Start the 'back to school': What worries the educational community this course?

Spanish families will spend an average of 410.71 euros per student, 5 euros more than last year, according to a study

   MADRID, 6 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The 'back to school' of the 2023-2024 academic year will be marked by the full implementation of the LOMLOE, the educational law known as the Celaá Law; the postponement of the new Evaluation of the Baccalaureate for University Access (EBAU), which will continue the same as the previous model next year; the rise in the prices of books and school supplies due to inflation; or the political uncertainty after the elections when the Government is in office and the changes of regional governments.

This month of September, more than 759,000 teaching, complementary, administration and service staff workers and more than 8 million students from public, subsidized and private centers in non-university educational centers will begin the new course.

The students of Infant and Primary Education of the Community of Madrid and those of Infant, Primary and Secondary of Catalonia will be the first to return to school after the summer holidays, since their classes will begin on September 6, according to data from the autonomous communities compiled by Europa Press.

The modifications introduced by the Celaá Law will be implemented this year in the even courses of Primary Education, Compulsory Secondary Education and Baccalaureate, after last year they were implemented in the odd courses.

The "uncertainty" due to the implementation of the LOMLOE or about what the new university entrance exam will be like, postponed by the Government as it is unable to carry out the royal decree when it is in office, as well as the rise of school supplies, are some of the aspects that most concern the fathers and mothers of Spanish students.

"We are starting a course again with the uncertainty of a new government, with the uncertainty of the full implementation of the new law and the problems that it is entailing and that teachers tell us, who have difficulties implementing the new law" , the president of the Confederation of Parents of Students (COFAPA), Begoña Ladrón de Guevara, has warned in statements to Europa Press, who also warns that families still do not know "how it will be" the final test of the EBAU , which will finally follow the previous model, despite the fact that the students in the second year of Baccalaureate will study the LOMLOE model this year.

For the president of COFAPA, the uncertainty faced by students in their second year of Baccalaureate is "particularly worrying", as it is a "very delicate" course that defines the possibilities of students when choosing a career or a Professional Training.

"It is more important than ever to be aware of what is happening with our children at school, how we can help them from home and how we can work as a team together with the teachers," proposes Ladrón de Guevara, while appealing to "that unity and that confidence in the centers and in the essential daily work of the teachers".

On the occasion of the start of a new course, families must face the purchase of textbooks which, in Spain, are the most expensive in Europe with an average price of 22.15 euros per book, according to a study carried out by Idealo.es made last August.

Despite the fact that Spain leads the European ranking with the most expensive books, both Italy and France follow closely behind. In the case of the Italians, they allocate about 21.54 euros for each book and, with respect to the French, the average price is around 20.94 euros per manual. On the other hand, Germany is the country with the cheapest textbooks in Europe, since the average price barely reaches 16.98 euros, which is 30% less than in the Spanish case.

Spanish families will spend an average of 410.71 euros per student for 'back to school', 5 euros more than last year (405.07 euros), according to a Banqmi study that states that in the Valencian Community, the most expensive, they will pay around 465.55 euros, while in Extremadura they will spend 383.38 euros on average per student.

The current political situation after the general elections held on July 23, with a government in office, is one of the main concerns for students. Thus, the president of the State Confederation of Student Associations (CANAE), Antonio Amante, has pointed out to Europa Press that "the situation could arise in which there is a Government in office for practically the entire academic year", something that, for students, it is a "quite worrisome" situation.

As a consequence of the electoral advance and the dissolution of the Cortes Generales, the Higher Artistic Education Law decayed, a norm, according to Amante, "very worked" by the student group. "We believe that it is a norm that has to move forward, whatever the government is, it is something that cannot fall on deaf ears," she adds.

Referring to the rise in school materials, the president of CANAE demands that all the autonomous communities approve laws that "allow the complete free education." "If we want students to remain in the educational system, to continue their education, we cannot continue to hinder this learning process. Therefore, we believe that the materials should be free," he says.

From the Student Front they have valued the postponement of the new university entrance exam before the start of the school year, a new test that the student organization considers to have "the same segregating character" as the current exam. "In practice, everything will remain the same beyond the superficial changes because the reform does not question its own existence and its consequences, but rather underpins them even more," he laments.

Before the beginning of the school year, the Independent Union and Officials Federation (CSIF) has requested a great State Pact that provides stability to Education in moments of political uncertainty.

Thus, the president of the National Education Sector of CSIF, Mario Gutiérrez, has affirmed, in statements to Europa Press Television, that to the problems that the LOMLOE has generated "are now added those derived from the political uncertainty that the results of the general elections" on July 23. "We find that, for example, we don't know how they are going to be examined or what EBAU the Second Baccalaureate students are going to have, once the course has started", he warns.

For its part, the Federation of Independent Teaching Unions (FSIE), before the start of a new academic year, has expressed its concern about the viability of educational plurality "in the face of lack of definition and paralysis in decision-making, caused by the political situation generated after the results of the last general elections".

"We welcome this new course with enthusiasm to the entire teaching and complementary group of concerted and private education and also to those of the disability care centers, with the conviction that the coming months will require overcoming of important challenges for the educational community", says the general secretary of FSIE, Jesús Pueyo.

For the union's general secretary, the political situation "is not the best of scenarios to start and face a calm and stable course in which, in addition, the calendars of the LOMLOE and the Vocational Training Law must continue to be applied." "Teachers and centers need stability and regulatory security to be able to carry out their work," claims Pueyo.