The subsidized private schools join forces and demand more funding to guarantee free education.

BarcelonaFamilies, unions, and employers' associations representing state-subsidized private schools have joined forces for the first time to demand increased funding, more resources for inclusive education, and an additional 3,300 teachers. The group has launched a petition campaign urging parliamentary groups to propose amendments to the bill that would guarantee 6% of GDP for education, specifically to include state-subsidized private schools. Meanwhile, the Federation of Federated Associations of Families of Students of Catalonia (AFFAC) launched a campaign to promote public schools as the "best educational option" and criticized the "almost automatic" renewal of funding agreements. Within the state-subsidized private school sector, the alliance—representing 677 schools, 340,000 students, and 30,000 employees—is demanding more funding to guarantee free education in state-subsidized private schools, an increase in staff to match that of public schools, and standardization of salaries and working conditions. On the other hand, regarding the changes introduced in the renewal of agreements—when public funding is given to private schools to obtain subsidies—at all educational levels, justified by the Department of Education as necessary to "give stability to the system," Ruiz admitted that they do not rule out resorting to the courts to challenge the closure of 34 groups next year, but that, for the moment, they are prioritizing other options. Another of the most significant changes introduced by the Department of Education is that the agreements will now have a duration of six years.

According to Meritxell Ruiz, spokesperson for the employers' associations and general secretary of the Christian School Foundation of Catalonia (FECC), all of this has placed the subsidized private school network in a "critical" situation and "endangers the Catalan education system." In fact, the alliance comes at a difficult time for subsidized private schools due to the steady stream of class closures and the transfer of schools to the public system. in a context of falling birth ratesIn this regard, Ruiz denounced the "underfunding" that the network has suffered for decades and the lack of specific resources to attend to the most vulnerable students, although, she emphasized, they educate 27% of students with special educational needs. According to FECC calculations, the funding deficit in state-subsidized private schools per student is €1,540 in preschool and €1,884 in secondary school. Ruiz stated that the Department of Education has a budget of approximately €7.5 billion and that of the €1.775 billion increase it has recently received, it has only received 10% "despite representing nearly 30% of the system." The public sector criticizes state-subsidized private schools.

Meanwhile, AFFAC has been urging families to choose "exclusively" public schools when pre-registering for the 2026-2027 school year. This coincides with the start of the registration period, which runs from March 4th to 18th for preschool and primary school students and from March 6th to 18th for secondary school students. AFFAC Director Lidón Gasull has argued that public schools are "the best option" because they guarantee a "quality, inclusive, and equitable" education. She emphasized that selecting private schools on the application can lead to automatic referrals if a place is not obtained at the first-choice public school. AFFAC also pointed out that the public school system primarily serves students with special educational needs and denounced the fact that many schools are still operating in temporary classrooms. "The deficit [of resources and supply] is in the public sector, which is primarily responsible for school enrollment and serves the most vulnerable students," Gasull emphasized. Along these lines, he denounced the department's initial offer as "senseless," because it proposes a number "lower" than what is already planned for the next academic year. The oversupply of places in state-subsidized private schools, AFFAC stated, fuels "school segregation," while also denouncing the six-year stability in state-subsidized private schools, which contrasts sharply with the planning in public schools, which "changes year after year," consolidating a dual model that makes it difficult to reduce class sizes.