In the last fifteen years, the birth rate in Catalonia has fallen by 37%. Next year, for the first time, this drop in births will affect all educational years, from I3 to 4th year of ESO. This situation forces the Department of Education to decide: either reduce the ratios – with the consequent need for more spaces and professionals – or close lines in schools and institutes that see how the classrooms are becoming increasingly empty. "School planning is what can end up making your child end up in a middle-class ghetto," said the director of the Bofill Foundation, Ismael Palacín, on Tuesday.