perhaps subgroups are formed and then it will be shared and a general vote may not be necessary.” At the beginning of February, the first conclusions will be communicated to the parliamentary groups and, at the end of the month, a report will be issued with measures for the next academic year and to be applied in the medium term. The report will be presented to the parliamentary groups and the Council.
On the other hand, the Complaints Ombudsman, Esther Giménez-Salinas, yesterday presented to Parliament the follow-up report on the pact against school segregation. Segregation has dropped by 20%, but 250 “very ghettoized” centers still persist. Therefore, in his opinion, a shock plan is needed and a limit of vulnerable students per center should be implemented. The Syndic also stressed the need to reflect on the system of reception and inclusion of immigrant students to combat the “structural racism” they suffer: groupings by level, referral to curricular diversification programs, orientation to professional itineraries… She proposed a new approach to politics from a non-racist perspective.
