Government to create working group to improve education system

The Catalan government is to create a working group made of experts from the education community to draw up a plan with proposals by the end of February to improve the education system. 

Minister of Education, Anna Simó, made the announcement following a summit between the government and political parties regarding Catalan students' poor results in the PISA international assessments. 

The working group will be made up of fifteen members with varying profiles from across Catalonia, with representatives from all levels of the education system and both public and semi-public schools, Simó explained. 

The agreed objective, she said, is for this group of experts to draw up a report at the end of February with two sections: one with priority measures to apply in the 2024-2025 academic year and another with proposals for medium- and long-term measures. 

The proposal was approved at the summit, Simó said, with "sufficient consensus" to start working on it "immediately." 

Socialists and Junts support 

The initiative has the backing of the three largest parties in Parliament – governing Esquerra Republicana, the Socialists and Junts. 

Socialist MP Esther Niubó said it was imperative to "listen to education professionals." The current situation of the education system was "painful and worrying," she said, offering her party's support to improve it. 

"It is up to us to steady the course of educational policies, to rectify what has not been done well enough," she added. 

Junts per Catalunya expressed "surprise" that the Socialists "attended the summit without a single proposal" 

Albert Batet from the pro-independence party arrived at the summit with twenty measures, including the constitution of a "national committee of experts," very similar to the one agreed with the government. 

Esquerra parliamentary spokesperson Marta Vilalta also welcomed the creation of the working group, saying: "Nothing starts or ends today. Work has been going on for a long time." 

Comuns, CUP and PP skeptical  

Left-wing Comuns expressed "certain skepticism and concern about the method and scope" of the working group, while far-left pro-independence CUP criticized the government for not taking "urgent decisions in the face of an educational crisis that requires emergency responses." 

The conservative People's Party said it was necessary to change the educational model in Catalonia, including "recognizing the failure of [Catalan language] immersion" and "revising the contents of textbooks and materials to avoid indoctrination." 

Ciudadanos also called for reform of the system.

Several parties proposed increasing the education department's budget to 6% of GDP. 

Far-right Vox did not take part in the government's meeting with parties.