Catalan subsidized schools demand 400 million euros to end tuition fees

Unions and employers in Gràcia call for fair funding within the new 6% GDP education law.

Generic image of a press conference at an educational center.
IA

Generic image of a press conference at an educational center.

Employers, unions, and families from the subsidized school sector met this Wednesday in Gràcia to denounce chronic underfunding, stating that 400 million euros would be enough to make the system completely free.

The sector has proposed an amendment to the ILP currently being debated in the Parliament of Catalonia, which seeks to raise education spending to 6% of GDP. According to Idescat, the current investment stands at only 4% as of 2022.

"It is not an ideological debate, but one of equity. The 6% ILP must correct deficits sustained for decades."

Enrique Gallego · General Secretary of Education at USOC
The Federació Escola Cristiana highlighted that while the Department of Education budget increased by 1.775 billion euros recently, only 10% reached subsidized schools, despite them serving 30% of the student population in Catalonia.