Without social educators in the only municipality where all schools and institutes are of maximum complexity

LeapThis course, the Department of Education The Catalan government will no longer employ 85 social educators who until now worked in highly complex schools and institutes across the country. This measure drastically affects municipalities such as Salt, one of the poorest in Catalonia, where 11 social educators worked in recent years, but have left their jobs since September. The same applies to Figueres, where two professionals in this field have not renewed their contracts at centers in highly segregated neighborhoods. The decision by the Generalitat (Catalan government) has inflamed the socio-educational community, which, supported by families and organizations, claims that the role of social educators is "fundamental" to addressing the needs of the most vulnerable students. On Tuesday, they will be in the Catalan Parliament to make their voices heard.

Salt, in fact, is the only town in Catalonia with more than 20,000 inhabitants where absolutely all educational centers are considered highly complex. Many students are under the radar of Social Services, and practically every week, families with minors in their care are evicted, and their classroom life is disrupted. The same is happening in the rest of the centers where the 85 social workers worked last year, who also had to deal with cases of disability, new students arriving during the school year, absenteeism, bullying in the classroom, or misbehavior.

"Supporting people in a vulnerable situation is very hard, and we feel like no one is looking out for us. The bond we had with these people has been broken. In order to help a child who is experiencing emotional distress, you need to work with the family to understand what may be happening. This doesn't happen overnight," said the teacher of the Salta schools, who speaks on behalf of all workers in the sector in the Girona region.

"The change has unhinged us; the teachers were people who, after five years, were very integrated into the school. They were very important figures for students and families. We're a week into the school year and we already miss them; families come and ask us for them," explains Natàlia Nadal, director of the municipality.

Schools with a structural TIS will not have a social worker.

The Department of Education argues that this staffing change is due to the completion of a "temporary" three-year project funded by Next Generation funds and designed to address the special needs of students during the pandemic. Following this project, the Generalitat (Catalan Government) developed a pilot project with new criteria, functions, and allocations, financed with its own funds. However, according to the executive branch, these numbers have not been increased due to the current situation of prorogued budgets.

The new planning certifies that all schools with a structural social integration technician (TIS), such as the affected schools in Figueres and Salt, do not have a social worker. At the same time, Educació states that it will assign 60 social workers to high-complexity (but not maximum) secondary schools that do not have a permanent TIS on staff.

The explanations, however, do not convince socio-educational professionals, who insist that the integrator and the educator are two complementary roles and that in a highly complex context, resources must be expanded rather than reduced. "Integrators address the problems of the school or institute from within, and educators do so from the inside out: we coordinate and follow up with different services and external agents in the municipality, such as social services, health, EAIA, referrals, leisure, summer camps, or sports," argues María José, a social educator in Salt and also. "It should not be a temporary role, but a structural one," she concludes.

Schools and institutes in Salt also emphasize that, after Covid, the situation in the classrooms has not improved; on the contrary. "Before the pandemic, we were already experiencing a period of social fragility, and now we see how we are increasingly facing more affected contexts," explains Natàlia Nadal. Teachers also disagree that the issue should be resolved with a counterpart increase in teaching staff, as proposed by the regional education services, since they argue that the teachers' duties are not the responsibility of the teaching staff.

Support from families

Faced with this situation, families from the affected schools are also speaking out. On Monday afternoon, they were present at the Salt demonstration against the department's measure, which brought together around 250 people, and expressed their support for each of the educators who have helped them in recent years.

In addition, the Student Family Associations (AFA) have issued a statement defending the continuation of this role in the municipality. "During the time they have been present, we have been able to see firsthand the positive impact and the real need for this role for the well-being of the entire educational community. Social educators are not just additional support; they are a specialized, fundamental pillar that complements the teaching work and strengthens the educational project of our schools," the statement argues.

Likewise, the Ombudsman has expressed his concern about the loss of social integration technicians (TIS) and social educators for the 2025-2026 academic year and has urged the department to increase human resources and review the classification of centers according to their actual complexity.