Education cancels postgraduate courses for improving mathematics and language skills for teachers before they even begin
They will be replaced by a modular training program from the department that could reach up to 900 teachers and professors.
Goodbye to one of the flagship measures that the Catalan government had announced to address the decline in educational outcomes in Catalonia. Just over a year ago, the Minister of Education, Esther Niubó, announced that the department It would create three postgraduate programs to improve teachers' skills in mathematics and language.These are two of the subjects that cause the most concern in classrooms. Well, before these postgraduate courses could even begin—they were supposed to be available by July 2025—the Department of Education has decided to cancel them, as it has already stated in a publication. Official Gazette of the Government of Catalonia (DOGC). "Due to organizational and planning reasons stemming from the delay in formalizing the collaboration agreements necessary for its implementation, it is not possible to implement the program within the planned timeframe," states the resolution signed by the Minister.
Education sources justify the change by stating that the pilot postgraduate program, which was intended to reach "approximately 180 teachers," will be replaced by modular training that can reach up to 900 teachers, "multiplying by five the number of professionals benefiting from the training." However, this training will have a much lower academic level than a postgraduate degree, and the pilot program's budget will be reduced from an initial cost of €251,260 to €105,000—less than half.
The department maintains that the replacement of this pilot program "responds to a strategic decision aimed at improving the effectiveness, equity, and sustainability of teacher training policy." They also argue that the new training will be structured in independent modules and will be hybrid in nature—combining in-person and virtual sessions—giving teachers greater flexibility to balance training with work and to adapt their training path to their professional needs and time availability. The training is structured in independent modules, which facilitates greater flexibility and allows teachers to adapt their training path to their professional needs and time availability.