Change upon change

As if it were a law of a nature impossible to get around, every government at the start of its mandate has changed the model and structure of the education system, with the upheaval this brings for schools and families. The PP couldn't be an exception. It takes time for a system to bed down and show its virtues and weaknesses in order for these to be corrected with prudence. The man in charge of the ministry in question, José Ignacio Wert, has just announced the changes he plans to make, among which those relating to the subject of education for citizenship and the structure of secondary education stand out.

The problem with education for citizenship is artificial, created by the intolerance of the Bishop's Council and the most extreme sectors of society that brand as indoctrination the subject's treatment of different points of view about the family, and interpersonal relations, and the need to respect these even if one does not share them. It is precisely this part of the curriculum that the minister wants to change despite the fact that the problems facing our educational system do not lie in the existence or content of this subject. The controversy stirred up by the subject is purely ideological and of minor import. In the absence of specifics on the planned changes, the context in which they have been projected provides clues as to the direction they will take as well as the reasons that led the minister on Wednesday to justify his decision, citing a "brainwashing" text that is not even in the school books he now wants to rewrite. In any case, children are not the property of their parents, and it is the duty of a democratic and non-denominational state to organize its educational system with the idea in mind of what is best overall, ignoring at times the preferences of parents and churches.

The other change, one of greater magnitude, is the reduction of one year in the time spent in Obligatory Secondary Education (ESO), while the Baccalaureate is extended by the same period. Meanwhile, the school leaving age remains at 16 years, which creates a discrepancy that will need to be resolved. All students will have to spend a year in school after finishing the ESO even if they do not intend to complete the next level of secondary education. It was already accepted that the school leaving age should coincide with the completion of the ESO. It was also accepted that the last year of ESO should be structured on the basis of students' choices; whether to go on and complete the Baccalaureate, undertake professional training or join the labor market. This arrangement seems less contentious than the change that is being proposed.

Our schools and teachers need support in carrying out a task that is both fundamental and complex. They also require that prudence be exercised when it comes to changes, which should be gradual. It does not seem that the proposed reforms, which the government needs to explain in detail to the public, are heading in this direction.