Our country already has a new Education Law, a law for the 21st century that replaces the previous one, approved solely by the PP and which sought to keep us anchored in the past. The LOMLOE, as it is called, is the eighth education law of democracy and is born with the vocation to last over time, despite the noisy reception it is having from right-wing and far-right political parties, as well as from employers' associations of subsidized and differentiated education.
The noise was to be expected, since they are not interested in knowing the improvements and advances of the new Education Law, but rather in generating confusion based on falsehoods to continue maintaining their privileges. But, faced with lies, demonstrations and honking in high-end cars and smoke screens, we progressives must respond with serenity and arguments. So the first thing to say is that subsidized education is not in danger and parents will be able to continue choosing; yes, the new law prioritizes the offer of public places over subsidized places in school programming.
With the new law, centers supported with public funds will also not be able to separate boys from girls, and it seems incredible that we are correcting this at this point. It is not true that the survival of special education is at risk, but rather that inclusive education is being promoted and, over time, the centers will undergo a conversion, since there is broad agreement around the idea of enrolling all these students in an ordinary center, provided there are sufficient resources. Religion is also not expelled from the classroom, as it remains in public schools but with the novelty that it will not count towards grades, as until now. However, a new subject of religions is created as a secular knowledge about religions in history.
The new law avoids defining which should be the teaching language in each autonomous community, but Spanish is not at any risk since, although the powers in education are transferred to the autonomous communities, the LOMLOE specifies that the autonomous administrations must ensure the right to receive education in Spanish and the co-official language, as established by the Constitution, the statutes of autonomy and current regulations. So the Spanish language is also not at any risk, as the worshipers of fake news shout.
The only thing certain is that the law reflects the general aspirations of the progressive left in our country because it is committed to public, inclusive education, with equal opportunities for all students, and takes a step forward in the renewal of pedagogy. This law obliges teachers to keep affective-sexual education and gender equality present in the classroom, and equity is one of its guiding principles, since it promotes the stage from 0 to 3 years, reduces repetitions, creates flexible itineraries, promotes educational reinforcement and converts the scholarship into a subjective right.
The truth is that the new Education Law allows students to pass a course with failing subjects and pass ESO or high school with one failing subject, if the average grade of the transcript is 5. The truth is that the law has been approved in the Congress of Deputies by an absolute majority, and the Canarian Coalition voted against it, aligning itself with the ultra-conservative bloc. Let's learn the name, LOMLOE, because this is a law for the 21st century and it is here to stay.
*Ariagona González, national deputy of the PSOE and Minister of Industry and Energy of the Cabildo de Lanzarote
