Salvador Illa defended this Wednesday in the Parliament the pilot plan to incorporate plainclothes Mossos d'Esquadra agents in educational centers and rejected the opposition's criticisms, to which he addressed a direct question about the initiative. "What are you afraid of trying it?", he asked during the control session.
The president maintained that it is a "voluntary, time-limited, and subject-to-evaluation" measure. He also stressed that it responds to requests from some centers and that it will only be deployed where it is requested. "It will only be applied where requested," he stated. And he added that, if no center wants to implement it, it will not be carried out.
Clash with the opposition over police presence in schools
The initiative focused a good part of the political debate. The spokesperson for Esquerra Republicana, Ester Capella, demanded the withdrawal of the pilot plan, considering it stigmatizing. In her speech, she recalled similar experiences in other countries that, in her opinion, did not work.
From Junts, the president of the parliamentary group, Mònica Sales, framed the educational situation as a "crisis of the country" and accused Illa of a lack of leadership. She also lashed out at the Government's approach, reproaching that in the face of educational problems, "instead of solutions, it puts police officers."
The leader of Catalunya en Comú, Jéssica Albiach, admitted that conflicts exist in some centers, but asked the Catalan Executive to rectify and reinforce educational resources. In that vein, she maintained that schools do not need police officers, but rather psychologists, educators, and teachers. Albiach also warned that parties like the PP and Vox support this measure.
Pilar Castillejo, president of the CUP group, accused the Government of adopting "the far-right framework" by opening the door to police presence in educational centers. Her group called for reinforcing educational support instead of introducing security measures.
Education insists on the preventive nature of the plan
The Minister of Education, Esther Niubó, came out in defense of the proposal and underlined its preventive nature. She assured that there will be no uniformed or armed agents and specified that they will not enter classrooms either.
The Government maintained that the objective of its measures is to improve the educational system and advance towards higher levels of excellence. In the same vein, Illa defended that his Executive is reversing the lack of investment from previous stages.
Message to the educational community in the face of strikes
During the session, Illa also referred to the upcoming teacher strikes. He assured that he respects the right to strike, although he asked for it to be compatible with other rights, including the education of students and the mobility of citizens.
The president closed his speech asking for "respect" for teachers and for the Mossos, on a day of strong parliamentary confrontation over a pilot test that continues to divide the groups and that, for now, the Government keeps on the table on the condition that it be requested by the centers themselves.