Pedro Sánchez celebrates the "exemplary" response to the pandemic by our education system, which allowed us to be one of the few countries to keep classrooms open all year round

"It has not been easy," he said, "but together we were able to surpass even the best expectations, and be at the forefront of countries that have worked hardest to minimise the impact of the pandemic in the field of education," which has been "a great achievement".

This was stated at a ceremony to give tributes and recognition to the education community, held this morning at the Moncloa Palace, which was also attended by the Minister for Education and Vocational Training, Isabel Celaá; the Minister for Health, Carolina Darias, and representatives from the education world.

Sánchez highlighted the exemplary performance of the entire education community and showed his "deep admiration" and "gratitude" to them, as "they have contributed to overcoming the test posed by the pandemic", he said.

During his speech, the president of the government recalled that the main challenge of the 2019-2020 academic year was more than 8 million students and 700,000 non-university teachers having to manage online teaching, a challenge they met with an "exemplary response".

He also wanted to highlight the great coordination and collaboration between the Ministry for Education and the regional education administrations, whose competences remained intact. This coordination was reflected in three Sectoral Conferences and in the various commissions during the state of emergency.

As Pedro Sánchez went on to explain, the great challenge for the 2020/2021 academic year was undoubtedly "the return and continuity of face-to-face education", which was experienced with "understandable concern" and with "pessimistic forecasts that forebode serious and continuous episodes of infection in our schools and institutes". However, far from this, "the education system functioned as a tool to detect infections early", he remarked.

With a view to the next academic year, 2021/2022, he pointed out that, if the authorisations envisaged by the European Medicines Agency are met, "we could start vaccinating secondary school students two weeks before the start of the academic year", which will be "a decisive step towards the long-awaited recovery of academic and social normality".

Actions to support Education

The head of the Executive also pointed out that "the pandemic once again made education an absolute priority for political action". In this regard, he recalled that the Executive mobilised 2 billion euros for education included in the COVID-19 Fund, which made possible measures such as the strengthening of regional staff with up to 40,000 support teachers; 230 million euros from the Educa en Digital Programme to provide almost 500,000 mobile devices for the most vulnerable students; or 60 million euros from the PROA+ programme, to provide guidance and educational reinforcement to those schools with the greatest difficulties for their students. There has also been a 139% increase in the appropriations allocated to the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training in the General State Budget for 2021, something that will allow, among many other things, "a historical increase in resources in the call for scholarships for the 2021/22 academic year, exceeding 2 billion euros in funding".

Sánchez also recalled that the Government has approved a new education law, the LOMLOE, based on "three basic pillars: equity, inclusion and quality", and has presented the Preliminary Draft of the New Organic Law for the Organisation and Integration of Vocational Training, which represents further progress in the most ambitious reform of Vocational Training in the history of our country.

All these reforms will also be supported by the extraordinary support of European funds through the multi-annual investments of the Ministry for Education and Vocational Training included in the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan that has just been approved by the European Commission.

In short, the head of the Executive is convinced that "it is time to give a definitive boost to the education system in our country". "It is not just a matter of resolving the urgent needs of the moment, but of initiating a process that will place Spain at the forefront of education and training in the coming decades", taking advantage of this historic moment of transformation. He has therefore made a firm commitment to "do everything possible to turn this new commitment to education and vocational training into our greatest challenge as a country".

Celaá: "We have managed to keep the edifice of education standing".

For her part, the Minister of Education and Vocational Training, Isabel Celaá, underlined the "extraordinary effort" that Spanish society has made over the last year to "safeguard" education, which is the "main driver of personal and social change", while she expressed her pride in the professionals in the education sector, "who deserve the highest social recognition and our deepest gratitude".

During her speech, Celaá stressed that the decision taken in May, endorsed by all Regional Governments, that "we would not close schools again", after three months of closed classrooms due to the pandemic, has been a "collective success". In this way, she highlighted the response of the educational community: "teachers have been courageous and generous, students have been disciplined in complying with the health measures, and families have supported our efforts physically and morally," she said.

"Together we have ensured that the pandemic has not robbed us of our future", "we have managed to keep the edifice of education standing and we have proven the value of the public sector". "Schools cannot close. School must always remain open," she concluded.

Spain is on the road to a fair recovery

On another front, the head of the Executive also wanted to convey an optimistic message about the outlook for our country from now on. "There is joie de vivre in all our compatriots, because we are on a roll in terms of vaccination, record after record in the number of doses administered, and because employment is recovering. "In short, Spain is on the road to a recovery that must be fair and much longer lasting". He also remarked that next Saturday, fortunately, "we will be able to take off our masks in open spaces".

Non official translation