Since Anna Simó assumed the Education portfolio in June, she has striven to fulfill a double task. President Pere Aragonès asked him to pacify relations with the education sector and Parliament instructed him to recover the downward indicators. These months he has opened up channels of dialogue with the unions and the educational community and is preparing a detailed diagnosis of the state of education that will end up in an Excel spreadsheet with clear proposals, accompanied by a budget and a calendar that he will present to the deputies in January The hours of dedicated study can be seen in their answers. He admits that there is a lack of resources and the prospect of not having more money scares him. "Europe is demanding from the Spanish State a maximum growth of 3% in the coming years and the central government is asking the communities, which are the ones with competence in social matters, to have a zero deficit".
Has the course started with social peace?
It started with me reaching out to teachers, principals and unions. I know their reality and the difficulties they are going through and I want to make things easier. There will be changes, but without a budget right now I have no answers. I am concerned that we will not be able to increase it due to the European limitation and Madrid's zero deficit requirement.
But there has been money for the school voucher, which has been much discussed because it neither goes only to the vulnerable population nor is it managed by the schools.
It's not Education money, it's Economy and Presidency money.
Don't you think it would have been more useful in an educational game?
The purpose of the school voucher is to help families due to the increase in inflation. 75% has already been spent. The president has already said that he wants to evaluate it in November and that there will be changes in the management and orientation of resources. For example, it will be possible to invest in family associations.
It has been announced that there is no longer a budget for support monitors (“watchmen”) and many families are complaining.
Monitor resources are annual and have already been allocated. They have increased by 16% (29 million euros) compared to the previous year. I understand the families' complaints, but the fact is that the criteria have been changed and, in addition, 20% has been set aside to serve these children in canteens and outings, and this was not planned until now. But we have added more educational support staff for inclusiveness. One of my first decisions was to look for a support grant between July and August to reinforce child education technicians, special education and social educators. There are 330 of them.
Can you advance basic skills results? They are usually provided before the start of the course to give guidance to the centres.
We want to compare the data of the basic skills, reading comprehension (PIRLS) and the Catalan oral test. That's why it's taking so long. But each center has its result and already knows what it has to strengthen.
The bad results started before the pandemic, the councilors pass and they get worse.
The step before being able to modify results is a good diagnosis. The reality of the centers is increasingly complex and in Catalonia it is higher than in other autonomous regions. We have a very important live enrollment in accordance with the population movements that Catalonia receives. Linguistic and cultural diversity is very high and we have to provide knowledge in three languages. We are responding, but the school alone cannot improve results if it does not improve the labor market, urban segregation, basic support services, job insecurity. And the pandemic hasn't helped. It is necessary to bet on compensatory measures in public services.
In reading comprehension, what have they identified as wrong? Time, method, teachers?
The board of directors, which is very upset, wants to think about it. We know, for example, how important it is for families to read. The book and reading plan includes a campaign for families. In the centers there is already half an hour of daily reading in primary school and one a week in secondary school. We offer proposals for activities and supports. The teachers know their job.
But something is wrong, the bad results come from 2016.
Even earlier. But it depends on the structure of the center. Conditional if the family reads. Therefore, we will accompany families and offer teachers training and resources. I trust the faculty's ability. And we have increased libraries, which were reduced to less than half of schools due to the pandemic.
It is a pilot plan for 50 centres. Don't you think the impact of libraries has already been assessed?
The system is different, there will be an external librarian who will provide support and the new books will be, not in a room, but in the classroom.
Is your department improving the social use of Catalan?
We are working on three sides. With the students, teachers and families to whom we offer courses. In five years there will be language practice workshops in all centres.
Are you worried that there are more families asking for 25% Spanish?
I am more concerned that the children of families who do not have Catalan as their usual language cannot acquire knowledge in three languages so that we are not able to gain the lost ground.
Does the school language law comply with Spanish?
Yes, Spanish as a school language is used in many ways, in assignments, videos... But the problem is the Catalan that the students and some teachers do not speak. That's why you need to see the results of the oral test. And we must guarantee teachers' Catalan skills.
The next course on September 1st is Sunday. If the 4th starts, schools will have even less time than this year to prepare the course.
I am aware of the complaints from the center management. In the 2024-2025 academic year, we will all work together so that there is a great agreement. This includes talking about the work of the teachers in the months of June and July. It won't start after September 12th, that's for sure, but it doesn't have to be the 4th either. In any case, the templates will be stable thanks to the stabilization process and that will help a lot. By the end of 2024, there will only be 8% of interim positions.
Will you ban cell phones?
I have asked the School Council to activate a debate. To ban them would be to cancel the possibility of talking to families, to hide a much-needed debate. Families need to know what is involved in giving their child a cell phone. The later the better. The recommended age is 16, which is better than 12. And in any case, not before. In mobile phone-free schools, a preliminary debate was held before banning them and this is the way to go.
Many students were left without a teacher for weeks last year due to a lack of substitutes. How will this course go?
Last year, 30,000 replacements were made. Right now there are 100 unfilled. They are language, mathematics or IT. We want to see if teachers from the exchange in one territory can move to another when there are no staff available in that one. And we are negotiating with unions exceptional measures such as a Catalan teacher being able to work 5 more hours on a voluntary and paid basis. And we have made the profile of Catalan teachers more flexible with journalists or historians with a C2 level. We are trying to expand the places for the master's degree in online secondary education.
There were 1,800 unassigned FP places. Are they covered?
A total of 400 are already enrolled. The rest want a center and a specific specialty, and it's difficult, but there are vacancies. What surprised us was the registration of 3,000 people at the last moment. They did not show up for pre-registration and are now betting on studying.
Do you think intensive days are good?
Compacted working days were once taken to compensate for economic cuts, but they were linked to results. In other words, we must first make a pedagogical assessment. But schedules are also a social affair. What about vulnerable students without extracurriculars, what do the turnkey kids do with their time?
They have unified the violence protocol, created a register and designated a coordinator for co-education, coexistence and well-being in each school. But in the training they have been told that one hour a week is enough, and to apply the protocol to the minimum.
It is a good figure that will represent a before and after in the issue of violence inside and outside schools. What has been done so far has allowed more and more cases to emerge. Now we have to improve prevention. The climate in schools will improve, because high school students will have a nurse for a few hours a week, counselors and the coordinator.
