Almost 150 euros: the difference between going on a summer camp with one school or another

BarcelonaIn 2014, the Catalan Ombudsman presented a report highlighting the shortcomings Catalonia has in guaranteeing the right to educational leisure activities during school outings and camps. A decade later, a new report from the institution shows that insufficient progress has been made in addressing this challenge. "Catalonia still lacks a consistent policy to promote educational leisure activities," the Ombudsman warns in the report. The universalization of educational leisure in Catalonia, made public this Tuesday.

The research focuses on the differences between families when it comes to accessing educational leisure activities and notes the impact of the role of the school. Specifically, the report analyzes how the price of the fee for field trips and camps varies depending on the ownership and complexity of the school or institute, since the cost "can be a factor in educational segregation when it comes to ensuring that the school's students participate." Thus, the average fee for camps and school trips at public schools is around 123 euros, while for private schools this figure rises to 204 euros.

The report also notes substantial differences in access to leisure activities depending on the complexity of the school: in a low-complexity school—with a more advantaged social composition—the fee reaches 178.8 euros, while in very high-complexity schools this payment averages 56.3 euros. That is, the difference in the cost of field trips and summer camps can be almost 150 euros depending on the type of school where a child is enrolled.

The document admits that "some notable progress has been made, although it is sectoral in nature and has limitations in terms of coverage," and also highlights the main black holes in Catalan educational leisure activities, a factor that the Ombudsman herself, Esther Giménez-Salinas, considers essential for children's personal and social development and social inclusion.

Extracurricular Sports Activities

The report also notes that 20% of children do not participate in any extracurricular activities. The differences between families based on their socioeconomic status are very significant: while 80% of students from more socially advantaged families participate in extracurricular sports activities, only 54% of vulnerable children and adolescents have access to these activities.

Furthermore, there are also significant differences in extracurricular activities not related to sports. 56% of children from wealthier families participate, but among the most vulnerable families this percentage only rises to 32%.

There is no regulatory framework.

Beyond the specific figures, the Ombudsman's report denounces that the Generalitat (Catalan Government) has not yet legally developed the right to educational leisure. The Ombudsman believes there is a lack of a framework that determines what constitutes leisure and what the conditions for accessibility are, but also warns that there is no reference administration when it comes to structuring and promoting a "robust" public policy in this regard.

In fact, the report released this Tuesday reflects that 66% of municipalities with more than 3,000 inhabitants do not have a local leisure development plan and that 27.7% do not develop coordination structures for the municipality's educational stakeholders. Furthermore, it also points out that 26.6% of the municipalities in these municipalities do not open school facilities to educational leisure organizations and that 9.1% do not provide their premises.