The President of the Government and the Minister of Education have met with the State School Council, in which the educational community is represented, to discuss the reinforcement plan and the regulation of cell phones.
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The mathematics and reading comprehension improvement plan
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the Minister of Education, Vocational Training and Sports, Pilar Alegría, have met with the permanent commission of the State School Council to address the reinforcement plan in mathematics and reading comprehension, which will benefit more than five million students in Primary, ESO, Basic Vocational Training and Baccalaureate of centers supported with public funds.
“It is important that governments propose solutions to problems that concern society as a whole,” said the minister at the end of the meeting. “That is why we want to implement this plan, which will have teachers who will provide more personalized attention, with more resources for the centres and extracurricular classes,” she added.
The program, announced a few days ago by the President of the Government, will be implemented, in the case of the reinforcement of reading comprehension, from first grade to high school; and, in the case of mathematics, from third grade to high school. Both, also in Basic Vocational Training.
As for the funding that will be allocated to it, Pilar Alegría pointed out that, although it has not yet been specified pending the negotiation of the General State Budget, the educational measures implemented by the Government have always been backed by significant funding, such as scholarships, whose budget has increased by 70%: “The budget will be as ambitious as the objective”.
Regulating the use of cell phones
The State School Council has also unanimously approved the Spanish Government’s proposal to regulate the use of cell phones in schools during school hours. It includes a series of recommendations and conclusions such as the zero use of cell phones in both Infant and Primary schools, and that these devices remain switched off during the whole school day in Secondary schools, although they may be used if the teacher considers it necessary for a specific educational activity. In any case, exceptions are contemplated for reasons of health, safety or special needs.
The minister, who announced that she will meet with the autonomous communities on January 31 to discuss this issue, stressed the importance of “unity of action and consensus in responding to this social concern”.