The pilot plan to place an undercover police officer in thirteen educational centers in Catalonia continues to generate controversy. While awaiting an official presentation of the plan, teachers –both those who will experience this trial in their center and those who will not– are receiving information piecemeal, despite the measure set to be implemented this very Monday.

The pilot plan of the Mossos d'Esquadra to introduce plainclothes officers in schools has a distant precedent. Beyond the data highlighted by the OECD – one in every two developed countries has similar cooperation programs between schools and authority agents "for preventive and community purposes" –, the United Kingdom began to do so shortly after the post-war period (1949, in Liverpool) with contact sessions with young people. But the most recognizable figure of agents in schools —school liaison officers— consolidated from the sixties. And the massive deployment arrived, especially, in the 2000s, under the governments of Tony Blair, with the safer school partnerships. As part of this initiative, officers —safer school officers— were assigned to specific schools, especially in vulnerable or considered problematic urban areas. In many cases, they worked physically within the schools, with an office, regular presence, and participation in the school's daily life, and also, occasionally, in the weekly and traditional assembly, the meeting of all students and staff, as a moment of reflection to strengthen the community. Usually, the officers were in uniform, as their role combined prevention and visibility.

The academic year in Kabul begins with the start of spring, because in winter it is so cold that it is then when the school holidays are held. Before the schools reopened on March 28, my journalist colleagues and I repeatedly asked the Taliban spokesmen what would happen this year with the education of girls. We never received a clear answer. Despite everything, we had a small hope that perhaps this year would be different.

When I saw that American high schools were divided between those that had a metal detector arch at the entrance and those that didn't, I thought how lucky we were in Catalonia to be so far from that situation. Until yesterday El País published that unarmed plainclothes police officers would enter high schools, for now as a pilot program. How we must see ourselves. The measure is a painful leap in scale, a before and after in the state of social conflict in our country.

Catalonia will test a new strategy to address coexistence problems in some schools and institutes: Mossos d'Esquadra officers will be deployed undercover in various educational centers. The move is part of a pilot plan that will be activated this April in thirteen centers to test a new collaboration model between the departments of Education and Interior, as reported by El País and confirmed by ARA.

The Government "is working" so that the first salary increase for teachers contemplated in the agreement between UGT and CCOO becomes a reality in May. Sources from the Department of Education confirm that they are working within these deadlines, but they avoid assuring whether it will finally be possible for teachers and professors to receive the 800 euros salary increase next month, which would correspond to the 30% increase in the agreed specific complement. The salary increase is one of the points of the agreement that the department led by Esther Niubó signed a few weeks ago with the two unions, but without the support of USTEC, the majority union in the Catalan education sector.

New chapter in the tug-of-war between teachers and the Government. This Tuesday, the majority union in the education sector, Ustec, has made public the results of the survey it sent to all teachers and professors, asking what the next steps should be to mobilize against the agreement signed between the Government, CCOO, and UGT, and without the approval of Ustec, Profesores de Secundaria, CGT, and La Intersindical. In this survey —also promoted by CGT and La Intersindical—, which was sent to all teachers' emails, three questions were asked: if they are willing to have "more strikes", how many days of strike they would have – with options ranging from one day to more than ten – and what type of strike they would prefer. The survey was answered by 31,600 teachers, and of these, 90% have stated that they "commit" to continue striking. That is, about 28,000 teachers are in favor of continuing to mobilize.

The Generalitat of Catalonia will inject 2,000 million euros, 25% of the budget of the Department of Education and Vocational Training, over four years to improve the educational system and the working and salary conditions of teachers. The agreement, reached with the unions CCOO and UGT, foresees reducing ratios, strengthening inclusive education, improving teacher remuneration, and recognizing educational support staff. The pact includes joint monitoring mechanisms with the signing unions to ensure its implementation.

From this Tuesday, the Jaume Bofill Foundation will cease to have a name linked to the philosopher and jurist Jaume Bofill Bofill and from now on will be called Equitat.org. As the entity has communicated, after 57 years they have decided to make a change to make clear "the mission of the foundation". From the entity they explain that with the change the mission is incorporated into the name "to explicitly claim quality education and real opportunities for everyone in a context of greater social complexity and polarization".

One month after the Government signed an improvement in conditions for teachers and the situation in classrooms with CCOO and UGT – but not with the rest of the unions or with USTEC, which is the majority – the agreement continues to cause repercussions. This Tuesday USTEC sent all teachers a new email to ask again if it is necessary to continue with the mobilizations. Just as the union did in the last strikes that achieved massive support, USTEC has decided to leave the next steps in the hands of the collective. In this way, they ask teachers three questions: if they are willing to go on "more strikes", how many days of strike they would go on – with options between one day and more than 10 – and what type of strike they would prefer.

In a context of tension between the Department of Education and union forces over the signed agreement to improve teachers' conditions and classroom situations, this week the Catalan Government sent an email to the families of the schools explaining the details of the agreement it reached with the CCOO and UGT unions, but which USTEC, the majority union, rejected. This action has made even more evident the discontent of the unions that had not viewed the Catalan Government's final proposal regarding teachers' conditions favorably. In this regard, USTEC has denounced what they consider "misuse of family contacts by the Catalan Government" and assures that sending the newsletter to parents is "making propaganda" for the agreement signed with CCOO and UGT.

"I am well and recovered," stated the Minister of Education, Esther Niubó, this Thursday, in her first words after returning to work following a leave of absence. A medical leave that lasted two months and for which Niubó has now explained the reason. "I hadn't said it until now, but it was cancer, a thymic cancer, which is a gland located between the lung and the heart," the minister detailed in an interview with SER Catalunya, where she also said she hadn't made it public to protect her family and prevent them from suffering. Now, however, she states: "I feel a bit obligated to explain it, because other people may be going through similar processes."

