Sant Cosme, epicentre of the pilot plan to put mossos in schools
Sources familiar with the neighborhood relate that the educational situation has become complicated by conflicts between families
El Prat de Llobregat / BarcelonaThe pilot plan to place agents of the Mossos d'Esquadra in Catalan schools has not been well received. It has been rejected by educational unions, but also by the majority of the centers where it was planned to be implemented.The trial has also generated internal criticism within the Catalan police regarding the way it has been designed and communicated. Among the few centers that have agreed to be part of the pilot plan, some are located in El Prat de Llobregat. In fact, sources consulted by ARA admit that, when the plan began to be considered, certain centers in this municipality were used as an example to justify the trial, although the list of schools and institutes for the pilot plan was provided by the Department of Education.
Several voices with firsthand knowledge of the educational situation in El Prat focus on the Sant Cosme neighborhood, a vulnerable and complex area. A census grouping with a territorial socioeconomic index –which takes into account variables such as the employed population, educational level, and average income per person– of up to 26.3 points below the Catalan average, according to Idescat data. It is in specific centers in this neighborhood where educational sources speak of a "very frequent and extreme" problem, where higher-than-usual absenteeism is compounded by various security issues. The fact that some areas of Sant Cosme are heavily monopolized by certain clans means that, at times, conflicts between these families spill over into schools and institutes.
According to sources consulted by this newspaper, for years there has been an effort to distribute the children of these families so that they are not all concentrated in the same educational center and these confrontations are not noticeable in the classrooms. For example, at the end of last year, a significant shooting occurred between two family clans, a conflict that also had an impact on the schools.
The most complex area is the so-called seventh phase, the last section of the Sant Cosme neighborhood, which was remodeled and where the last families from shantytowns were rehoused. In this area, unemployment soars to 40%. The idiosyncrasy of the Sant Cosme neighborhood and its current situation are also not understood without a loss of authority by some of the patriarchs of these families. Before, they say from the municipal sphere, they had a much more authoritarian role – practically as mediators and interlocutors –, a role that has been gradually lost.
More educators and technicians
From the Department of Education and the Prat City Council, a specific work plan has been created in the territory for years, and the work of social educators, coexistence technicians, and extracurricular activities has been reinforced. For example, during recess, there are usually social educators, and extracurricular activities are subsidized. The council also has budget items dedicated to purchasing books and materials, and they also promote initiatives within the school day with programs linked to the artistic or language fields.
The complex situation in this part of Sant Cosme has been attempted to be addressed administratively for years, and it was the first place where educational environment plans were promoted to foster the links between the educational center and the social fabric of the neighborhood. The initiatives date back two decades, and according to municipal sources, after "breaking a lot of ground" and gaining the trust of the students, "the improvement curve is upward." The goal is for schools to be a "space of safety" in the neighborhood, they state.
However, voices consulted by ARA do speak of recurring problems, such as aggression or threats from students to teachers or from their families to the same teachers. Some teacher-parent meetings are held with a police officer present, they admit. In fact, there is more talk of problems with parents than with children.
It is also frequent for the school to request police presence at dismissal. There are various voices that describe some teachers as being intimidated, which leads to high turnover, although they add that it has been reduced since directors have more leeway to choose staff.
"The issue is how people are in the place where they live, not so much the school their children attend," point out those in the education sector. An example of the situation is described by another consulted source, who points out that these family clans for whom police presence has had to be reinforced have often been protagonists of raids against drug trafficking. "The work criterion must also be on families," add municipal voices.
Recent incidents
Recently, there have been some cases that highlight these incidents. There has been an assault by a student on a teacher and a principal threatened by parents over a conflict involving a mobile phone. Educational sources speak of "serious problems of lack of adherence to minimum standards," and emphasize the effort teachers are making to improve this coexistence. Therefore, both from the municipal and educational spheres, they state that it is not that these centers surrounding the Sant Cosme neighborhood have requested the pilot plan from the Mossos, but rather that they have welcomed a more active role for a reference police officer.
The plainclothes agent of the pilot plan is not at a single center all day, but rather attends and maintains contact with more than one institute in the area. Despite this, until now there was already constant contact with the Mossos d'Esquadra for all these incidents in the centers and now this task has been intensified. "Sometimes, educational arguments run out," state municipal sources. This, however, is not a problem of now or a year ago, but rather one that has been around for a long time. "The basis of everything is how the world is, poverty, immigrants... The kids only go to school every day," states a source who has had responsibilities in the educational world and knows the situation in El Prat firsthand.
In fact, all the sources contacted by ARA agree on one thing: the situation at this point in Sant Cosme is unique to this area. It is not even repeated in areas of the same neighborhood. For this reason, they insist on ruling out that it happens repeatedly in other parts of Catalonia, where the Mossos' pilot plan wants to focus more on problems of school bullying, dissemination of intimate images, or drug-related conflicts.
Mossos sources also question whether the plan should be extended to the entire country due to some complex situations that occur in some centers located in very specific neighborhoods, as they believe that the figure of a permanent police officer is not necessary everywhere. For the moment, however, it is a test; the definitive results are not yet known.