Can it be determined if a person will be a good teacher just because they have memorized a syllabus for months? More and more experts are answering no. At a time when the Balearic Islands, like countries across Europe, are facing a growing shortage of teachers, many universities and education professionals are proposing a far-reaching reform: to change the way future teachers and professors are trained, so that they learn the trade within the classrooms, accompanied by tutors and mentors, before entering public service. The proposal, inspired by the MIR for doctors, even opens the door to replacing competitive examinations with a year of paid professional induction subject to rigorous evaluation.

The teachers' assembly of IES Biel Martí (Ferreries) has made public a statement denouncing the "growing degradation of working conditions" in public educational centers in the Balearic Islands. The teaching staff warns that teacher cuts and lack of resources force the faculty to take on extraordinary tasks to maintain educational attention. They also demand "fewer cuts and more resources" and do not rule out mobilizations in September if the situation does not improve. The complaint joins those also made public by the institutes of Porto Cristo and Sa Blanca Dona, in Ibiza, which have warned of teacher cuts and the disappearance of some subjects.

The opposition against the educational planning of the Ministry of Education for the 2026-2027 academic year is beginning to be felt in public schools in the Balearic Islands. The teacher assemblies of two institutes, IES Can Peu Blanc in sa Pobla and IES Sa Blanca Dona in Ibiza, have made public two highly critical manifestos in which they denounce the reduction of teaching staff, the elimination of groups and subjects, and the increase in student-teacher ratios planned in numerous centers. Both senates agree in warning that the cutbacks compromise the quality of public education and call on the Ministry to rectify.

STEI has reviewed the 2025-2026 academic year and has criticized the management of the Ministry of Education, which it accuses of having failed to comply with part of the agreements signed in 2023 and of not addressing the main problems of the educational system. The union has warned that, if its demands are not met, it will plan mobilizations during the next academic year.

The policy of distributing resources to everyone that the Department of Education has applied since the beginning of the legislature has been gradually extinguishing any spark of mobilization in defense of public and Catalan schools, as well as the denunciation of the massive diversion of resources to subsidized schools, at a time when public education urgently needs oxygen. The contrast with what is happening across the sea is difficult to ignore: in Catalonia and the Valencian Country, similar educational realities have ignited strong mobilizations and strikes that have shaken the respective governments. In the Balearic Islands, on the other hand, the tension has been dissolving without a bang, as if it had evaporated before turning into conflict. It is true that island teachers, at least before the agreed or pending improvements are finalized, earn more than their Valencian and Catalan counterparts. But money, often, does not explain what happens in classrooms.

A classroom with heat, insufficient ventilation, and students trying to follow the class while the course enters its final stretch. The scene, repeated in many centers in the Balearic Islands, summarizes a year marked by wear and tear and the feeling that the distance between educational planning and classroom reality continues to grow. In this context, the Ministry of Education has announced several measures throughout the course: the Baccalaureate of Excellence, the incorporation of psychologists in Primary education, the reinforcement of emotional support for teachers, new coexistence measures, the consolidation of free 0-3 stage education, and the commitment to Vocational Training (FP), in addition to investments in centers, among others. All this comes to a system that, according to the centers, continues to be marked by a lack of foresight and the difficulty of turning announcements into real improvements.

Enrique Javier Díez is a professor at the University of León and one of the most active voices in the debate on the role of education in the face of the rise of far-right discourses. A specialist in critical pedagogy and education for democracy, he advocates for a school that contributes to forming a citizenry committed to democratic values and the common good. This week he is in Mallorca to present this Thursday (La Col·lectiva) the book Antifascist Pedagogy. Building inclusive, democratic, and common good pedagogy in the face of the rise of fascism and xenophobia. All this, at a time when the debate about the presence of these discourses among young people is already a protagonist.

The Department of Education has put on the table a new measure that would allow teachers to take a paid break from their professional careers, popularly known as a 'sabbatical year' after a period of progressive salary reduction over four courses. The proposal, presented today to the Sectoral Table of Education chaired by counselor Antoni Vera, has been received by the unions, which will analyze it before the next meeting. The meeting was also attended by the Director General of Teaching Staff and Concerted Centers, Joana Maria Cabrer, and the Director General of Educational Planning and Management, Catalina Ginart.

