Lleida school directors, alongside 1,343 public education centres across Catalonia, have sent a letter to Generalitat president Salvador Illa and Education Minister Esther Niubó calling for more social integration and social education staff in schools.
The directors say they reject the use of police in classrooms. Their letter criticises a pilot programme by the Department of Education that would introduce Mossos d’Esquadra officers as educators or mediators in secondary schools.
They argue that educational and security roles should remain separate. While they accept that preventive talks may have value, they say normalising police presence in schools is inefficient and could weaken teachers’ authority and stigmatise the school community.
The signatories say schools are facing growing complexity without enough resources to respond. They want permanent social integration staff, known as TIS, and social education staff assigned to all school teams, based on the real complexity of each school rather than statistical criteria.
The letter also calls for a review of the Inclusive School Decree, to assess whether current shortages make it impossible to apply properly. The directors propose stronger school social committees with community health and social technicians, and they want Aules d’Acollida, or Welcome Classrooms, to be consolidated with a minimum of six students.
The group says the change is needed to help improve educational outcomes, citing reports such as PISA 2022. They also say the system needs the 6% of GDP investment set out in the Catalan Education Law, and they have given the government until 19 June to formalise a budget commitment. More Catalonia news