Breaking prejudices: What if we enroll him in a center of maximum complexity?

Barcelona / Lleida"I have a school very close to home, but there are so many vulnerable students." "I've found a high school with resources, good teachers, and attractive facilities, but it takes in too many immigrants and children from dysfunctional families." "I'm interested in a school's educational project, but it's extremely complex..." Now that school pre-registration is approaching, it's no surprise to hear phrases like these, which contribute to the continued high level of segregation in our education system. The problem is not solved, even though the [report/document/report/etc.] was published in 2019. Pact against School Segregation, signed by the Catalan Ombudsman, the Catalan Government, and several city councils.

Catalonia still has 17% of schools and institutes have a high concentration of vulnerable studentsa proportion that has remained stable for a decade. Highly complex schools are those with a high concentration of students with specific educational needs, both for socioeconomic and special reasons (the well-known NESE, based on educational capabilitiesSpecifically, the most complex schools tend to have four times more foreign students and seven times more students with specific educational needs. according to a recent report by the Síndica de Greuges.

Following the agreement that was signed, the Generalitat approved a decree in 2021 to plan the educational offerings and regulate the admissions process. One of its key proposals was the provision of specialized places. which consists of allowing ordinary families to group together and make a joint reservation of places for schools with high levels of complexity, without going through the pre-registration process. In this way, these schools have a more socioeconomically diverse student body, and families are guaranteed a place with other students they know. This measure has increased exponentially in the last four years. In its first year, only three schools in Catalonia officially accepted a special needs group. Now there are 21 (mostly primary schools).

The measure is clear. Schools with high levels of complexity can also incorporate regular students, even if they live in a non-affiliated area. The application will be made collectively by the families, which greatly reduces any potential reluctance. "If you go alone, you'll find yourself in these circumstances, but it's very different if you go with a few people you consider your equals," says Montserrat Duran, Director General of Public Schools at the Department of Education. "The tool provides added peace of mind to families who worry that their child might end up being the white sheep "of the class," Pol Huguet stated in the ARA newspaper more than two years ago., councilor of the Manresa City Council, one of the municipalities where the measure was first implemented.

El Turó school, a pioneering center

Another pioneering center in this program was El Turó school, located in one of Barcelona's most educationally challenging areas (comprising the Turó de la Peira and Vilapicina neighborhoods), where 80% of the population is considered vulnerable. Historically, most ordinary families in this area have preferred to enroll their children in private or semi-private schools or send them to neighboring, less challenging educational zones (such as Font de Fargues).

But five years ago, a new management team joined the El Turó School, bringing with it a pedagogical approach that attracted the interest of about ten families. This led to the formation of the school's first special education group. The measure has been repeated in subsequent years, reducing the school's vulnerability by half in the early grades and to nearly 30% in the later ones. "It's becoming easier to find families interested in forming a group," says Oriol de la Villa, one of the parents who spearheaded the initial initiative and has helped to revitalize the program in subsequent years. "We've managed to keep people who used to leave the neighborhood," he affirms.

"The fact that our vulnerability has decreased has allowed us to expand our educational options," explains Núria Garcia, the principal of El Turó. "We now hear Catalan more than ever in the school, and family participation in activities has increased."

It's possible that El Turó will soon lose its designation as a school with complex needs and, therefore, will no longer (officially) request more special education groups. And then what? Perhaps the current trend will continue and it will cease to be a segregated school forever. Or perhaps it will need to be reinforced with other public policies, such as housing initiatives, to consolidate the situation and prevent it from reverting. "We mustn't lose sight of the fact that segregation isn't just a school problem, but a social one," points out Núria Garcia. "Years ago, the aluminum poisoning caused many families to leave the neighborhood, and immigrants ended up staying and continuing to come to the school." "Either we improve the entire system, or the school is condemned to permanent segregation," warns Oriol de la Villa.

"We understand that this [the specialized program] is a tool for fine-tuning," says Montserrat Duran, who acknowledges that the 21 groups formed throughout Catalonia is still a small number in relation to the current situation of segregation. "We're dealing with difficulties such as ensuring that the specialized program is sufficiently known, but at the same time doesn't harm the capacity of the school or the families enrolled," adds Rubén Castillo, Head of Planning at the Barcelona Education Consortium. "Ultimately, what we aim for is that schools end up reflecting the same social reality of the place where they are located, without implying that they are less vulnerable than the neighborhood itself," Castillo concludes. "Building a community"

Although not officially registered, the 2023-24 school year saw the creation of a unique group for the first time in the Ponent district. Dafne Madrid, the mother of Guille, a boy now in 15th grade, was one of the driving forces behind it at the Pràctiques I school in the city of Lleida, a small center with a methodology and educational materials that she really liked. "We were a group of families who wanted to join together, and we discovered this tool to make it possible," Madrid recalls. Ultimately, Guille's mother, like the rest, wanted, in addition to a quality public school, "a center that reflected the social reality of Lleida." In the following years, the core members of this group continued to promote the formation of more unique groups among nearby preschools. "We didn't want the project to end after just one year," Madrid states. That's why every year they organize information sessions, outreach campaigns, and open houses, in addition to keeping the school community active with extracurricular activities and even informal gatherings in the schoolyard. In fact, Pràctiques I allows all students' families to use the common areas to meet every afternoon for a snack. "It's shared parenting," Madrid asserts, "we create a tribe."

The director of Pràctiques I, Emili Llauradó, emphasizes the advantages of this approach, not only for the students. "Any resources they can provide are welcome, but the unique groups are already an advantage for the school, for the PTA, for family activities, and for the teaching staff itself," the director affirms.

A complex tool

Creating a special education group is no easy task. This is demonstrated by the low number that currently exist throughout Catalonia and some failed attempts. The possibility that a special education group could increase the student-teacher ratio above the maximum is one of the dangers. If a group is ultimately authorized, it is added to all the enrollments assigned to the school. If there are many, the number of students will create capacity problems for the school (if it is small, of course). This happened at a school in the Carmel neighborhood of Barcelona, ​​which a few years ago had to reject a special education group due to lack of space. It could also end up happening at the Guindàvols secondary school in Lleida. Currently, a group of nine families wants to formally submit a request for a special education group, although they have already received a response (so far, verbal) from the Education Department that it will not be possible to authorize it. "We have this high-complexity school very close to home, we like its project and it has attractive resources, but they tell us that next year they want to reduce one class and it won't be possible for us to join," laments one parent. However, they still plan to submit the application and monitor the response they receive. "We don't understand it," the father insists. These difficulties confirm that this program is still relatively unknown, needs to be adapted to many different situations, and has a very precise and limited impact. Ultimately, it's a long-term, finely tuned educational intervention.