The territorial sections of the GOB have demanded urgent measures to guarantee a fair fare for school transport, given the growing cost of discretionary services which makes it increasingly difficult to carry out activities outside the classroom.

Only 31.5% of schools in the Balearic Islands specifically address the visibility of the LGBTQ+ community, according to the 2024-2025 report from the Institute for Coexistence and School Success (Convivèxit) – data from 2023-2024. The study confirms that, despite progress in co-education, attention to sexual and gender diversity remains a minority practice in schools. This figure represents an improvement compared to 17.7% in the 2020-2021 school year, but it is far from the percentages of other initiatives related to equality. More than 90% of schools celebrate March 8, International Women's Day, and between 80% and 85% commemorate November 25 (International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women). The visibility of female role models is also present in more than 90% of schools in recent years.

"Black whore," "go back to your country," "you're my slave," "you're burned out"... these are some of the verbal attacks that Nana, Astou, and Mariama, third-year secondary school students, regularly hear from their classmates. The families of these three young women came to Mallorca from Senegal and Mali, and not a day goes by without someone reminding them of their foreign origins. "Being looked down upon because of the color of my skin makes me feel terrible," says Astou, while her friends nod in agreement. The three say they often protest the racism they endure and lament that, on many occasions, "the teachers don't pay any attention." "It's the same every year, and it's not our fault," Mariama asserts, and Nana proudly adds that, sometimes, protesting does work: "Last year, a classmate was suspended for a few days because he called me 'black.'" However, even the perception of students who respond to the aggression is problematic. “A young person of color is labeled as violent at the first sign of resistance, and that doesn’t happen to a young white person,” says Aliou, a first-year high school student of Senegalese and Venezuelan descent. Aliou asserts that racism “has multiplied among young people,” although outside of school, without the supervision of the teaching staff, “it’s harsher and more direct.” “The far right has a discourse that appeals to many classmates, and they say it without any problem,” he adds. This young man also points out that more could be done in schools and emphasizes the importance of individual and social context in such a complex issue: “White people who have never had problems often don’t notice certain behaviors,” he says.

For the past two years, history has been repeating itself, and every day more families join the struggle. In Pollença, Alcudia, Santa Margalida, Muro, and Can Picafort, the anxiety of arriving on time to the Joan Taix Integrated Vocational Training Center in Sa Pobla has become a collective battle affecting more than 600 students throughout the northern region. It's a problem that no one is resolving and, according to the families, is jeopardizing their future careers before they even begin. The situation hasn't changed in recent years despite the protests: young people arrive late due to public transport schedules and routes, and these delays translate into absences that count. And they count for a lot. Under current regulations, accumulating 25% absences means losing a place in the vocational training program. And the students at Joan Taix are simply at a disadvantage. "The bus drops them off at the Sa Pobla cemetery, and they have to walk across the entire town to get to the center. They're late every day," explains Maria Antònia, the mother of one of the affected students. She's not speaking for herself: she's speaking on behalf of dozens of families who have been living with this stressful, anxious routine of impossible deadlines for two years. "If they're five minutes late and there's an exam, they're not allowed in. And that's an unexcusable absence. We find it unfair because it's not up to them," she laments. A struggle that goes back a long way

This mother vividly remembers that when she studied at the same school, they were already experiencing a similar problem. Even so, the situation was better: "There was a bus that picked up students from Pollença and took them directly to Joan Taix. Santa Margalida and Muro traveled together on another bus, and Alcúdia and Pollença shared a route. All of this was provided by the Consell de Mallorca." Nowadays, however, students have to navigate a real obstacle course: "From Pollença, the bus arrives at approximately 7:30 a.m., but classes start at 8:00 a.m. A simple delay and they're already late." From Santa Margalida, they have to leave at six in the morning for Inca to catch the train to Sa Pobla. From Can Picafort and Muro, they depend on equally precarious connections," she says.

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The recent laying of the foundation stone for the new primary school (CEIP) in Sa Pobla has reignited a long-standing debate: should the school be named after Maria Margalida Socias, the late wife of agricultural businessman Guillem Caldés? The controversy is not merely symbolic. According to several sources, he conditioned the donation of his property where the school will be built on it bearing his wife's name, a person with no connection to the world of education. Sources very close to the Town Hall explain that the public tender held during the 2015-2019 term received few bids, but only Caldés's strictly met the financial requirements. Despite being within price, Caldés's offer presented some controversial elements: the main plot lacked street access, and to make it viable, a portion of a rural property that did not belong to him was annexed through an agreement with the owner, a friend of his.

