Schools incorporate health professionals to reinforce inclusive education
Half of the educational centers in Catalonia will have health professionals next academic year. The rollout, which will extend throughout the territory a year later, aims to guarantee more adequate care for students with complex health needs.
Student care is one of the priorities of the Government of the Generalitat for the 2026-2027 academic year. With the aim of reinforcing inclusion and equal opportunities in educational centers, the new academic year will progressively incorporate healthcare professionals into schools. The forecast is that, in the first year alone, half of the educational centers in Catalonia will have nursing staff or auxiliary nursing care technicians (TCAI) to attend to the health needs of the students.
The measure continues the pilot plan launched by the Departments of Health and Education and Professional Training during the 2025-2026 academic year. Framed within the Health-Education Framework Agreement, signed in June 2025, the project responds to the need to incorporate healthcare professionals into educational centers so that they can assume invasive healthcare, while also reinforcing the inclusive vision of the educational system and guaranteeing the right to education for students with complex health needs.
The piloting has been developed in the Metropolitan Health Region North and has been positively valued by both departments. For this reason, the rollout of the new model will begin in the 2026-2027 academic year and will be progressively extended until the 2027-2028 academic year.
Gradual incorporation
During the first year, the program will reach 50% of educational centers in Catalonia, with a presence in all health regions. In the second year, the model will be implemented throughout the territory. This deployment will not mean the disappearance of the figure of the health support monitors, who will continue to be a key piece in the centers, although they will no longer assume invasive care. Their functions will focus on accompanying students, promoting personal autonomy, and supporting hygiene tasks.
The incorporation of health professionals in educational centers will allow progress towards a more inclusive school and guarantee more adequate care for students with complex health needs. The measure will also contribute to reducing the care burden of educational teams and will allow caregivers to dedicate more time to the educational and personal support functions for which they are specially prepared.
The success of the pilot test
Granollers, Cardedeu, la Garriga and l'Ametlla del Vallès have been the locations where the pilot test was successfully carried out last academic year. The conclusions have highlighted the importance of a model that contributes to reducing inequalities and promoting more normalized schooling for students with complex health needs, while also improving family confidence, reducing tension on educational teams, and fostering a better comprehensive response to students.
In total, 204 cases of healthcare needs were attended to in 57 educational centers, both public and subsidized, out of a school population of approximately 22,000 students.
As highlighted by the Director General of Health Planning at the Closing Conference of the pilot test, Aina Plaza, "inclusion is not complete if we do not guarantee the needs for sanitary support." Furthermore, "the educational community asked us that these cares and this sanitary attention not be provided by support monitoring or the teachers themselves, but rather to have the guarantee of having sanitary care during school hours from health professionals," also assured the Director General of Inclusive Education and Student Well-being, Susana Tarapiella.
In parallel with this initiative, work is also underway to renew the Health and School program, which has been in effect for over twenty years, with the aim of moving towards a model of health-promoting schools.
