Celaá has assured that the draft Organic Law of the new Education Law (LOMLOE), ready for parliamentary processing and that in practice will repeal the LOMCE, will be the first law of the Government in this legislature.
"In the coming dates we will propose a draft law that establishes public education as the backbone of the education system and incorporates the social consensus reached in these years that have been giving stability to our education system," he announced.
The minister has defended that the new norm will suppose a "transcendental change" for the educational system based on excellence and equity. In addition, he recalled that the text includes for the first time the children's rights approach as the guiding principle of the system, the gender equality approach, thus promoting their learning, and education for sustainable development.
Similarly, the draft bill is committed to the modernization of the curriculum, leaving aside encyclopedic and memorial contents. "We will reinforce, through the new law, the competency approach and realize it in the future royal decrees of minimum teaching of the different stages. We will eliminate the contents added by the LOMCE, which unnecessarily overload the curriculum, and introduce new fundamental knowledge that they are not present in the current one, "he explained. This will be carried out in coordination with the autonomous communities through a Curriculum Development Institute for the permanent review of the curricula.
Digitization is another of the main axes of the law. It is a cross-cutting initiative that implies a new way of building knowledge and managing information, and that also transforms the economy and employment. To develop this strategy, the MEFP has developed the Digitalization and Development Plan for digital competence in Education and Vocational Training.
A year to reform the teaching profession
One of the main objectives, as stated in the draft Law, is "to present, within one year of its entry into force, a normative proposal that regulates, among other aspects, initial and permanent training, the access to the profession and the development of the teaching career ", as the minister recalled.
Among the changes that are intended to be carried out is the introduction of a phase of progressive incorporation into the profession, which will consist of a year of supervised practices. The MEFP will also open a debate to update the framework of continuous training and evaluation of teacher performance and will work towards a future Statute for Teachers.
"It is necessary to carry out an update of the new profile of teaching competencies and specialties that are required for the 21st century, from which the rest of the transformations have to be articulated," said Celaá, who recalled that teachers are the cornerstone of the education system and those who have suffered the most from the consequences of the crisis.
This update has already begun with the revision of the grades of Infant and Primary Education and the Master's Degree in Secondary School Teacher Training, which is being carried out in collaboration with the Ministry of Universities and the Education Deans Conference.
Modernization of Vocational Training
The minister has announced the elaboration of a bill of Vocational Training that will articulate for the first time the two systems of VET, the Vocational Training of the educational system and the Vocational Training for employment. "We need to undertake a profound transformation of the Vocational Training model that unifies this training into a single coherent and integrated system," said Celaá.
The head of Education has defended the need to reach a broad agreement to modernize the system within the framework of I FP Strategic Plan 2019-2022, approved a few months ago by the Government, to adapt it to the needs of the new economy. This strategy started more than a year ago by the Executive, seeks to design a unique and flexible offer, as well as guarantee the recognition of professional skills acquired during the work experience.
In order to carry out this task, the minister considers the participation of the business sector and the social partners, as well as entities and organizations of the third sector to be essential. "Within the framework of this collaboration, we will address the basic regulation of Dual FP that allows, within the differences of productive fabric and economic structure, to provide it with a certain homogeneity regulating basic aspects," he announced.
The minister has also confirmed the impulse of 200,000 new FP positions in the next four years, the design of up to 80 new degrees and the update of existing ones, the introduction of a digitalization module in all titles, as well as the impulse of professional guidance in these teachings.
Progressive implementation of Education 0-3
During his appearance, Isabel Celaá has confirmed that the Government, in collaboration with the educational administrations, will launch, within one year after the entry into force of the new educational law, an eight-year plan to extend the First cycle of Early Childhood Education. "We want to move towards a sufficient offer with equity and quality and that guarantees its educational character. In its progressive implementation, the access of students in situations of risk of poverty and social exclusion will be prioritized," explained the minister.
Reform of the scholarship and study aid system
The minister stressed that the scholarships are "an essential instrument to achieve equity in education" and reaffirmed the Government's commitment to achieve a scholarship and study aid policy "that guarantees that no student abandons their studies for economic reasons" . With this objective, since its arrival at the Ministry, Celaá has promoted an in-depth review of the current model that will result in a reform that ensures equal opportunities in access to education.
Specifically, the threshold structure will be reviewed and the academic requirements will be modified by lowering the access note to scholarships for non-university studies and to the fixed amounts of university scholarships, and in the medium term will reduce substantially variable amount in favor of the fixed amount. In addition, the system will be made more flexible so that it is possible to make study and work compatible.
These improvements are added to those already initiated in the last 19 months, such as the reactivation of the Scholarship Observatory or the increase in 30 million of the budget allocated to these grants. "We will continue with the improvement of the management process of the state system of scholarships and study aids, in line with what has already been started" and in "coordination with the Autonomous Communities and universities," said Celaá.
