Education unions across Catalonia have strongly rejected a pilot programme by the Catalan government to deploy plainclothes Mossos d'Esquadra officers in schools in areas including L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Vic, Alta Ribagorça-Vall d’Aran, Tàrrega, El Prat de Llobregat, and Sabadell. The initiative, aimed at addressing increased complexity in centres, has been criticised as a "police logic" approach.

According to the Department of Education, the project seeks to reinforce the well-being of students and the wider educational community. The proposal, first reported by El País, involves integrating plainclothes Mossos d'Esquadra agents into educational centres to carry out prevention and accompaniment tasks.

Department sources stated that the initiative aims to establish integrated agents as reference figures within schools, aligning with trends in other territories. The Department of Education claims that approximately half of developed countries have similar collaboration programmes between schools and security forces for preventive purposes, citing OECD data. It also noted that several autonomous communities in Spain already have such projects.

However, unions CGT, USTEC, and Intersindical have outright rejected the measure, questioning both the government's diagnosis and its proposed solution.

Unions Criticise Security-Focused Approach

The CGT warned that the presence of police, even plainclothes officers, could generate dynamics of distrust, stigmatisation, and tension, particularly in schools with high complexity. The union cautioned that conflicts typically resolved through dialogue or mediation might instead be handled punitively, leading to an increase in sanctions, expulsions, or complaints. It also criticised the programme's focus on centres with vulnerable students, suggesting this reinforces their criminalisation.

Marc Martorell, spokesperson for Intersindical Educació, described the placement of armed forces or police in schools and institutes as "nonsense." While acknowledging conflict in some centres, Martorell stated that it "is not resolved with police." He explained, "Conflict is resolved with prevention, more staff, more educators, and social services. We work with vulnerable groups and minors, and an approach to conflict that is not punitive is needed." Martorell added that while police have participated in coordination meetings when necessary, the current model "is a waste of resources and a nonsense for the school model we want."

USTEC also recognised that coexistence in schools is a genuine problem but rejected a solution involving police presence. The union stated, "In institutes, we do not need a normalised police presence, but an educational, preventive, and community response." It insisted that the issue is primarily educational and social, linked to a lack of resources. USTEC called for measures such as reducing class sizes, strengthening teaching staff, and incorporating more educational support and guidance professionals. The union added, "This pilot programme starts from a mistaken premise: it treats what is, above all, an educational, social, and underfunding problem as primarily a security problem."

USTEC framed its rejection within a broader defence of the educational model, emphasising that schools should be spaces for coexistence, critical thinking, and building relationships. The union maintained, "Coexistence is educated, built, and cared for; it is not imposed with police presence."

Concerns Over US Model and Existing Legislation

The CGT believes the proposal references the US 'school resource officers' (SRO) model. The union stated that in the United States, the widespread implementation of police officers in educational centres "has been widely documented as a factor in increasing expulsions and the entry of minors into the penal system, especially those from racialised backgrounds." The CGT concluded, "Catalonia does not need to import a model that has failed. It needs to listen to those who are in the classrooms every day: the teaching staff, the management team, social educators, and guidance counsellors."

Martorell of Intersindical highlighted Article 30 of Catalonia's Education Law, which addresses the right and duty of coexistence. This article stipulates that "centres must establish measures to promote coexistence, and in particular mediation mechanisms for the peaceful resolution of conflicts and formulas through which families commit to cooperating effectively in the orientation, encouragement and, when necessary, the amendment of students' attitudes and conduct in the educational centre."

Martorell also recalled that the Catalan Parliament approved a resolution on 18 December 2020, titled "For the construction of a culture of peace and demilitarisation," as part of the 'Desmilitaritzem l'Educació' (Demilitarise Education) campaign. Among other measures, the resolution urged the government to avoid the presence of police forces, including Mossos d’Esquadra, with weapons in school premises and classrooms when visiting for talks on road safety or online security, for example.

The 'Desmilitaritzem l'Educació' campaign has called for the withdrawal of the pilot programme. The entities involved stated, "We condemn the authoritarian drift of these types of programmes, which fuel an anti-democratic social discourse based on the use of force, punishment, and surveillance, even if it is sweetened with words like dissuasion or preventive intervention." They argue that the pilot contravenes regulations, the pedagogical objectives of basic education, and parliamentary resolutions favouring models of coexistence in schools based on positive conflict transformation.