Girona faces the relocation of 343 students from Les Alzines and Bell-lloc, two centers that cease to be subsidized to become private property, in a placement process that will remain open until June 10. Two-thirds of these students have specific educational support needs, which further concentrates the pressure on the city's public network.
The main tension arises from the difference between family demand and available vacancies. In early childhood and primary education, 117 of the 176 applications were directed to subsidized centers and only 59 to public ones, while in secondary education there were 87 requests for subsidized centers and 80 for public institutes. A good portion of these requests, however, will not be met and will end up being referred to public centers.
Girona opened thirteen new groups to absorb demand
On March 4, Girona's Education Councilor, Queralt Vila, announced the opening of three new primary groups at Dalmau Carles, Àgora, and Cassià Costal schools. The expansion also included ten new secondary groups in the city's public institutes.
With this reorganization, all public institutes will have 17 secondary groups and the Vicens Vives institute will have 18. Vila defined the scenario as a "huge challenge" and demanded more resources from the Department of Education to sustain the public system's response.
Councilor Ester Niubó defended in the Parliament of Catalonia that "the public offering has been increased so that no one is left without a place." The expansion comes after two private centers ceased to be part of the subsidized network, forcing the relocation of hundreds of students in Girona.
Most requests for subsidized centers will not fit the available offer
Albert Quintana, a member of Girona's municipal schooling council, warned that most of the applications submitted for subsidized centers cannot be met due to a lack of vacancies. This mismatch, he pointed out, will lead to the relocation of students to public centers that are already under high pressure from NESE students.
In primary and early childhood education, the gap between preferences and capacity is already evident in the process data. This is also the case in compulsory secondary education, where requests for subsidized and public centers are very similar, but with an additional pool of students from Les Alzines and Bell-lloc that still needs to be absorbed by the network.
Quintana placed the origin of the problem in the initial planning. In his opinion, that insufficient foresight already generates tension in the centers and families and will continue to do so during the allocation of places.
The process will remain open until June 10, with 176 applications registered for early childhood and primary education and another 167 for compulsory secondary education in the city.