Tears of joy and nervousness as children go back to school in Catalonia

First days are always special no matter your age, whether it be starting a new job or going back to school after summer vacation. 

In Catalonia, 1,588,733 students are expected this academic year, but on Monday only those aged 3 to 12 were back in the classroom, some full of joy and others a bit nervous to see their friends and teachers again. Older students will be returning on Wednesday. 

The start of the 2022/23 academic year has been historic so far, as this is the first time that classes start as early as September 5. This day also marks the return to normality after the pandemic, as this is the first academic year in three years that has kicked off with no Covid-19 restrictions in place.

New calendar to improve work-life balance

In CEIP Espai 3, in Sant Joan Despí, there was more laughter and hugs than tears just before 9 am, when classes were due to start. Its two playgrounds are full of life again, as are its basketball and football courts and slide.

Work and school routines have resumed, earlier than usual, in many Catalan households, with family logistics having had to be amended due to the new calendar.

The government aimed to help improve the work-life balance of parents with this change.

For parents, school starting a week earlier "means rearranging their work schedules a bit and asking grandparents for help," said Àngel, a grandfather, upon dropping off his grandchild.

"The kids’ parents were able to organize themselves well because they have their grandmother," said Vera, a grandmother.

Indeed, some grandparents had to wake up earlier to go to school, but at least they will be free the rest of the morning.

"I believe starting early is great as we always had to ask grandparents for help and now that kids are starting earlier, grandparents can relax a little bit. For us, it has been a good thing," said a mother called Núria.

In September, pre-school and primary school children will only attend lessons in the morning, but they can still have lunch at the center and some optional afternoon activities. 

Yet, at CEIP Espai 3, only between 10% and 15% of its 485 students have ordered this service.

The new calendar has been somewhat controversial, with teacher strikes organized in part due to the changes. Some teachers claimed they would have no time to prepare for the school year since they return to work on September 1.

"The education department did something that I believe to be good, which was to assign teachers to classrooms a month earlier than usual. Families already knew who their children's teacher would be. This helped us a lot," Rosa Maria de la Fuente, director of the school, told Catalan News.

Yet, she also said the government should have implemented this "necessary" measure before they did in February, to provide more time to organize it.

"The only thing is that we had less time to prepare since we just had two days, but as we worked in July a little bit longer, everything has been planned. Everything is good and it’s always really fun to see them again," Anna, the English teacher, told Catalan News. 

New world for 3-year-olds, with fewer classmates

Newcomers, that is to say, 3-year-olds who began pre-school on Monday, experienced something new for the first time ever. For some, it was a bit traumatic, while others conveniently fell asleep just before being dropped off for their first day of school – yet, this did not save them from their fate.

Indeed, a novelty this year is that P-3 classrooms (3-year-olds) are expected to have no more than 20 students each.

"This is due to the decreased birth rate, but also due to the intention to lower ratios. It was very necessary. We will be able to personalize the learning much more," said de la Fuente.

Less tension and controversies with unions and over languages - for now 

For the rest of the kids and teachers, this school year will start with fewer obstacles compared to the past few. Face masks were not to be seen anywhere, which was an additional cause for celebration.

Also, at least so far, discrepancies between the education ministry and unions will not lead to more strikes – at least during the first term. 

Tension has for now also lessened in the conflict between the Catalan government, some Spanish-speaking families, and courts.

After the Spanish Supreme Court ruled in November 2021 that a 25% Spanish language in teaching quota had to be introduced, Catalonia passed a decree and a law to dodge it and the Constitutional Court is deliberating whether it is a lawful move. In the meantime, the main working language at school is still Catalan, at least for now.