Single-sex secondary schools no longer eligible for public funding

Single-sex secondary schools in Catalonia will no longer be eligible for public funding, Catalan education minister Anna Simó announced on Thursday.  

"From September 6, no secondary school that separates boys and girls will receive public money," Catalan education minister Anna Simó said, adding that if parents wanted to send their children to such education centers, they would have to be "100% private."

This comes following a High Court decision to lift the injunction barring authorities from not funding two semi-private ('concertat') single-sex secondary schools.

The two schools, Viaró and Can Joliu, had appealed an October 2021 Catalan government decision to only fund mixed-sex educational centers. The High Court forced authorities to pay them as a precautionary measure.

The Catalan government will now initiate procedures to have these sums returned, Simó stated. 

Semi-private single-sex primary schools still receive public funding, but this will come to an end in the 2026-2027 academic year.

"That agreement was extended treacherously and at night during the 155," Simó complained, referring to the period of direct rule from Madrid following the 2017 Catalan independence referendum.