Focus on Spanish education and Spanish investment immigration: According to a report by the Spanish newspaper El País on May 17, Spain's education reform includes religious education in the scholarship evaluation criteria. This is a draft victory for the Spanish bishops in the education reform, and the government's approval has also sparked strong opposition from various sectors, especially since the education sector (particularly in public schools) has almost entirely distanced itself from the People's Party of Spain. Spanish Education Minister José Ignacio Wert defended this reform, arguing that it is an antidote to the 24.5% dropout rate and international assessments, which can improve the consistently mediocre Spanish education system.
Through this reform (LOMCE), the bishops of Spain have achieved their goals: civic education has completely disappeared, replaced by mandatory religious education (in the preliminary study of social and cultural values and moral values in secondary schools). According to the Ministry of Education today (17th), this score will be calculated into the overall score just like other subjects. "This new reform was not passed through the 1990 education law reform (GLSES)," said Rafael Ramírez, president of the teachers' union.
Currently, there are no optional educational materials for religious education, which will be provided by the Ministry of Education, but it is uncertain whether every student will choose this course to pass their exams (failing two or three subjects requires repeating the year). Previously, it was not linked to obtaining scholarships or any competitive processes and student admission rates. Religious education was legally approved by the People's Party government in 2002 (ESWL) and also provided similar reform proposals to establish the current reform, but due to the rise of the Socialist Workers' Party government in 2004, this resolution only came into effect and was not implemented.
The center of the educational debate has always shifted towards religious themes, with strong arguments constrained by the religious agreement signed between Spain and the Vatican, established to ensure that "the teaching of the Catholic religion is a compulsory subject in all schools, regardless of type and level, whether public or private." In this context, bishops have consistently claimed that their religious education has a strong, assessable, and calculable optional curriculum system to attract more students to religious studies.
"This measure is actually trying to curb the decreasing number of children choosing church schools," said Fernando Delgado, president of the European Secularization Alliance. According to data from the Ministry of Education, the number of students choosing religious courses dropped by 8 percentage points between 2000-2001 and 2009-2010. Over the past decade, the number of primary school students enrolled in church schools has decreased from 83.32% to 74.19%, in secondary schools from 63.71% to 54.39%, and in universities from 47.68% to 41.14%. "Religious courses should provide students with the freedom to choose, but they should also be viewed as a fundamental subject," said Juan Antonio Martínez Camino, Secretary General of the Spanish Bishops' Conference.
Bishops demand a strong right to choose
However, religion is just one controversial idea in the reform process. So many sensitive issues (religion, coexistence between public schools, and language coordination in Catalonia, implementing co-education) are gaining more attention (perhaps more people are taking to the streets) due to the government's deepening reforms.
The demands for amendments and clarifications on these controversial issues require the State Council to publish opinions. Wert stated that they have repeatedly participated in the recommendations of the State Council, questioning essential parts in any case. However, some demands for citizens to take this compulsory course have been overlooked.