The Canary Islands Platform for Inclusive Education has presented this week several writings of preventive legal warning to the Canary Islands Consultative Council and the Canary Islands School Council, denouncing the irregular processing of the new Decree on attention to diversity and educational guidance that is being promoted by the Ministry of Education of the Government of the Canary Islands. This was announced in a press release issued on Monday morning.
According to this entity, which represents families and professionals in the field of disability and inclusive education, the rule is being developed "without complying with the legal requirements of the administrative procedure, and without guaranteeing the participation of the educational community or the representative entities of students with specific educational support needs (SEN)".
Serious irregularities detected
The Platform has warned that:
- The decree has not been included in the Government's Annual Regulatory Plan.
- The Regulatory Impact Analysis Report (MAIN), which is required by law, has not been prepared.
- No prior public consultation has been opened, despite the fact that the rule directly affects the exercise of the fundamental right to education.
- The draft has been disseminated informally and selectively, without guarantees of transparency.
- The mandatory opinion of the Consultative Council or the School Council has not been obtained, bodies that must intervene before approving rules that affect the educational system and fundamental rights.
A decree that perpetuates segregation
In addition to the formal defects, the Platform has considered that "the draft consolidates a segregating schooling model, contrary to the Constitution, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (art. 24) and the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court".
The regulatory proposal has allowed "referrals to special education centers without guarantees of reasonable adjustments or support in ordinary centers, violating the subjective right to inclusive education and aggravating social inequalities".
Registered and documented actions
The Platform has accompanied the writings with a legal report on the nullity of the procedure, a document of amendments to the decree and a copy of the writing registered in the Parliament of the Canary Islands on March 28, in which the Ministry was already warned of the illegality of the procedure and of "the need to respect the reservation of law in matters of education".
Lack of traceability in informal meetings
The Platform also denounces that, on May 7, 2025, during his appearance in the Parliament of the Canary Islands, the Minister of Education, Don Poli Suárez Nuez, has publicly acknowledged that the Ministry is holding informal meetings with the entities involved in the elaboration of the Decree.
However, he has pointed out that "these meetings are not documented, not published and access to their contents is not allowed, which prevents their traceability and verification". Therefore, they have considered "that this process cannot be considered valid as a substitute for the prior public consultation required by article 133 of Law 39/2015, since it does not comply with the minimum requirements of the principle of transparency that the Minister himself claims to be complying with". In addition, transparency is not presumed: it must be documented, especially when it comes to a rule that affects the exercise of fundamental rights.
For all these reasons, they have announced that they are going to formally require, again, the Parliament of the Canary Islands to "comply with the legally established procedure" in "our legal system throughout the process of elaboration, modification and approval of the Decree", so that:
- The effective participation of all the entities involved is guaranteed.
- Their proposals and contributions are officially collected, with documentary traceability.
- An attempt is made to reach the greatest possible degree of consensus, within the current legality.
- The real and accessible participation of families and people directly affected by this rule is ensured.
- The principle of transparency and publicity is respected, as a condition for the legitimacy of the process.
According to the Canary Islands Platform for Education, the content of this rule aims to regulate the exercise of the fundamental right to education of students with disabilities, including limitations on access to inclusive schooling, so it is a matter that has a reservation of law, as established in Article 53 of the Spanish Constitution. "Its regulation requires the maximum legal, institutional and democratic guarantee," they demanded in the statement.
They demand "real dialogue and legal guarantees"
The Platform has learned, through a recent press release, that the Minister of Education has stated that he does not want "impositions" from families, but "to reach a consensus among them". On this point, they have assured that they agree "fully": "Families also do not want to continue suffering the impositions of the educational administration, which repeatedly forces them to resort to legal channels so that their children can exercise their right to education in equal conditions and with the same guarantees as the rest of the students without disabilities".
Thus, they have added that "precisely for that reason, families have acted with institutional responsibility and have presented a formal and motivated proposal to modify the draft Decree, with the aim of providing legal and technical solutions that make a rule respectful of fundamental rights viable. This proposal was officially delivered and defended in parliamentary headquarters on March 23, 2025, within the framework of a meeting held with representatives of the Parliament of the Canary Islands.
Finally, they have assured that "as of today, the Ministry of Education has not given any official or technical response to this proposal".
