Nowadays, public education is suffering a terrible atack from the
powerful neoliberal forces. In our
country, the Government tends to favour
private schools –the majority of them are religious- to the detriment of public
education system.
At this juncture, why is it so important to defend a
high quality public education?
Education is one of the four pillars of the Welfare State.
The goals of education are: Learning subjects (Mathematics, Language, Literature,
Science, History, Geography, Philosophy, etc.); learning to learn; social
integration; accountability; principles... In a shellnut, the school is a
essential place to educate responsible citizens.
Considering that education is a universal and
unalienable right, the State has the obligation of providing a high quality
school.
Social mobility is, in part, feasible thanks to the
fact of having a good public school.
Besides, I think it is important to remember that at
public school teachers have to pass a public examination, which is, somehow, a
guarantee of competence.
Public school is also a laudable model of integration.
In public schools children from very different origins (immigrants, lower
classes,..) share space with the rest of the students, whereas in the private
schools they tend to segregate, not accepting
“troubled” children.
Religion is another important point. In a secular
State, as ours is, religion should be learnt within the families and at temples
(churches, synagogues, mosques...), but, in no case, at school. Religion
belongs to the private sphere of the person not to the public one.
On balance, if we want to move towards to a fairer,
more egalitarian and happier society we must protect our rights and our, now
damaged, Welfare State; public education is one the key factors to achieve our
objectives.
