The President and the Minister of Education have visited several schools on the island of Menorca

The President of the Government of the Balearic Islands, Margalida Prohens, and the Minister of Education and Universities, Antoni Vera, today inaugurated the 2024-2025 school year with a visit to several schools on the island of Menorca. Prohens stressed that this academic year begins with a record number of professionals in the classroom, to improve the response to the educational needs of students and reinforce attention to diversity.

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Prohens inaugurates the school year with a record number of professionals in the classrooms and the improvement of attention to diversity

The academic year begins with 769 more teachers in the Balearic Islands, both public and state-subsidised. Thus, public schools will have 688 more teachers this academic year, including 71 more guidance counsellors. In addition to the new teachers, there are also 130 new professionals, including 61 educational technical assistants (ATE), 30 professionals from the Early Intervention Teams (EAP) and 39 school psychologists, the new figure incorporated in secondary schools. Secondary education will also increase the number of professionals with 81 more teachers, including 20 counsellors, as well as 38 ATEs and 35 psychologists.

‘A school year that begins with 300 free places for 0-3, with more support than ever for students with special educational needs. A pioneering course with 39 psychologists to attend the schools of the Balearic Islands – one of the measures of our Mental Health Strategy – working on the mental health of the youngest children and ensuring the emotional well-being of students,’ said Prohens.

The CEIP Inspector Doctor Comes Camps in Alaior was the first centre to be visited by Prohens and Vera, who was accompanied by the president of the Consell Insular de Menorca, Adolfo Vilafranca; the regional secretary for Educational Development, Mateu Suñer; the regional director of Education in Menorca, Alexandra Marquès; the first deputy mayor of the town council of the Consell Insular de Menorca, Adolfo Vilafranca; and the first deputy mayor of the Consell Insular de Menorca, Alexandra Marquès, who was accompanied by the president of the Consell Insular de Menorca; the first deputy mayor of Alaior Town Council, Maria Jesús Florit; the councillor for Education of Alaior, Juan Fernando Orfila, and the head of the Department of Educational Inspection of the Balearic Islands, Gabriel Timoner, as well as representatives of the school’s management team and the families’ association.

‘Sincerely, I think it is incredible all the work done in just one year by the Conselleria de Educación. We showed that the only thing that was lacking was political will and management. For this reason, I would like to thank the councillor Antoni Vera for the enormous amount of work he has done and for his commitment,’ said the president.

Prohens reviewed some of the new features of the 2024-2025 academic year, such as the ban on the use of mobile phones during school hours and recess for infant, primary and secondary school pupils, with justified exceptions. In addition, the dining room grants are increased from 8 to 9.5 million, so that no family that meets the requirements is left out, and the ceiling on the price of dining rooms in public schools is increased to a maximum of 6.5 euros. Also this year, tax deductions in the IRPF will be extended, as in the case of the extension of the deduction for textbooks to 220 € -350 € for parents under 30 years of age-.

The president and the councillor also visited today the La Salle school in Maó, where a first year of baccalaureate has been arranged for this academic year, and the Magdalena Humbert nursery school, also in Maó. This school is one of the four directly managed by the Regional Ministry of Education and Universities, which forms part of the 12,140 places for 0-3 year-olds in the Balearic Islands and which benefit from free education for the whole of the first cycle of infant education.

New primary school places

The 2024-2025 school year will see new primary school places. The new CEIPs in Campos and Inca, and the extensions to the CEIP Blai Bonet in Santanyí, and the CEIP Rosa dels Vents in Colònia de Sant Pere, in the municipality of Artà, will come into operation this year. With these actions, the Regional Ministry of Education and Universities has provided a total of 1,250 new places for this academic year.

Finally, the Regional Ministry of Education and Universities has today sent guidelines to schools on the use of mobile phones. In the case of public schools, instructions have been sent and in the case of state-subsidised schools, recommendations have been sent, which include the contributions of different representatives of the educational community and which have been agreed by consensus in the Sectoral Education Committee and the Permanent Dialogue Committee with Head Teachers.

The final text gives more autonomy to schools in deciding the custody of mobile devices if teachers have to remove them, and it is also recommended that pupils should not bring mobile phones to school. If they do, the devices must be kept with the pupils’ belongings and must be switched off.

It should be remembered that the Regional Ministry of Education and Universities is processing the order that will regulate the use of mobile phones in all publicly funded schools, which will include the instructions and recommendations that have been sent to schools today. The order will be binding and will be agreed again in the different educational roundtables.