That 61% of Catalan students finish compulsory education without having worked on evolution is not an anecdotal figure. It is a structural symptom. The current curriculum does not include evolution in primary school and places it as an optional subject in 4th year of ESO. This is equivalent, in practice, to making the conceptual framework that gives meaning to all of biology dispensable. And this is, simply, an intellectual barbarity.

Even though it is the middle of the Easter school holidays, the Department of Education has not gone even two days without a figure in charge of the General Directorate of State-funded and Private Schools. After the then Director General of the area, Xavier Güell, presented his resignation "for personal reasons" this Monday, this Wednesday the Government has appointed Toni Aguilar as the new Director General of State-funded and Private Schools. this Monday the then Director General of the area, Xavier Güell, presented his resignation "for personal reasons", this Wednesday the Government has appointed Toni Aguilar as the new Director General of State-funded and Private Schools.

"That up to 21 years of educational trajectory are registered in a single application." This is one of the objectives sought by one of the Government's star tools for this legislature: the La Meva Educació application. The new app, which the Department of Education will launch at the beginning of summer 2027, has the same philosophy as the La Meva Salut app and will serve students, families, and teachers.

In a letter to Louise Collet, Flaubert said: “I do not write for today’s reader, but for the readers who will appear while the language lives”. This sentence makes us think about the contemporary conditions of language use and about the emergence of a possible death. “While the language lives” means, precisely, that it can die. If language dies, the ability to represent the world and express it also ends. Language can die if it is reduced to a mere means of communication. That is why we must study literature. Reading literature and talking about it allows us to incorporate the great richness of the language’s words and to know from within its extraordinary metaphorical and metonymic plasticity. And precisely because language is alive and can die, we love it with an absolute love, with the tenderness that its precarious and fragile condition requires. Thanks to the intimate relationship with words, the things of the world become present: great writers make us realize the possibility of creating other possible worlds. To do this we need words. One alone is not enough.

To demonstrate with banners, collect signatures, or organize slow marches through the streets. These are actions that in recent years have been repeated when March arrives, a time for open days and school pre-enrollments, but also the moment when centers are informed about how many classes they will be able to offer —or not— the following school year.

The agreement that the Government is going to to reach an agreement with CCOO and UGT regarding improvements to teachers' working conditions And the situation in classrooms continues to cause controversy. Specifically, the part of the agreement that aims to reduce the number of designated positions to 3% and drastically limit the cases in which a school principal can conduct an interview to choose which teacher will work at the school based on the educational project. This Wednesday, the Professional Association of Educational Managers (Axia) filed an appeal (an internal procedure within the Department of Education) against the March 3rd resolution—approved by the Government before signing the agreement with the unions—which defines how teacher assignments will be made and how teachers will be assigned to each school. This rejection has also been expressed by the assembly of principals of public schools in Barcelona. According to Axia, which represents up to 300 school principals, the resolution constitutes a "clear and unjustified violation" of the current legal framework. Furthermore, they assert that it represents a setback for the autonomy of educational institutions and accuse the Department of Education of imposing a "restrictive, arbitrary, and technically unfounded" interpretation of the regulations. "The agreement and the resolution regarding teaching assignments violate the Catalan Education Law (LEC), the decree on school autonomy, the decree on staffing, and the decree on school leadership," denounces Jordi Satorra, president of the association of school principals. Among the arguments Axia uses to urge the Government to rectify the situation is the fact that the resolution includes a "prohibition on proposing temporary staff"—when a principal proposes that a teacher already at the school, but on a temporary contract, be allowed to continue teaching the following year—and the "limitation of the role of school principals," since, according to the principals, limiting their capacity to manage teaching teams is detrimental. Axia also denounces that the changes in the allocation process will have a "direct impact on staff stability, with negative consequences for the quality of education." Furthermore, they assert that there is a "lack of motivation and technical coherence" in several aspects of the resolution. For all these reasons, the association demands the "immediate rectification of the resolution and its adaptation to the current legal framework" and, if necessary, the precautionary suspension of the regulation "to prevent harm to schools."

It's 10:30 a.m. on a winter Friday, and when we arrive at 12-year-old Martín's room, we find him with his hospital teacher, Alba Sau. Together, they're trying to identify the fruit scent of each of the perfume bottles arranged on a tray. The young boy, who suffers from a rare metabolic disorder called sulfite oxidase deficiency, laughs every time he correctly identifies one of the fragrances, showing off his keen sense of smell. The day before, they had been painting, improvising a paintbrush with a straw and a pencil that Martín used in his mouth. "We try to adapt as much as possible to each child's tastes and interests to connect with them," Alba explains, while trying to set up Tobii, the tablet Martín uses to communicate through his eyes, on Martín's bedside table. "For me, it's essential that Martín can communicate, not only with me, but also with his mother and the healthcare staff; it's part of his recovery," she emphasizes.

The conflict in education has made evident the unrest felt in schools and institutes, as well as the difficulties in finding solutions. An increasingly unequal society is bringing serious social problems to educational institutions. Growing inequalities, extreme poverty, social violence, and mental illness generate conflicts that teachers must face without the necessary resources and with a sense of isolation and abandonment. Signs on the doors of some schools express this clearly: "We are outraged that the educational psychologist is not part of the school staff"; "We are outraged that we have to train ourselves in our free time and at our own expense in dyslexia, autism spectrum disorder, specific language impairment, ADHD, dyscalculia..."