Teachers' unions and educational assemblies in Valencia have signed a unified negotiation agreement outlining 40 professional improvements demanded from the regional education ministry. The Coordinadora d’Assemblees Docents del País Valencià (CADPV), along with unions STEPV, CCOO, UGT, CSO, COS, CGT, CNT, and the Plataforma Docents en Lluita, announced the agreement following recent negotiations.
According to a statement from the CADPV, the regional education minister, Carmen Ortí, “has declined to assume the demands of the education sector”. This rejection has led to the call for an indefinite strike, set to begin on 11 May, which has already been registered with the administration by STEPV, CCOO, and UGT.
The document, signed by all groups, aims to “reverse a process of dismantling and denigration of public education, which is improper for a society that must firmly and indisputably commit to its future”.
Reducing Class Sizes and Boosting Staff
A primary demand from the unions and groups is a reduction in classroom ratios. They propose cutting pupil numbers from 25 to 15 in infant and primary education, from 30 to 25 in ESO (compulsory secondary education), and to 20 students in Bachillerato (post-compulsory secondary education). The agreement also calls for the recovery of staffing levels, the creation of 2,000 new jobs, and more specialist staff for students with special educational needs.
Teachers also want the ministry to implement a climate adaptation plan for schools. This plan would address the extreme cold and heat conditions many centres experience each year. Further demands include improving infrastructure and completing pending plans like "Edificant", as well as speeding up the reconstruction of schools damaged by severe weather.
Economic Recovery and Bureaucracy Cuts
Regarding economic recovery, the document states that teachers are “at the bottom of salary scales across the state”. It highlights that the regional component of their pay “has not increased for nineteen years”. To address this, they are asking for a progressive 20% recovery of purchasing power, an annual review linked to the Consumer Price Index (IPC), the return of the extra pay cheque, and summer payment for interim staff who have worked a minimum of 150 days during the academic year.
Additionally, unions and assemblies are requesting a reduction in temporary contracts, payment for participation in competitive examination boards, and a lighter teaching load for teachers over 55, among other measures.
Another key demand is the “debureaucratisation” of daily tasks. This involves simplifying procedures and eliminating duplicate reports to free up more time for teaching. The signatories point to Asturias' administrative simplification law, which reduces paperwork and digitalises processes, as a model.
Language and Other Demands
The groups also advocate for the Catalan language, proposing “a linguistic model that guarantees plurilingual competence and social cohesion, with Valencian as the language of cohesion and educational quality”. They also demand the immediate withdrawal of censorship applied by the Valencian government to authors from Catalonia and the Balearic Islands in the Bachillerato curriculum.
Other measures in the document include the immediate replacement of staff on sick leave, the granting of discretionary leave days to match other regions, a reduction in teaching hours, and equalising working hours with other state civil servants.
