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The Department of Education is preparing a draft decree that will define the new baccalaureate that will be taught in the 2022-2023 academic year in Catalonia and that, due to its characteristics, will condition the university entrance exams (PAU). Among the novelties, the competency and non-memory character stands out, the increase in optional subjects, the possibility of taking it in three years and, finally, a fourth modality, of a general nature, with scientific, humanistic and artistic subjects.
Although the working group that is designing the new changes was created a year ago, the new Spanish Education law, the Lomloe, approved in December and which came into force in January, has given a definitive push to the possibility of applying them. The transformation of this stage is, on the other hand, desired by a large part of Catalan educational centers that have adapted competency curricula in compulsory education and not in post-compulsory education. Recently, the Fòrum Futurs de l'Educació was created, which required a competent baccalaureate.
The learning changes in this stage, planned for 2022-2023, will force to adapt the PAU
Lomloe opens the doors for regional governments to design three-year baccalaureates to allow students to reach sufficient “academic maturity” to consolidate the knowledge acquired without the need to repeat it. And on the other, it establishes that the autonomous educational authorities organize, together with the universities, the university entrance exam, guaranteeing "its adaptation to the high school curriculum." This rule requires that the selectivity be adapted to the baccalaureate studies, which are designed by the Education departments, and not that the tests to enter the university determine the studies of the previous two years.
"The high school curriculum has not changed since 2008, and it was necessary to address an update not only of content but also of the way of teaching, more competent, as in the rest of the educational stages, and direct it to professional guidance," he explained yesterday the general director of Curriculum and Personalization of the Department, Maite Aymerich. "They are excellent ages to develop skills learning, debates, experiences, that make sense by themselves and we lose it in years oriented only to the PAU".
Aymerich assures that memorizing certain contents is not given up and that educational quality will continue to be demanded, but it will be a more enriching stage for the student, so that they acquire a "broad and solid" culture and can explore and develop their interests.
In this sense, the general director anticipates that students will be able to choose three subjects among five of their modality, instead of being obliged to take two as at present.
Among the electives, the range is widened, open to all students, regardless of the type of baccalaureate they take. The possibility of having nine elective subjects, six in the first year and three in the second, with suggestive content such as challenges of the 21st century, audiovisual communication, programming or literary creation is being studied. Likewise, the way in which studies carried out outside the educational center, such as language degrees, artistic studies, sports, work in companies or volunteer activities, are included in the school record.
The common subjects will continue to be established by law, which the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training must develop this year.
Greater flexibility and openness will allow young people to give themselves permission to doubt, according to the person in charge of Curriculum and Personalization, and that failure is not to suspend but not to manage their own future.
School dropout in this educational stage is high. Of the 49,000 students who enrolled in first year last year, about 10,000 did not go to second. A third repeated a grade, another third went on to vocational training cycles and the rest dropped out of education.
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