Overcrowded classrooms, increased inequality, and Catalan, dying out

PalmThe first quarter of the 21st century has left a profound mark on the Balearic education system. Accelerated demographic changes, growing inequalities, linguistic debates, new educational opportunities, and a university that has evolved in size and scientific ambition have shaped a very different scenario from that of the beginning of the millennium. This report looks back to understand the present and project into the future.

More and more vulnerable

More than 50,000 students have joined.

Since the beginning of the century and millennium, more than 50,000 students have joined the general education system in the Balearic Islands, a phenomenon that has been met with school growth that has not kept pace. "The biggest increase began to be noticeable from the year 2000 onwards, when we were already having trouble placing all the incoming students," explains Martí March, former Minister of Education and former Director General of Universities. "In the period 2015-2023, we were seeing an average of 2,000 new students joining us each year," he says.

One example is the IES Sineu: that year it had 333 students and now it has 1,400, all in a center designed for 700 students. Back then, 18% were newly arrived students, a percentage that has now skyrocketed to 32%.

Not only are there many more students, but the burdens of social and economic exclusion they carry are heavier. "At the beginning of the century, those who arrived were from the Iberian Peninsula, Germany, and England; now we have non-EU students who often come with many difficulties. Some have never been to school, who can't read or write, and the schools deal with this very professionally, but with the student-teacher ratios we have, it's impossible to reach everyone with the best possible support," says Viejas, who has been a teacher for 20 years and is president of the Association of Primary School Principals of Mallorca (Adipma). In Sineu, they currently have nearly a hundred extremely vulnerable students. Years ago, they could be counted on one hand. Today, many schools have high student-teacher ratios, sometimes at maximum or even exceeding capacity, and more students with difficulties than ever before. All of this hinders the educational process.

The scourge of abandonment

The latest figure puts it at 20.14%.

For now, the Balearic Islands have a 20.14% school dropout rate, the second highest in Spain. This has risen two percentage points compared to 2023 and five compared to 2021, although it has fallen by more than 12 percentage points compared to 10 years ago, when it stood at 32%. And if we go back further, in 2000 the rate climbed to 40%, March indicates. The economic model, as it was then, continues to be a determining factor: people are hired without any kind of training, in a region where the service sector generates many jobs. Schools try to retain students, but they don't always succeed.

Although in this quarter of a century, and especially in the last ten years, vocational training has been strengthened and the stigma of it being "where bad students end up" has been removed, the offerings still fail to meet the expectations of all those interested or the demands of the job market. "Out of 160 students who complete the fourth year of ESO (compulsory secondary education), we might have about 15 who drop out and go straight to work," explains Rafel Crespí, a teacher and former principal of IES Sineu.

The school doesn't always speak Catalan

The minimum standards decree is in danger.

There's a reality everyone knows, but that's difficult to verify. Twenty-five years ago, most public schools had Catalan language programs. "Now there are schools, both public and private, that don't meet the minimum standards," says March. For his part, Mas blames the leaders: "What we have now is the result of poor language policy from all the governments. Nobody has made an effort to create a grassroots language policy that would complement the work of the schools," he says.

For all these reasons, the use of Catalan in schools, as well as the students' level, has plummeted, as confirmed year after year by the IAQSE tests. For decades, generations of teachers emerged with linguistic awareness and a sense of duty to transmit the language. Now, teachers born here arrive at schools who have difficulty expressing themselves in Catalan. Something unthinkable 25 years ago. The lack of teachers also means that professionals from the Spanish mainland arrive with no knowledge of their own language.

Schools can no longer compensate for the students' deficiencies: young people arrive who don't know either official language. They finish primary school without mastering either, although they always do somewhat better with Spanish. They arrive at secondary school "with great difficulty speaking and writing in Catalan," Crespí points out. And many times they graduate without mastering it, something the law requires.

The first Education Law

Approved in 2022 and with consensus

It took many years of work until the Balearic Parliament approved the Balearic Islands Education Law (LEIB) in 2022. The initiative arose from the Menorca Edu21 movement, and from there, principals, teachers, inspectors, unions, and the public and private school networks worked together to create the document. Islands for a Pact, which culminated in the signing of the Pact for Education in 2016.

