Hernández defends the functioning of the Aragonese education system with more resources and greater offerings
The Minister of Education, Culture and Sports of the Government of Aragon, Tomasa Hernández, appeared before the plenary session of the Cortes to report on the start of the 2025 school year, highlighting the smooth incorporation of nearly 200,000 students and the unprecedented deployment of resources in the regional education system.
The Department of Education has significantly strengthened the teaching staff with 400 additional teachers in classrooms this year. Additionally, there are 800 assistants and health professionals dedicated to ensuring educational inclusion. The educational network has expanded with 24 new TEA classrooms (Autism Spectrum Disorders), 11 Special Education classes, and 8 early schooling classes.
The commitment to rural schools is evident in the maintenance of over 70 schools and 120 vocational training programs with fewer than 10 students. A significant example is the school in Alquézar, which remains open serving only two children, responding to the wishes of families. School transportation operates with 660 planned routes, costing over 23 million euros, providing service from day one to more than 14,100 students.
Implementation of innovative projects and educational infrastructures
Among the innovative projects are strategies to reduce bureaucracy, regulations for screens according to the students’ level of maturity, enhancements in math and reading competencies, work with robotics and computational thinking, and an excellence and research-focused baccalaureate program. In terms of infrastructure, an investment of 32 million euros is being allocated, enabling the opening of CPI Ana María Navales, the Zaragoza Sur Institute, and the Aragón and Monsalud nursery schools. The transformation of a dozen cold line cafeterias into on-site kitchens has been completed.
Hernández announced new investments: the second phase of the vocational training building in Alcañiz (€1.6 million), the expansion of the IES Rodanas in Épila (€5.1 million), and the new classroom for secondary education and gym at CPI Valdespartera III (€6.2 million). Regarding teacher vacancies, the counselor stated that only the Ministry of Education can change the access rules, while the Department is implementing a labor and salary improvement agreement worth 126 million euros.
