Around 400 people gathered this Thursday at 12 noon in Plaça de la Font to demand labor improvements in the early childhood sector. The protest blocked the downhill lane of Rambla Nova for an hour and cut off traffic on Rambla Vella.
The protesters demanded the dignification of conditions they consider precarious despite the curricular inclusion of this educational stage. The mobilization is part of a broader campaign that seeks to unify staff rights regardless of the center's management model.
The fight for educational recognition
The school curriculum integrated in 2023 the preschool stage from 0 to 3 years as the first phase of learning. This regulatory decision has not led to a real improvement in staffing or salaries, according to the affected groups' complaints.
"The basis of everything is that we are recognized as an educational stage" - Glòria Fernández, spokesperson for the 0-3 Platform of Catalonia
The current situation presents up to six different management models that coexist in the territory. These include municipal public schools, centers of the Generalitat de Catalunya, private, and outsourced with public funding.
Workers in outsourced centers receive remuneration linked to the interprofessional minimum wage. In many cases, these salaries correspond to part-time work, which generates great economic instability in the sector.
High Ratios and Staff Shortage
The current ratios force a single technician to attend to eight babies under one year old. The figure rises to thirteen children in the one to two-year-old range and reaches twenty in the two to three-year-old group.
The collective demands the stable presence of pairs of professionals in each classroom. They also claim more specialized resources and a unified salary that eliminates differences between public and subsidized centers.
The participants read a manifesto in Plaça Imperial Tarraco in front of the Government Sub-delegation. The text affirmed that there cannot be quality education without the necessary resources to provide it.
The 0-3 Platform of Catalonia maintains its protests since 2004 and has managed to bring together unions and entities in the educational field. A joint demonstration is called in Barcelona for May 20.