Education says that the pilot plan centers to integrate a mosso participate voluntarily
Dozens of teachers and students demonstrate in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat against the measure that will be tested in thirteen schools and institutes
BarcelonaThe Department of Education insists that the thirteen educational centers that will integrate an undercover Mossos d'Esquadra agent into their day-to-day lives are participating in the pilot test on a voluntary basis. Sources from Education assure that no center has been forced to participate, despite the fact that the measure has caused strong criticism among teachers, families, students, and unions. In fact, last week sources from the Department of the Interior also admitted that they were "aware that it is an initiative that can generate debate" and that for this reason they had opted for "a pilot, voluntary, and evaluable model, which will allow its impact to be measured and improvements to be incorporated before any expansion.
For the moment, a police officer will be introduced into the staff of schools and institutes in the educational areas of L'Hospitalet, Vic, L'Alta Ribagorça-Vall d'Aran, and Tàrrega; and also in two centers in El Prat de Llobregat and Sabadell. Education sources have already explained that the plan will be applied "to all types of centers", meaning that it is not solely intended for problematic or complex centers. They also detail that the project "stems from the increase in complexity in the environment of educational centers and the need to reinforce the well-being of students and the entire educational community.
However, a school or institute voluntarily participating in the pilot plan test does not mean that the teachers, students, and families of that center view the measure favorably. This is what has happened in the Eugeni d'Ors and Margarida Xirgu institutes in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat. Dozens of teachers and students from these two institutes have gathered this Monday morning against participation in this test.
The staff of the two centers have denounced that the measure is "an insult" that has been taken behind the backs of the educational community and with a total lack of information. "We find no justification. Obviously we have problems, but we have a healthy coexistence," assured Pepa Vidal, a teacher at Margarida Xirgu, in statements to the ACN.
This browser does not support the video element.
Some students, like Àlex Cisneros, a student at Margarida Xirgu, also participated in the protest. He criticized that all the information they have is what teachers provide in the classroom, but that their families have not been informed "of anything." Furthermore, he considers the measure to be "a racist and stigmatizing attack" because the majority of students in these institutes are of foreign origin in vulnerable situations. "Instead of increasing the staff of security guards and social integrators, they put police in the classrooms to do their jobs. The same police who evict us from our homes day after day and who criminalize us and detain us in racist raids here in the neighborhood to spend the afternoon in the park," added Cisneros.
The pilot plan to integrate plainclothes police officers in the centers has also been criticized by Esquerra and Comuns. The spokespersons for the municipal groups in l'Hospitalet, Manuel Domínguez and Jaume Graells, have assured that in a municipality "in educational emergency," implementing this measure is "an insult" and have called for its "immediate" withdrawal.
Social educators call for withdrawal
Another of the groups demanding the withdrawal of the pilot test is that of social educators. "Police forces should not be considered in educational spaces, and social education professionals are the ones who are truly granted functions of conflict prevention, mediation, and support for students in vulnerable situations," they denounce in a statement from the College of Social Educators of Catalonia (CEESC).
In fact, educators criticize that the Government has promoted this plan without consulting them. "It is difficult to understand that clearly educational, preventive, and community work functions are delegated to security forces," they insist, and emphasize that they are specifically trained to perform these functions. In the CEESC's opinion, the measures proposed by the Government "prioritize more economical short-term solutions, instead of reinforcing socio-educational action." The group also warns that, in the long run, this can lead to "less social cohesion, less adequate interventions, and a negative impact on children, young people, and families."