Interview of the General Council with the Deputy Director of Academic Organization of the Ministry of Education and Science

On August 23, the President of the General Council, Manuel León, and the heads of the Education System Committee of the Council and the Teaching Commission of the Andalusian Council, Pedro San Martín and Rafael Osuna, held an interview with Mr. Juan López Martínez, Deputy Director General of Academic Organization of the Ministry of Education and Science, regarding the Organic Law Project on Education recently approved by the Government.

It was pointed out that the two most recent Education Laws, the LOGSE and the LOCE, established the equivalence of our qualifications for teaching secondary and upper secondary education, but the Draft Law does not include this equivalence in Article 94, and the Ninth Additional Provision refers to "equivalent qualifications" without specifying them. We don't know if this is premeditated or simply an error, but what is clear is that 300,000 Technical Engineers and Technical Architects cannot be prevented from carrying out their teaching duties, thus depriving our young people of instruction in subjects for which these graduates are best suited. Mr. Juan López was given the example that some subjects are currently being taught by other degree programs, even though those subjects are not part of his degree, which leads to a decline in the quality of education, the primary consideration when legislating on education.

The Deputy Director General expressed his confidence that the "qualifications" referred to in the Ninth Additional Provision are our qualifications and that, nevertheless, he will raise the issue in the coordination meetings between the Directorates General of the Ministry.

It was also made clear that, if the current text of the Bill is not amended, it will represent a significant setback, as it marginalizes and distorts the technological curriculum. The mandatory nature of the Technology Area is reduced to a single year of Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO), its explicit mention in Primary Education subjects is omitted, and the Technology track disappears from the Baccalaureate program. The Deputy Director General indicated that the desirability of reducing the number of subjects when transitioning from Primary to ESO has been recognized. Therefore, the subjects taught in each year are being reorganized, but without reducing the total number of hours currently allocated. For example, the same total number of hours is achieved by teaching a subject for two hours in each of the first three years as by teaching it for three hours in two years.

The Council has sent its position and amendments to the text of the Bill and has requested meetings with all political parties.