With the new school year under way, education policy in the Comunitat Valenciana was once again being debated on the streets: in València, Alicante and Castelló thousands of teachers, families and pupils demonstrated on Saturday against the regional government’s approach. At the head of the march organised by the Plataforma per l'Ensenyament Públic was a prominent demand: “consellera dimissió”. Participants also called for more staff, smaller classes, additional inclusion funding and better infrastructure.
The protests mark the continuation of a months-long stalemate between the education administration and the unions. According to elDiario.es, a comprehensive package recently presented by the Conselleria d'Educació was decisively rejected in an internal vote: 87 per cent of participants voted against it, with only the proposal on reducing bureaucracy receiving support. Staffing ratios, school buildings, inclusive education, vocational training, staff resources and the status of Valencian remain disputed.
The unions STEPV, CCOO PV and UGT PVwere among the organisers of the demonstrations, supported by parent and student representatives. The platform said it would continue mobilising if the regional government did not make tangible commitments. Union sources say a swift resolution is possible only if binding steps to increase staffing and reduce class sizes are put on the table.
The education administration sought to defuse tensions. The secretary of the Conselleria d'Educació, Daniel McEvoy, said that demonstrations were respected, but stressed that the solution lay in “more negotiation and less confrontation”. The Generalitat did not announce any specific commitments on additional teachers, fixed class-size limits or investment programmes for buildings. Government sources say it intends to continue talks with the social partners.
It remains to be seen whether street pressure will quickly produce results. What is clear is that the new school year is beginning amid the same divisions that led to several mobilisation efforts in the previous school year. Organisers expect further actions in the coming weeks if negotiations fail to make substantial progress. The current dispute is less about broad policy principles than measurable commitments on staffing, space and time — issues that determine the quality of teaching in the day-to-day life of schools.
Editor: Phillipe Schmidt-Araguin (Article created with AI assistance).