Catalonia ranks last in Europe for science hours in secondary education

The launch of the first artificial satellite by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957, had a positive effect on science education in the United States. The fear provoked by the success of the rival superpower led to the promotion and funding of science education at all levels. Even Darwin's theory of evolution, sidelined by pressure from influential religious groups, regained its place in high schools. It was the Sputnik moment.

In Catalonia we are experiencing the opposite process: science is suffering cuts, not only in general education, but also in the education of potential future scientists. In a decree approved in the middle of the Christmas holidaysThe Catalan Ministry of Education has combined the subjects of physics and chemistry, on the one hand, and biology, geology, and environmental science, on the other. Each of the condensed subjects will have 4 class hours per week. Before the decree, the sum of the separate subjects was 6 hours. There had been slightly better times: until the 2021-22 academic year, the total was 8 hours. The reasons given are neither pedagogical nor scientific. The department claims that the Catalan curriculum had to be adapted to the national one to avoid problems with accreditation if a student moved to another region. In other words, the level of autonomy is such that we can't even develop our own curriculum, even for just a couple of hours. The proposed solution: transfer basic knowledge to elective subjects, which not all schools can or want to offer, nor should students have to choose.

Complaints from teachers, scientific societies, professional associations, universities, families, and prominent figures in the scientific community have not even elicited convincing explanations. Catalonia boasts a world-class level of excellence in various fields: biology, biomedicine, photonics, supercomputing, and chemistry, among others. World-class Catalan researchers work abroad, some in prestigious institutions. But future scientists will have received less training in these areas. The Minister of Research and Universities has remained silent. She continues to announce research programs, investments, and grants, which are welcome but still insufficient. President Isla has said that Catalonia is vying to host researchers who want to leave the United States due to the restrictions imposed by the current administration. At least these students will most likely have had a broader education in their countries of origin. It is clear that universities can always offer the increasingly numerous "zero courses" to compensate for these deficiencies.

We are talking, we repeat, about the science track in high school, that is, reducing the hours for those who probably want to pursue a career in science or technology. The reduction does not affect the core subjects, because when there are zero hours, it is impossible to cut further. The compulsory subjects for all high school tracks are Catalan and Spanish language and literature, a foreign language, philosophy, history of philosophy, history, and physical education. Until the 2022 academic year, there were two hours of science for the contemporary world, but someone decided to make it unnecessary. Result: those who do not pursue the science track in high school have no obligation to take any science-related subjects.

Even in the fourth year of ESO (Compulsory Secondary Education), science is optional, so most students do not work on topics such as evolution, as David Segarra explained in these pages ("The Catalan school system has forgotten about Darwin", 6-12-2025In compulsory secondary education, Catalonia also stands out, but at the bottom of the rankings. Among European countries, it occupies the penultimate position in the percentage of minimum hours dedicated to science –excluding mathematics–, with 8.8%, well below the EU average (12%) and even further below the leading countries –Estonia exceeds 21%. At the national level, it holds a notable last place in the number of minimum compulsory hours (12). The next highest regions have 16, and in La Rioja, it's 20. Given the need for standardization, why isn't this also being done? This is the importance that not only the current government, but also most previous ones, have given to science education.

All of this leads to a less educated society and, therefore, a less aware and more vulnerable one. Just as a lack of historical explanations about the Franco regime and other periods can lead to trivializing and even praising totalitarian regimes, a lack of scientific education facilitates the spread of populist and denialist discourses. A society with limited scientific knowledge may believe any nonsense about vaccines, may be swayed by those who deny or downplay climate change, will not advocate for research in biomedicine and other fields to consider ethics and social impact, and will not understand how information technologies threaten its privacy. Therefore, this will not foster science oriented towards the common good and respect for all sectors.

Perhaps the day will come when the level will have dropped enough to set off alarm bells and we'll experience a Catalan Sputnik moment. For now, it seems we're more in a counter-Sputnik moment. And for our society, it's a great risk to continue leaving science education out of its orbit.