The socialist parliamentary group in the Cortes of Aragon plans to register the request for the appearance of the Minister of Education, Carmen Susín, in order to detail the criteria used to design the new Vocational Training offer of her Department. According to said planning, seven of the nine Higher Grade FP degrees authorized by the Executive for the 2026-2027 academic year will be taught in private or subsidized centers.
"Almost 80% of the offer," stressed the socialist deputy Jorge Pastor, who considers that this decision "consolidates and makes evident a model that diverts public resources to enrich the private sector and weakens vocational training after the privatization of high school and early childhood education."
In a press conference held this Thursday in the regional Parliament, the PSOE representative denounced that "with the PP and Vox and a Government led by Jorge Azcón, privatization has only just begun," although he stressed that his party, together with the educational community, "we are going to stop it."
Pastor insisted that Aragon needs to boost FP, especially in the province of Zaragoza due to the volume of business projects already underway, "but what it needs is to strengthen the public FP system," he specified.
He recalled that this is a training pathway that he considers "key" for the planning of the educational system and "a great opportunity" for Aragon, in parallel to the gratuity and universalization of the zero to three years age group.
Reaction to protests and educational model
The presentation of the new offer of higher FP degrees coincided with the education sector strike against the subsidization of High School, a circumstance that, in Pastor's opinion, represents "a very clear contempt" for the teaching staff, the students, and the rest of the participants in the mobilizations.
The socialist deputy urged Jorge Azcón to bear in mind that he is the President of the Government "for all Aragonese, whether they voted for him or not" and that "he must listen to what the streets are saying, but without demagoguery, in the right place and at the right time."
Likewise, he demanded that he accept as the main conclusion of these protests "that while there are deficiencies in the public educational system, it cannot be diverting public money to the private sector."
In this regard, he has highlighted that this Wednesday "the educational community took to the streets en masse" in defense of public education, on which he has emphasized that "it is the only one that guarantees equal opportunities for everyone and everywhere in all of Aragon".
"And it does so, the socialist parliamentarian added, without looking at whether you meet the requirements or not of national priority, which, on the other hand, are also not very well known."
Finally, Pastor has announced that, during Susín's appearance, the PSOE will demand clarifications on the departure of the Director General of Educational Planning, Ana Moracho, and "on the future appointment of a Director General who will have equity and educational policy in his portfolio, which, from what is read in the press, wow," he pointed out.