2023-12-25 07:18:25
Castile and León It is the first autonomous community that achieves in the PISA report the first position of the Spanish regions in the three subjects that are evaluated: reading, mathematics and science. It is also in the ‘top 10’ when compared to the scores obtained by OECD countries, only surpassed by countries such as Japan, Korea or Estonia. The head of the educational policy of the Junta de Castilla y León does not reveal the secret formula to have a student body of 10, but she does outline some keys.
What is the magic recipe to have an outstanding education?
—Magic recipe does not exist as such. Yes, there is a lot of work, a lot of effort and a basic principle: putting educational policies as a priority. For the Mañueco Government it is an absolute priority. From our autonomous community, we already said when we returned from the pandemic, that presence, the connection of the student in the classroom with the teacher, was necessary and that the figure of the teacher is irreplaceable by any screen or performance. We were the first community to launch it and we continue to support a system where knowledge, merit and capacity are reinforced.
He insists a lot on maintaining the necessary hours of key subjects…
—Yes, we insist a lot because we are aware that, for example, reading comprehension is a transversal basis for any other subject. If you do not reinforce it from Primary, you carry deficits until when you move on to Secondary. It must be remembered that PISA evaluates 15-year-old 4th year ESO students. Mathematics is also transversal for any subject related to science.
Castilla y León is on the podium in reading, mathematics and science, what room for improvement does it have left?
—This is a continuous marathon. This year has been historic because no other autonomous community, in the twenty years that it has been evaluating PISA, has been at the top of the three competencies that are evaluated. It is the result of the work done by the entire educational community: the teachers, the most trained in all of Spain and those who do the most continuous training; the families, who are very involved, and the students. But we can’t relax.
They have been in the top positions in the country for years. Why don’t other communities copy the Castilla y León formula?
—It is something that we do not explain to ourselves either because it is not new, it is a work of many years and a trajectory of many professionals and educational policies, all aligned with that successful policy. We explain to the Ministry how we are acting so that it is taken into account in state policies, but then when laws are passed, such as the LOMLOE, it goes in the opposite direction, increasingly towards a greater devaluation of the national system. We will continue to insist to improve the educational system of Spain and not only that of this autonomous community, trying to extend our improvement policies.
Experts say that there are now too many screens in classrooms. Sweden is already withdrawing them. Should we return to traditional teaching?
—In Castilla y León we have not forgotten traditional education. In countries like Sweden they removed the paper book and implemented the electronic one in all places. Castilla y León has always been in favor of introducing tools that students have to know how to use, but without abandoning the paper book, without abandoning traditional methods. How you learn to read is by reading and reading by handling books.
In January the minister will ask you to take a position on the use of mobile phones in the classroom…
—We have already spoken out and, not only that, we have it regulated. In 2007, the Board issued a decree that establishes coexistence in the centers, where we demanded proper use of electronic devices that do not alter coexistence. In it we already collected that the centers, in their internal regime regulations and in their coexistence plans, will regulate when it can be used for educational purposes. I am unaware of the Ministry’s approach to an issue already regulated by the communities and in which it has no powers.
Castilla y León has many small rural educational centers. There is a tendency to think that their training is worse, but PISA shows that it is not…
—We have been defending education in rural areas for years, so that there are the same opportunities as in urban areas. In the PISA report, there are no differences between students from rural and urban centers in terms of acquired skills. It is necessary to give the same training to the student wherever they live. When we say that we digitize classrooms so that it is taught and that it is a tool to complete the curricular content, it is done in both urban and rural areas. Everything is done thinking about offering the same possibilities and, for this reason, the PISA report establishes that the educational system of Castilla y León is one of the most equitable in Spain and in part of the world.
You studied at a school in a small municipality in Soria. What can that school share with Japan, Estonia, Finland, which have similar results in PISA?
—I feel proud to have studied at the school in a small town, Villálvaro, in San Esteban de Gormaz (Soria). In the rural world we continue to defend quality education and understand the figure of the teacher as a key element of development, giving them all the training and all the tools they need. We have nothing to envy Japan or Finland. Now with Pisa, Castilla y León is already above Finland when before it was our goal to achieve. What is the conclusion? Those responsible for educational policies must defend education as the best element for social development, as a social elevator, and not devalue or degrade it by giving away titles. We must facilitate the provision of maximum training to all students and reinforce it where necessary.
There are voices calling for stopping bilingualism so as not to deteriorate training in complex subjects…
—In Castilla y León we do not have mandatory subjects that must be taught in English. It is the center itself, which knows its students and their abilities, who decides. There are bilingual centers that, for example, teach physical education in English, and others teach other subjects. Spanish language, obviously not, but biology. Bilingual sections have not been seen to have a negative impact on PISA. It’s all about balance. There are centers that have asked us to maintain a bilingual section and another that is not, and this is being authorized. Because? Because you also have to give flexibility.
It is not what stands out the most from PISA, but Castilla y León has very low levels of bullying…
—When talking about educational policies, the focus is always more on the academic part, but we must attend to the social part, coexistence. For years, the coexistence decree has regulated the use of digital and electronic devices in our community because they are elements that alter coexistence and allow this type of behavior to occur in the educational field. We are very aware that this needs to be regulated and that its use should only be determined by teachers in their educational field together with figures such as the coexistence coordinator or counselors. This also means that when we are evaluated at the national and OECD levels, we are the autonomous community that is almost at the level of Japan and Korea with the lowest rates of bullying.
The Federation of Association of Mothers and Fathers of Castilla y León (Fedampa) wonders that, with these results in PISA, why Castilla y León is not Silicon Valley and is a “cheap labor factory for Madrid”?
—The Board’s policies are all aimed at being a community of opportunities. With PISA, we are talking about a non-university system, of 14 and 15 year old students, in the top positions at the academic level and that is causing more young people to study Baccalaureate and Vocational Training than in previous years. We have increased the vocational training rate by 5% and the Baccalaureate rate remains the same. The number of students studying at our universities has also increased by an average of 10%. Then there are other factors, unrelated to education, more linked to other policies, such as industrial policies, in which great work is also being done to retain talent.
What is the point of training students better if there is no single EBAU?
—We were not able to get the Ministry to propose a single and homogeneous EBAU with the rest of the territories, but we will continue fighting and working to achieve it. But that does not mean that we do not value what we are achieving, and the high level of non-university education is an achievement of the entire society of Castilla y León, of which we have to feel proud.
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