88% of teachers believe their profession has lost prestige and feel excluded from educational decisions. This will become clear later in the report A study on teacher discomfort in Cataloniacreated by the sector’s majority Ustec union, was promoted last year to quantify the perception of attrition and the group’s concerns. The report concludes that “there is a crisis of recognition and participation, which is having a negative impact on the profession.” Due to this “structural wear and tear,” the union is preparing for next Saturday’s solidarity demonstration to demand better labor, Ustek said.
This Wednesday, the Ustec union published the second part of the results of a macro survey conducted last year, to which around 14,000 teachers from public centers at all levels of education responded. A year ago, the first results were released, reflecting the group’s dissatisfaction, with 36% considering leaving the profession. At this time, we collect answers regarding workload, working conditions, school schedule, etc.
Details from a survey conducted by Ustec reveal that high levels of bureaucracy are a major factor in teachers’ discomfort, with 84% saying there is too much bureaucracy and almost two in three (64%) believing there is an excessive workload. As a result, a high percentage of teachers (76%) admitted that they do not have enough time to prepare for lessons.
There are other aspects of working conditions that this group is dissatisfied with, and while the proportion is high (79% say working conditions are a problem), dissatisfaction with pay has fallen to 58% of those surveyed. A lack of resources to care for students with special needs and disabilities was also highlighted by 88% of teachers, and 65% were dissatisfied with the training they received at their university and the courses regularly held by their departments.
Teachers are also mostly against the current working day, with 89% in favor of a reduced working day, but two in three want courses to start after Diada, as they did a few years ago.
An interesting fact from the study is that this template ordinance (which gives administrative power to choose teachers according to their profiles rather than their dictates) does not cause majority rejection as it does at the union level. Specifically, 53% oppose this initiative because it would cause division within the group and ultimately benefit some faculty as well.
The report also includes a range of solutions proposed by teachers, including reducing ratios, adding teachers and professional staff, cutting red tape, increasing salaries and air conditioning the centres.
united protest
To demonstrate this dissatisfaction, various education unions have called for a unified protest this Saturday, launching the first attack on the government of Salvador Illa. “We gave them a year to roll out their educational model, but there are many promises that have been announced but not fulfilled, which is causing disappointment and prompting us to take action,” summarized Ustec spokesperson Iolanda Segura. Among these unfulfilled agreements, Segura asserts that the Ministry of Education has not responded to calls for regional transfer competition to give permanent positions to new employees or reduce bureaucracy. “Debureaucratization plans have been announced, but I have not yet seen any proposals. On the contrary, every time a plan is announced, it is accompanied by further bureaucratization,” Segura criticized.
To be precise, the four demands of the demonstrations are a reduction in workload, a reduction in student ratios, and an increase in staff and salaries. “We are the lowest-paid teachers in the state. And the factor that sets us apart is a certain regional subsidy (salaries are set by the central government) that have not been renewed for years. But the ministry has already told us that we are not in the renewal process,” laments the Ustec spokesperson.
About The Author
