The PSIB and MÉS accuse the Government of "investing" the educational model and prioritizing the subsidized over the public

PalmaThe PSIB and MÉS per Mallorca have lashed out against the new decree on subsidized schools promoted by the Government, which extends the duration of educational subsidies from six to ten years. They agree that the norm represents a change in model that places the subsidized network ahead of the public one and denounce that the PP Executive allocates more resources to strengthen private centers while not sufficiently expanding the public network.

The PSIB candidate for the presidency of the Government, Rosario Sánchez, has assured that the decree "inverts the model" of education in the Balearic Islands and places subsidized education "ahead" of public education. In a press conference at the party headquarters in Palma, Sánchez accused Prohens of applying "the Ayuso model," in reference to the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, for betting, as she denounced, on the privatization of public services such as healthcare and education.

Sánchez also criticized that the decree was processed by urgent procedure. According to the socialist leader, this processing has prevented sufficient debate on the consequences of the new regulation and has made it difficult for the educational community to know and analyze its content.

The socialist has framed the decree within a line of action that, in her opinion, the Government has maintained since the beginning of the legislature to favor private education over public education. In this regard, she also cited the free choice of language, which she considers to promote segregation between Spanish-speaking and Catalan-speaking students and weakens the presence of Catalan in the educational system.

For Sánchez, the new regulation "breaks with a model" in which subsidized education had a "complementary" role with respect to the public network. The PSIB candidate assured that the party maintains contact with unions and representatives of the educational community and stated that there is a shared concern about the content of the decree, which she described as "the most serious measure in educational matters" of the current Government.

The socialist criticisms have also focused on the processing of the norm. The PSIB candidate for the presidency of the Consell de Mallorca, Amanda Fernández, denounced that the urgent procedure has limited the right of hearing and participation of unions, families, and other representatives of the educational community.

Fernández recalled that the Consell Consultiu expressed its "concern" about the reduction of processing deadlines and that the Consell Escolar de les Illes Balears requested an extension of the deadline for submitting allegations due to the length of the text, which approaches a hundred articles. She also lamented that many of the proposals put forward have not been incorporated into the decree.

The PSIB also questions that the agreements will have a validity of ten years. Fernández has pointed out that the decree itself justifies the change by aligning with the model implemented in the community of Madrid and has considered that the measure aims to "shield" for a decade a model that prioritizes subsidized over public.

The socialists have also focused on the economic measures incorporated by the norm, such as the possibility that subsidized centers allocate remaining funds to infrastructure or that certain staff compensation be financed with public funds. Fernández has also criticized that the Government prioritizes the subsidization of places over the creation of new public places, especially in the stages from 0 to 3 years and Baccalaureate.

MÉS denounces an "strategy" to reinforce the private sector

MÉS per Mallorca has agreed with the socialists on the diagnosis, while emphasizing the planning of the public network. The deputy Maria Ramon has denounced that the new decree is "a new step" in the consolidation of a privatized educational model that, according to the party, relegates public schools to a secondary role.

"When a government renounces building a public school where a subsidized center already exists, what it is saying is that the public network ceases to be a priority," Ramon stated. The deputy considers that the extension of subsidies for up to ten years "is not a simple administrative matter," but "a profoundly political decision that mortgages more than two legislatures and conditions the educational planning of the entire next decade."

Ramon has placed the measure within a broader government strategy. "First it was the consolidation of the model through the 0-3 stage; then the subsidizing of new Vocational Training studies; later the firm commitment to private universities; and now the ten-year educational subsidies are arriving," she enumerated. According to MÉS, "everything responds to the same project: to strengthen the weight of private education with public resources while weakening the growth capacity of public schools."

The eco-sovereigntist party has also questioned that the Government does not plan to build public places where there is already subsidized provision. For Ramon, the debate is whether subsidies should function as "a subsidiary instrument to complement the public network where necessary" or if the Executive intends to turn subsidized education "into the first gateway to the educational system." MÉS considers that the PP "has clearly opted for this second option."

The general coordinator of MÉS per Mallorca, Lluís Apesteguia, has asserted that "public school is and must continue to be the backbone of the Balearic Islands' educational system." The party demands more public places, reduction of ratios, more staff, better infrastructure, and better working conditions.

"We cannot continue diverting public resources towards a model that consolidates dependence on subsidized education while the public network continues to suffer from structural deficiencies," Apesteguia warned.

Both MÉS and PSIB agree, therefore, to question the turn that, according to their complaints, the new decree implies. While the socialists place special emphasis on the urgent processing, the duration of the concerts and the financing measures for the subsidized centers, MÉS focuses its criticism on the planning of the public network and the risk that the concerts will cease to have a complementary role within the educational system.