Will Catalan schools reopen to finish the school year?

On Friday, March 13, the Catalan government ordered the closure of all schools, colleges and universities on account of the coronavirus pandemic, a day later the Spanish government declared a state of alarm, which confined everyone to their homes, unless they had to go out for essential reasons, such as shopping or visiting a doctor.

Since then, families in Catalonia and the whole of Spain have remained in quarantine, with children doing homework sent by their teachers and some students attending virtual classes online. However, as the number of covid-19 cases continues to rise, the question of whether there is time to finish the 2019/2020 academic year is increasingly pressing.

Spain's education minister, Isabel Celaá, said that she "hopes" students will be able to return to class before the end of the school year, even if it is for a "short period" of time. "We might think about returning [to school] in May or June, but we will have to see how the pandemic goes," she told a Spanish television channel.

Nor has the Catalan education minister, Josep Bargalló, given up on the school year, which he insisted in a television interview this week "has not finished," although he admitted that whatever happens cannot be considered "normal." Bargalló added that the government will study the situation and make a final decision over Easter.

Reassessing the telematic option

One possibility proposed from the beginning of the crisis was to continue classes telematically, which was rejected by the Catalan authorities as not all families have access at home to the necessary resources, such as an internet connection. However, Bargalló said that the government is now looking into that possibility as the only option left.