Junts proposes that Catalonia regulate student access to its universities

BarcelonaIn Spain, universities operate under a "single district" system: regulations allow students to access any faculty in the country, regardless of the autonomous community to which the institution belongs or where the applicant completed their high school studies and university entrance exams. Now, Junts wants Catalonia to exercise "powers regarding universities, access, admission, and the organization of the university system," and has submitted a bill to Congress to establish its own university district in Catalonia. According to the party led by Carles Puigdemont, the national single district system, in place for two decades, "creates a significant asymmetry," since Catalonia "has developed a powerful administrative instrument, but without full regulatory authority." Junts maintains that the proposal does not seek "under any circumstances" to create a closed district or exclude students from other regions, although they cite the situation in medical degrees as an example to justify the proposal. "Catalonia trains excellent professionals, for example in the field of medicine, but it doesn't have enough doctors. This is one of the effects that the single university district has generated, and which we want to reverse with the recovery of our own university district," argued Josep Pagès, a member of parliament for Junts per Catalunya.

In this regard, the members of the Catalan Parliament warn that there is a certain inequality in the level of rigor of the education system in each autonomous community, which ends up generating "an effect that is very detrimental to the right of Catalan students to access Catalan universities." "In Catalonia, secondary school students and university entrance exams (PAU) adhere to higher academic standards than in other parts of Spain," criticized Pagès, who asserted that this allows students from other communities "to gain preferential access" to Catalan universities over Catalan students.

Presence of Catalan

Beyond the academic level, the proposed law also alleges a linguistic conflict. According to Junts, the unique position of the Catalan language in universities is "erased" by the state regulations governing university access. They argue that a separate Catalan district would allow for the "natural and non-conflictive integration of the Catalan language as a central pillar of the university system" and guarantee its "effective presence" in access, teaching, and academic life.