The Department of the Interior has held a tense control session of the Government in Parliament this Wednesday where President Salvador Illa has defended the structure of the pilot plan that integrates plainclothes Mossos d'Esquadra officers in educational centers. Illa has underlined that the measure is strictly based on voluntariness and will only be applied in those schools that explicitly request it, ruling out any imposition from the administration.
Illa reiterates the voluntary nature and subsequent evaluation
The head of the department has insisted that the initiative arises from the demands of part of the educational community and that the results will determine its future. He has assured that any center joining the project will do so at its own request, while those that consider police presence unnecessary will be exempt from the program. Furthermore, Illa has highlighted the professionalism of both the teaching staff and the Catalan police, recalling the prominent role of the Mossos in mediation within the school environment.
"If any educational center says it does not need this pilot test, it will not have it" - Salvador Illa, president of the Generalitat
The Government published the bases of this pilot plan on Tuesday, which is already operational in fourteen schools and institutes spread throughout Catalan territory. The information about the voluntary nature of the test was made public during the parliamentary debate following the first critical reactions and requests for appearances by the opposition.
The opposition criticizes the measure and demands transparency
Illa's statements have provoked immediate responses from the opposition benches, who have criticized the measure from different perspectives. The main political groups have expressed their positions as follows
- Mónica Sales, spokesperson for Junts, has announced that they will request the president's appearance to clarify the details of the deployment.
- Josep Maria Jové, for ERC, has called for investing resources in more teachers and books before in fewer police officers and batons.
- Jéssica Albiach, from the Comuns, has warned the Executive that it should reflect on the initiative if parties like the PP and Vox show their support.
- Pilar Castillejo, deputy for the CUP, has lamented the lack of dialogue with the teaching staff before implementing the measure.
Three high schools in Vic and Margarida Xirgu want to leave the plan
The practical application of the plan is already facing resistance in some of the centers involved. Union sources from USTEC have confirmed that three institutes in Vic have communicated to Educational Inspection their desire to abandon the pilot test. These centers are La Plana, Jaume Callís and Comtat d'Osona, as detailed by the union organization. In L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, the Margarida Xirgu Institute has also formally requested to leave the plan of Education and Interior, although the competent department has not yet publicly acknowledged this step.
The current situation leaves the pilot plan with at least four centers seeking to withdraw, which could force the Govern to review the initial composition of the sample before evaluating the first results. The tension between the demand for security raised by the Executive and the reservations of the educational sector remains valid as the political debate progresses on the real scope of this prevention and coexistence measure in classrooms.