The Professor of Spanish Language and Literature Francisco Guardiola, with 28 years of experience in private education, has been in an open conflict with the Administration for more than a year after obtaining a 0 in one of the tests of the 2025 teaching competitive examinations in the Balearic Islands. The teacher maintains that the qualification does not reflect the real content of his exam and that the correction process was based on subjective and not very transparent criteria. The case has gone through an initial claim to the court, an administrative appeal and is now awaiting to know if the judicial route will be taken.

A demonstration called by union representatives from USO Balears has brought together workers from the subsidized education sector this Tuesday in front of the government delegation in the Balearic Islands to demand the equalization of working conditions with public schools, especially regarding teaching hours and workload.

“Before, we had around 1,200 applications to access the degrees of Early Childhood and Primary Education, and now, between 600 and 650”. This is how Miquel Oliver, dean of the Faculty of Education at the UIB, explains one of the consequences of the admission tests for these studies, established in 2021. For decades, access to these degrees has had certain conditions. There were people who wanted to enter because they considered them accessible. Others decided to study them when they were not really clear about their academic future. Now, this profile of students has been significantly reduced. “With selective tests, we manage to get people more motivated and, with this, we can work so that they come out more prepared and become good professionals. However, to enter the degree, they also have to pass the PAU and reach the cut-off mark,” explains Oliver. “We must prevent Magisterium from being a refuge for those who do not manage to enter other degrees. Precisely, the access exams have a dissuasive effect,” adds Bernat Sureda, professor of History of Education at the UIB.

The advancement of final exams and the closing of evaluation records for first-year Baccalaureate has altered the end of the school year in the Balearic Islands' high schools and has opened a growing debate among teachers, families, and students about the real meaning of June now. The decision by the Department of Education—which sets the closing of ordinary grades before June 5 and keeps classes until the 19th—aimed to reorganize the calendar, advance retakes, and dedicate the following weeks to both supporting students with pending subjects and maintaining teaching activity with approved students. However, on the ground, the majority perception is different: absenteeism has soared and effective learning time has been lost.

The School Council of the Balearic Islands (CEIB) has expressed its rejection of the measures relating to Catalan language knowledge included in the Omnibus Law, which it considers a “serious attack” on the linguistic normalization process. The body, responsible for analyzing regulations affecting the educational field, has placed special emphasis on two provisions: the exemption from the Catalan requirement for teaching staff accessing civil service positions in areas with very difficult coverage and the possibility that students temporarily residing in the Balearic Islands will not have to be examined in this subject.

Teachers in public schools in the Balearic Islands will not finally have days of free disposal – known as personal days

UOB Ensenyament has demanded the resignation of the Director General of Teaching Staff, Joana Maria Cabrer, for her management of the Sectoral Table of Education (MSE). In a statement, the union assures that "the state in which the Sectoral Table of Education currently finds itself is deplorable" and states that, during the last session convened, on June 1, it became clear that the representatives of the Ministry of Education and Universities "give no value to the Table, to the contributions and demands of the unions and, by extension, to the demands of the workers".

Eight out of ten teachers in the Balearic Islands who participated in a consultation promoted by the Independent, Autonomous and United Union (SIAU) are in favour of calling an indefinite strike in the education sector. According to the results of the survey made public this Monday by the union, 80.8% of participants support this option, while 11.7% oppose it and 7.5% state they do not have a defined position.

Lara de la Torre is a Canary teacher who works in Early Childhood and Primary Education in the Balearic Islands and has explained in a social media video how she learned Catalan in three years, a process that culminated in obtaining the C1 certificate and which she assures is still ongoing. "First of all, reading in Catalan helped me a lot. At first it was difficult for me, but reading everything in Catalan allowed me to learn a lot of new vocabulary and also to better understand weak pronouns. Also, I joined a book club and it was incredible. Secondly, I started using Catalan for everything: at the hairdresser's, at the town hall, at the supermarket, in shops... and without shame, asking any doubt I had. And the most important thing for me has been going to class. This has helped me to have a good structure and good grammar. And this is how I learned Catalan, even though I am still learning."

The Teachers' Assembly has agreed to allocate 100,000 euros from its resistance fund to support the educational strikes in the Valencian Country and Catalonia. The decision was made this Monday during an urgent general assembly held at IES Berenguer, in a context marked by the reactivation of educational mobilizations in Catalan-speaking territories and by the labor conflict in the 0-3 sector in the Balearic Islands.

The Independent, Autonomous and United Union (SIAU) has initiated a consultation with all teachers in the Balearic Islands to assess the call for an indefinite strike, in a move that aims to join the mobilizations already underway in Catalonia and the Valencian Community.