Step back: the Government will recover mandatory readings for high school next academic year
The 2027-2028 academic year all schools and high schools will have to have a center reading plan
BarcelonaBack to basics. Back to basics. This is the foundation of the learning reinforcement measures presented this Thursday by the Minister of Education, Esther Niubó. These measures will be focused on improving how the two main pillars of learning are taught: language and reading comprehension, and mathematics. Among the guidelines, a significant change has been announced: next year there will once again be mandatory readings in baccalaureate, and all schools and high schools will be required to have a school reading plan.
As explained by the Secretary of Educational Improvement, Ignasi Giménez, the Government is "already working" to restore mandatory readings in baccalaureate for the 2027-2028 school year. They will be common readings for all of Catalonia, with specific titles that, therefore, all 1st and 2nd-year baccalaureate students will have to read, regardless of which branch – scientific, humanistic, social, or technological – they have chosen to study.
It is worth remembering that Catalonia will have spent three years without mandatory readings in baccalaureate.The change was gestated during the previous government with Minister Anna Simó at the head of Education and generated strong controversy. Broadly speaking, the reason for the modification was that, since mandatory readings would no longer appear in the university entrance exam (selectivity), they would not be included in the baccalaureate curriculum either. The suppression of mandatory readings was announced in May 2024, and three months later, guidelines were sent to schools so that they could choose four literary works in Catalan and Spanish that baccalaureate students would have to read. These works, however, had to be chosen from a list of 100 readings created by the Government. In this way, all students had to read a minimum of four works, but not everyone read the same one. Next year, this freedom will be restricted, and the mandatory readings—the number of which is not yet known—will be common for all high schools in Catalonia.
Beyond this announcement, the Department of Education has presented a series of learning reinforcement guidelines for the rest of the educational courses. "These are a series of high-efficiency practices," said Giménez in the explanation of the measures, and highlighted that "they are guidelines, not orders, because schools and institutes have center autonomy." One of the main proposals is also in reading comprehension: that there be "some key books" that will have to be read from 5th grade of primary school and throughout secondary education (ESO). However, this measure has many nuances. The first, that it will not be mandatory for all centers, since in practice it is only a guideline. The second, that the key readings will not be set by the department, but rather it will be the teachers themselves who will decide what all their students must read.
From Education, they explain that apart from the proposal, guides will also be sent on how to work with the readings so that it does not become "a simple check of whether the reading has been read or not." In this sense, the Government is working with the horizon that next school year all schools and institutes will have a reading plan in force. Although they insist that many centers already have it and apply it, only 700 of the 2,500 schools and institutes have a plan that meets the characteristics set by the Government. Here, it must be taken into account that according to the latest 2024 data, 30% of schools and institutes do not have a library.
Still regarding language, it will be recommended to schedule writing "tasks" with paper and pen, such as essays, summaries, and outlines, and to request developed written answers. It will also be recommended to work on orality "frequently and in a guided manner." "We cannot let 13-year-old students stop doing summaries because artificial intelligence does them for them," insisted Niubó.
All students with paper material
Another key guideline is that it will be proposed that all students, regardless of their grade, have at least "a written support, reference, structured and permanent material". This material may be the traditional textbook or dossiers with the essential contents of each subject. Furthermore, they must be on paper and not for consultation on a tablet or a computer. Once again, this is a guideline, not an obligation.
The other pillar of learning reinforcement is in mathematics. In this area, it is recommended to focus on mental calculation. The Government proposes dedicating "brief and frequent" sessions to mental calculation with specific strategies. It is also urged to "encourage reflection" so that students "estimate" the results before performing the calculation so they can assess their coherence. In addition, it is recommended to pose mathematical problems for students to solve by interpreting a situation, identifying relevant data, and justifying the strategies they have used and the conclusions they have reached.