This week the Ministry of Education has met with the union representatives of the Religion teachers. On the other hand, the dialogue with the Episcopal Conference is open, as could be seen in the first of the sessions promoted by the Spanish Episcopal Conference for the updating of the Religion curriculum.
It is worth asking, therefore, after the approval of the LOMLOE, at what stage of the game we are at. And, if you will allow the simile, to see how the score is going.
Decisive moment
The first thing to say is that we are in the middle of the game. Some might think that the passing of the law in parliament is the final moment of this whole battle, but it is not true.
The LOMLOE establishes the framework and the fundamental lines, but these general ideas must then be specified in the Royal Decrees to be approved by the Ministry and in the regulations to be applied in the autonomous regions, which are of vital importance given the major competencies transferred in the educational field.
In this legal space ahead of us we have a lot at stakeThe minimum hours to be taught in each course and the types of contracts to be established for the teaching staff.
As a knowledgeable friend of mine used to say, 'you make the law and let me make the Royal Decrees'. In truth, they are really decisive.
Ministry immobility
And at this moment of the game, the Ministry meets with the unions, as their own representatives told them, at their insistence, as a simple courtesy. And they refuse to accept any of the requests that these presented to them, nor to create a Negotiating Committee for Religion Teachers in view of the presumable reduction of jobs that the application of this law will undoubtedly entail.
In short, everything will be maintained as indicated in the LOMLOE, the Religion without alternative, the possible non-denominational subject of history of religions will be taught by the Social Sciences teacher, and they will only be allowed to "educate in faith, which is what they are selected for", according to the textual words of Fernando Gurrea, Undersecretary of Education and Vocational Training. In any case, they refer to the negotiations with the autonomous communities.
Beyond the concrete measures that were presented to the negotiation, the tone of the Ministry of Education has certainly been disheartening. And it apparently contrasts with the one that the Ministry itself is having with the Episcopal Conference, much more polite.
In fact, the director of the Commission for Education and Culture, Raquel Pérez Sanjuan, has been appointed by Isabel Celaá as a member of the State School Board. What is the reason for this difference, at least in form?
It is difficult to know, since the Ministry does not leave no stone unturned and one always clings to the possibility of dialogue, even if it is like a burning nail. But personally, I have the feeling that in different ways -more brusque with the unions, more diplomatic with the EEC-, the Ministry of Labor is always trying to find a way out of this situation, even if it is like a burning nail. the Ministry has a roadmap that it will not budge from. And this is to gradually stifle the subject of Religion, as it is also doing with other areas of educational freedom, as in the case of the charter school.
Openness to dialogue
The EEC is right to keep the door of dialogue open, but it will also have to keep its eyes wide open, because in this political game, it is possible that the Ministry of Education may want to use it and present an image of dialogue to society that does not correspond to reality.
In the meantime, pending the publication of the Royal Decrees and negotiations with the autonomous regions, the work that remains to be done is already underway: to establish professionalism of the teaching staff, renewing the curriculum of School Religious Education and to rearm for a journey through the desert that will be the years of the LOMLOE.
And to remain united all of us who believe in the freedom of education and value this subject. Because there is a long game ahead.
