The independent union of public education, ANPE-Madrid, has expressed its resounding rejection of the Department of Education's new draft decree regarding the school day. This proposal has been described by the union as a "normative absurdity" that compromises essential principles, such as the democratic participation of educational communities and the pedagogical autonomy of the schools.
ANPE criticizes the fact that the teaching staff, considered the driving force of the education system, has been completely ignored in the process of drafting the decree. The union denounces that the rule would allow a minority of families to impose changes to the school day, ignoring the consensus of the faculty and the school council, which would affect the coexistence within educational communities.
The union emphasizes that the decree represents a direct attack on the pedagogical and organizational autonomy of the schools, an autonomy that is key to educational quality and flexibility. According to ANPE, centralizing decisions on external criteria compromises the professionalism of the teaching staff.
The project has also been criticized for suggesting that all parents prefer the split-day schedule, an argument that ANPE rejects, since many parents do not want their children to stay at school until 4:30 p.m., which does not promote work–family balance. Moreover, ANPE states that the split-day schedule is not pedagogically favorable, noting that students' attention and performance decline significantly in the afternoon.
The union rejects the idea that the split shift has the backing of international recommendations, emphasizing that the majority of centers in Spain operate with a continuous working day, and that it is inappropriate to apply European criteria without considering the country's cultural and time-related peculiarities.
ANPE-Madrid has announced that it will study the possibility of legally challenging the decree if it is approved and will promote actions to defend the rights of the teaching staff. It demands respect, dialogue and common sense in the organization of schooling, warning that the school-day model should not be subject to political interests or unilateral impositions.
Press release from ANPE Madrid.
