"We need the curriculum to tell teachers how to detect if a student will have reading problems." This warning from school principal Francesc Martín, which may seem obvious, is one of the main obstacles to improving reading comprehension results in Catalonia. This is the conclusion of the study. Reading comprehension: the pending subject, presented this Monday by the Bofill Foundation.

The regional minister for Education, Esther Niubó, had already warned that the results of this year's basic skills tests – now known as end-of-year assessments – would not be entirely good, and so it has been: the math level of 6th grade primary school students is the lowest in the history of the basic skills tests, which began to be held in 2010. This year, the average math grade of 6th grade students was a mere pass (70.4 points, when it is considered that to reach competence one must reach at least 70), the drop of almost four points compared to last year's results has meant that the math level of students who have finished school this year and are now starting. Similarly, in 6th grade, the level in science, technology and engineering is also very worrying, the only skill where the average has failed after falling from 74.3 points last year to 66.3 this year.