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The Faculty of Education at the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB) became a national benchmark in Spain by implementing specific entrance exams in 2021 for Early Childhood and Primary Education degrees. These exams, in addition to the university entrance exam score, include oral assessments that all students must pass to gain admission to public universities. The goal was to identify candidates with the greatest potential aptitude and characteristics suited to teaching, while simultaneously discouraging students from enrolling simply to "study something," rather than out of genuine vocation or desire. The results, at least in terms of filtering, have been achieved. This is evident from data provided by the Department of Education. While 12.67% of the 560 applicants failed the first exam, this figure rose to 33.28% in the 2025-2026 academic year, a year that saw a record number of applicants (733). It's worth remembering that before the exams were administered, there was an average of 1,200 pre-registration applications for teacher training degrees.

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Transforming access to all schools in the municipality of Manacor to make them safer and more people-friendly. The Manacor City Council presented "Safe School Environments" this Monday, a project involving the Public Space, Education, and Local Police departments. Its objective is to reinforce traffic calming measures during school drop-off and pick-up times by encouraging students to walk, cycle, or use scooters to and from school. In total, work will be carried out on the access points of seventeen schools and on more than forty streets throughout the municipality, using specific road markings, vertical signage, and graphic elements that clearly identify priority zones for children and families. An identifying logo will be installed, along with new bicycle and scooter parking facilities at the schools. According to the City Council, the aim is to create safer, more functional, and more visible school areas, and to reinforce the temporary traffic restrictions during arrival and dismissal times, as has been the practice since 2020.

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The school year ends around June 20th and resumes the second week of September. Every year, when classroom temperatures exceed 30°C and most schools lack air conditioning, the same controversy resurfaces: while some families and experts advocate limiting summer vacation to July and August, the realities of school climates force the question of whether it's advisable for students to spend more days in class in June and begin the new school year. It's a debate that combines pedagogy, well-being, the state of school infrastructure, and work-life balance.

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When you enter the school, they ensure everyone's safety. At lunchtime, they prepare and serve the meals. And when everyone leaves, they make sure the classrooms are spotless. They are the cooks, the custodians, the cleaning staff, and the cafeteria workers. They all improve the lives of teachers and students, and without them, schools couldn't function at their full potential.

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The Professional Association of Teachers of the Balearic Islands has condemned the grave situation suffered by the civilian population in the Gaza Strip (Palestine) and denounced the massive destruction of educational infrastructure as a result of Israeli bombing. In a statement, the organization asserts that "this is not a conventional humanitarian crisis; it is the systematic destruction of a people and their surroundings."

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Students at the Clara Hammerl Secondary School (Port de Pollença) have published a manifesto condemning the genocide in Gaza and expressing solidarity with the child victims. The text, written collectively by the students, denounces the violence and inequalities suffered by thousands of children, calling for an education that fosters peace, coexistence, and empathy. "No child should suffer or lose their life because of where they were born," they assert in the manifesto. The students reflect on what their life would be like if they had been born in Gaza and value their rights and privileges simply because they were born in Mallorca, a very different part of the world. This awareness has led them to demand a school that is not indifferent to global suffering, but rather educates to understand and transform it.

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The 2025-2026 school year begins with important developments. This includes new educational curricula, the ban on cell phones, and the regulation of screens, among others. However, not everything is new. There are open areas that impact the dynamics of schools and which should be addressed to improve educational quality and, thus, aim to improve academic results and the well-being of families, teachers, and students. We analyze these areas and outline some of the challenges for the new year with representatives of the educational community.

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The Na Peñón Primary School in Cala Millor will have more places for children aged 0-3 and a cafeteria service for preschool and primary school students this academic year. The Regional Minister of Education and Universities, Antoni Vera, visited several schools in the eastern part of Mallorca this Monday to learn about the infrastructure improvements that have been made. One of the main new features is the expansion of the first-cycle preschool offering at the Na Penyal Primary School, which, starting in the 2025-2026 academic year, will have 74 places distributed across two classrooms for each age group (babies, 1-2 year-olds, and 2-3 year-olds).

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The Llucmajor City Council has completed the partial demolition of the Urbanizaciones Primary School, a project carried out in compliance with a court ruling and costing €1.3 million. From that moment on, the Ministry of Education will assume leadership of the next stage, focusing on the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the affected spaces, with the aim of restoring the school to normal operations as soon as possible, according to Efe.

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The new Felanitx Primary School will have capacity for 450 students and will have seven specific places in the Special Education Unit in a regular school. The Regional Minister of Education and Universities, Antoni Vera, presented the project to the education community on Tuesday. The project will have a budget of 8.14 million euros and an 18-month completion period. The project presentation was also attended by the Regional Secretary for Educational Development, Mateu Suñer, the manager of the Balearic Institute of Infrastructure and Educational Services (IBISEC), and the Mayor of Felanitx, Catalina Soler.

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The platform The Public is not touched This Thursday, the Balearic Islands Public Education Commission (CEIP) denounced the closure of 3-year-old classrooms in several schools in the Balearic Islands, planned for the 2025-2026 academic year. The platform has opted to eliminate classes and groups in several centers. This decision, the platform considers, a "loss of a historic opportunity" to improve the quality of the public system and reduce school enrollment ratios.

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