The law took six years to pass. "It was a wonderful project, because we all came together for the first time, resulting in a very, very good text, which was somewhat diluted during the parliamentary process," Mas points out. Both she and March agree: "The current government has it shelved. There's no need to repeal it; they simply haven't implemented it," laments the former minister.

The law strengthens early childhood education (ages 0-3) and promotes school autonomy and the decentralization of educational decisions in favor of faculty councils, among other measures. It also stipulates that Catalan is the sole language of instruction. The PP government, with the support of Vox, will also introduce Spanish, although, in principle (and for the time being), this will not require schools to modify their language programs.

Educational movement at a standstill

The fight against the TIL generated unity

On September 29, 2013, more than 100,000 people took to the streets of the Balearic Islands to protest the education policies of José Ramón Bauzá's government, characterized by budget cuts and attacks on the Catalan language, with the TIL (Trilingual Education Project) as its prime example. It was during the 2011-2015 legislative term that a sense of educational community emerged: the first time that families, teachers, universities, and inspectors united in defense of public schools and Catalan-language education.

It was also the moment when the Teachers' Assembly was born and the historic indefinite strike began. "We had a terrible time, with 30 days of strike action," recalls Crespí, who resigned in 2013 in disagreement with the TIL (Trilingual Education Project) and the Symbols Law that prohibited displaying flags on school facades. "The movement that arose now couldn't be repeated, unless they attacked the language again as they did then, in which case perhaps the teachers would rebel. We already demonstrated this with the 'don't touch the language' campaign," warns the headteacher.

"Now families don't perceive any problems, there are no budget cuts, and therefore it would be difficult for us all to agree." Regarding the Teachers' Assembly, he laments its loss of mobilization capacity. "During the TIL program, we held assemblies at the school and they were packed; now they're not," he laments.

The UIB is back in full force

More qualifications and fighting for the language

In 25 years, the UIB has gone from offering between 24 and 39 undergraduate degrees and one doctoral program to offering 37 bachelor's degrees, six double degrees, 40 master's degrees, and 26 doctoral programs—figures that demonstrate the university's growth. "The range of programs has diversified considerably," explains Rector Jaume Carot, who emphasizes one point: while the UIB was previously the G9 university (the group of public universities that are the only ones in their respective regions) with the fewest programs, it now has several others. The number of students enrolled in official degree programs has decreased slightly, from 14,488 to 14,311. "We must also remember the Open University for Seniors (UOM), which didn't exist then and now has more than 2,000 students," Carot points out.

One of the ongoing problems at the UIB is the limited presence of Catalan-language teaching, an issue that concerns and is being addressed by the university administration, which will soon have data on the situation and will act accordingly to promote the language. "Before, the staff was mostly local. Now we receive professors from Catalonia and the Valencian Community, but with internationalization we have also brought in people from elsewhere. We have an induction program for them and offer them training. We have a plan, and it will expand," explains Carot. Despite the administration's commitment to strengthening the language, the problem lies in academic freedom. "A professor cannot be forced to teach in a specific language," he says.

Focused on science

Exponential growth of research

The Balearic Islands, thanks to the UIBThey have gained momentum in research and science. If 1,537 articles were published in the journal in 2000, the number of articles published in the journal has increased significantly. Web of ScienceTwenty-five years later, the number has reached 6,244. Back then, there were 80 active research projects; now there are 330. Funding obtained through competition with researchers worldwide has also skyrocketed, rising from €2,441,403 to €51,762,873. "Research funding isn't something you just grab. You compete with people from across Spain, Europe, and the world. They analyze not only your proposals but also your past work. It's complicated," explains the university rector.

There is a historic milestone in this quarter-century that Carot remembers fondly. The Relativity and Gravitation group at the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB), led by Dr. Alicia Sintes and including researchers such as Dr. Sascha Husa and other specialists, was the only Spanish team integrated into the LIGO project (an American observatory that detects ripples in spacetime). They contributed models and the analysis of key data to confirm the discovery of gravitational waves in 2015. Sintes's work in this field dates back to 1995 with her doctoral thesis, which Carot himself supervised. "She has an impressive CV," he remarks.