These are the keys to the Government’s budget in Education

The Ministry of Education of the Generalitat de Catalunya has, in the Government’s budgets for 2022, an item of 6,681 million euros, a figure that represents an increase of 1,009 million euros, 17.8% more than in the 2020 accounts. These accounts include 405 million euros of Next Generation European funds. It is the highest item in the history of the department and the second highest of the Executive’s ‘conselleries’ in the 2022 budgets. The ‘conseller’ Josep Gonzàlez-Cambray presented this Thursday in parliamentary committee how this budget is distributed in line with the draft educational transformation that the Government has marked as an objective of the legislature. These are the Keys to the Education budget for 2022.

Reduction of ratios in P3

• Reduction of ratios in Infant 3 (P3), both in public and subsidized centers. It will be passed 25 to 20 students per classroom. For this, Educació has an item of 56.8 million euros. The measure will begin to be applied in the 2022/23 academic year, therefore the first children to benefit will be those born in 2019. The department’s idea is to extend this reduction in ratios to the rest of the educational levels. “In 9 years, all Catalan schools will have a maximum of 20 students per class in all courses,” Gonzàlez-Cambray has promised.
• The reduction of students per classroom will mean a increased groups (450, almost 20% more than at present) and this will imply the hiring 1,545 professionals.
• The ‘minister’ has defended that the reduction of ratios favors learning and socialization. “Reducing the ratios is a measure that changes the paradigm of educational policies and that contributes enormously to the transformation of the educational system”, pointed out the ‘minister’, who has predicted that “the educational system of 2030 will have more centers, fewer students per classroom and more teachers. And this transformation begins now. ”

• Education allocates for the academic year 2022/23 a total of 90 million euros to guarantee Free Infant 2 (or P2). Thus, schooling in P-2 will be free at all day care centers public (42 of the Generalitat and 916 municipal). The ‘conseller’ has detailed that the Government will give the municipalities the sufficient amount to pay what until now the families covered. The rest of nurseries (some 640 private and subsidized) will see an increase in the subsidy they receive from the Generalitat.
• In the whole of the stage 0-3, the investment will be 202 million of euros for 2022, which represents an increase of 106% compared to the 2020 budget. This item includes 9.5 million euros to repay the debt to the municipalities for the years in which they did not receive the Government’s contribution.
• The Government understands that favoring the early access of children to early childhood education favors learning, socialization, the work-life balance of families and to combat the depopulation of rural environments. The objective is to guarantee, progressively, free education at all levels of early childhood education so that Catalonia can offer a basic education system from 0 to 18 years old, supported by public funds.

• One of the department’s goals is to ensure the equity, equal opportunities of all children in access to education. Within the framework of the deployment of the admissions decree, and in line with the Pact against Segregation, Educació allocates 38 million euros so that all socioeconomically vulnerable students have guaranteed the free of all education, not only the curricular, but also of material, textbooks, dining room, outings, excursions, colonies, school services … And this will be both in public schools and in concerted schools.
• Gonzàlez-Cambray has argued that “educational transformation is linked to equity and must lead us to the equivalence in quality of all educational centers. Only this equivalence will lead us to a non-segregating system that guarantees equal access to education quality”.

• The item for dining scholarships is 174 million euros, 36.6 million more than in 2020. This item is open, so it can grow as the course progresses, depending on the needs. This 2021/2022 academic year there are 2,234 more beneficiaries than the previous one. The increase occurs in the section of 70% of the cost of the dining room service.

• Investing in inclusive school grows by 32 million compared to the previous budget. Of these, 10 million will be used to incorporate professionals, and 9 to hire monitors. Specifically, they will be hired 278 new professionals in public and subsidized centers: 171 teachers and 107 educational care professionals.
• As a novelty for the 2022/23 academic year, Gonzàlez-Cambray has announced that changes the system of monitors for students with special educational needs. Until now, these students could have a monitor in the classroom and another in the dining room. Starting next year, they will have the same person throughout school hours. “It is a step forward towards quality”, stressed the ‘minister’. With the new model and the allocation of 9 million to hire monitors, it will be increased by 22,000 weekly hours of service for these companions.
• The ‘councilor’ has defended moving towards a model in which all students with special needs and all the needs they have are detected. From there, instead of having a closed game of inclusive school, there will be games of schooling, whereby each student will always be assigned a resource.

• Main axis of the educational policies of the department. There will be a game of 37.7 million that will allow hiring 743 new teachers. The increase of 182 groups and 6 new concerts this year is also covered. The budget includes the forecast of new VET groups in public centers and the renewal of machinery and equipment.
• The Shock Plan of the FP will include a series of improvements for the 2022/23 academic year: advance of the pre-registration process, new access criteria for guarantee that all 4th year ESO students have a guaranteed place within one of the medium-level professional families that they have chosen, the improvement of the orientation of the ESO students and an offer adapted to the maximum to the labor market and the needs of the territory.

Digital education plan

• The digital education plan has an investment of 246.8 million euros, which includes the connectivity of the centers, the distribution of digital devices for students and teachers, and the deployment of Wi-Fi and fiber optic networks in the centers. This game has a brutal increase compared to 2020, when it was only 7.4 million.
• This course, Education will facilitate 250,000 digital devices for students in 5th and 6th grade of primary school and 1st and 2nd grade of ESO. So far, it has distributed 300,000 devices to 220,000 third-year ESO students and 70,000 teachers.
• The European funds will allow the hiring of 284 digital mentors. Each of them will monitor between 10 and 15 centers to implement the digital improvement plan.

Improved educational opportunities

• Education has planned a game of € 22.4 million for the implementation of opportunity improvement plan. This item is intended to support students and reinforce educational care, support families and reduce economic barriers.

• Emotional well-being and mental health is another of the department’s goals. It has a game of 12 millions euros that will allow incorporating 101 psychopedagogical counseling professionals.

Related news

• The main item of the department’s budget corresponds to chapter 1, that of personnel, which is 3,835 million, 160 million more than in the previous accounts. This item will allow an increase of 952 endowments of personal teacherand 93 endowments of administrative personnel and educational attention personnel.

Buildings and Equipment

• Investment in works and improvements of public center buildings by 2022 is at 169.4 million euros, 80 million more than in the 2020 accounts.
• Investment in equipments goes from 9 to 16 million. This item will allow, among other things, to modernize the machinery and equipment of the VET.