2025/26 school year starts with fewer students, more challenges, and phones banned

School is back for a new year with cheers and some tears as children met their peers once again after the long summer break. 

The 2025/26 academic year got underway on Monday morning for a new course with fewer students in the education system as a whole, more difficulty expected through the semesters, and a new ban on mobile phones and smart watches in the classroom. 

At the Escola Vedruna Sagrat Cor in Tarragona there were nerves, emotion, and tears among the little ones starting their first ever day of school.

Shortly before 9 in the morning, the kindergarten and primary school students began to arrive.

After more than two months of vacation, the children were ready to meet their friends again. "We were looking forward to going back to school because summer is repetitive," said a group of 5th grade boys.

The parents who accompanied them also started the new term with enthusiasm for "getting back to routine," as Soraya Lago, explained.

Catalan education minister Esther Niubó congratulated schools and teachers on the smooth start of the academic year, as 100% of schools opened as normal.

Addressing the only setbacks —schools in southern Catalonia that closed early due to heavy rain— Niubó said forecasts in the coming hours would determine whether classes resume on Tuesday.

Teachers and families "excited" but wary of "challenges"

Outside the Escola Parc de la Ciutadella in Barcelona, where pupils enter through the city's zoo, teachers and parents alike were "excited" for the new school year, although wary of the "challenges" ahead at the same time.

Anna Martí, director of the school, told Catalan News that she was very excited for all the teachers, for whom the first day back felt the same as it did for the children. 

However, she admitted that the school has "challenges," with the main one being the topic of "inclusion" and "diversity."

"Sometimes we teachers feel like we don't have enough tools to serve these children as we would like, this is the main challenge for me," she explained.

Anaís, a parent of three children heading back to school this week, said that the pupils were "very happy" to be heading back, as "they want to come back, like every year."

She too was happy to see them return to school, as she felt they "needed" the return of routine and education after the "long" summer. "It's been good, it's just having them at home is also complicated, making plans with the children, also if there are so many people at home, it becomes difficult," she admitted. "With the heat they don't really like going out either, but it's all over now."

Meanwhile, Gustavo, whose sons Rocco and Pol are starting third and fourth grade on Monday, and the parent admitted a "mix of emotions" because "time goes by quickly."

"They're very excited because it's a very nice school, they like it a lot," this father said. "It's a very family-oriented school because, being smaller, there's one class per year, we all get to know each other, they play together. Going back to school is always fun for them."

Addressing diversity and specific education needs

According to the Minister for Education, Esther Niubó, there will be 8,964 more students with these needs in the system.

In total, the last academic year ended with 335,746 students with specific support needs, almost 9,000 more than the previous year.

Of the total, 292,380 had needs for socioeconomic or sociocultural reasons, and 43,366 had needs for disorders or disabilities.

To serve these students, the education department will increase investment in the support monitoring service, known as guardians. This program will get increased funding from €29.2 to €62.6 million between January 2026 and August 2027.

A reference psychologist will be available in every region, and the Intensive Support for Inclusive Education (SIEI Plus) resource will increase from 87 units to 175.

A program to detect language disorders in 1st and 3rd grade of primary school will also be deployed, and a pilot will be launched in Manresa and Sabadell to improve comprehensive care for neurodevelopmental disorders.

No mobile phones

The new academic year will be the first one with a ban on phones and smartwatches in schools, after approving the regulation back in June.

The new ban removes this exception, forbidding cell phone use entirely for students up to age 16.

The ban applies to all primary and secondary schools.

However, its impact on institutions combining secondary (ages 12-16) and high school (ages 16-18) levels is still unclear.

Families will receive a document with recommendations on using phones and digital devices during the academic year.

Anaís believes that it's a positive development that phones are not permitted in classrooms anymore. 

"I think it's good that they don't use them at school because in the end they don't need to be connected to the outside world, they already have teachers and they have to be focused," she said.

The director of the Escola Parc de la Ciutadella pointed out that mobile phones are not such an issue in her school as the children are so young, but in general, she's in favour of some regulation over the devices.

"I'm not sure if banning them outright is the solution, but we have to start somewhere," she said. "The whole issue of artificial intelligence, of mobile phones, of devices, has taken over schools like a hurricane and, of course, we have to regulate it, we have to look at it carefully," she considers.

"Sometimes decisions like this are made, which may seem a bit drastic at first, but can be very good," the director concluded.

Protests

Up to 100 teachers protested outside the offices of the education department in Barcelona to coincide with the first day of the new school year.

Called by the CCOO and UGT trade unions, the demonstrators demanded "regularization" in their paychecks and for teachers' fees to be paid. 

The group of predominantly arts and music teachers held a mock funeral outside the ministry's headquarters, with protest signs reading 'Contractual violations', 'Enough lies', and 'Fewer promises, more resources'. 

Meanwhile, the USTEC trade union has started the new year with a declaration that it is time to "take action" and demand salary increases and better working conditions.

They have proposed a unified demonstration in October with other trade unions, which they want to be the kickstarter for a cycle of protests which will culminate in a strike if there are no improvements or negotiations.

President: 'We can improve, but we do lots well'

During a visit to a Granollers school on the first day of term, Catalan president Salvador Illa assured that the government has done its homework so that the new school year starts in the best way.

Illa said that the new academic year starts with “fewer students, more teachers, more centers, and more inclusive education” available.

The objective, according to the president, is to achieve “excellence” and guarantee that the education system is capable of “helping the personal development of each student.”

“There are many things to improve, but we are doing many very well,” he added.

1.6 million students

Kindergarten, primary, ESO, and basic vocational training centres opened their doors for the first time this new academic year on Monday with a forecast of 1,040,925 students, 12,013 fewer.

High school and intermediate and higher vocational training begin on Friday, after Catalonia's national day on Thursday. Including those pupils in the total figures, there will be 1,326,352 in the general in-person education system, 8,493 fewer than last year.

Also counting the special regime, students learning not in-person, and adult education, the forecast is that this year will see over 1.6 million students in Catalonia in total, around 2,200 fewer.

This will also be the first year in which mobile phones and smart watches are banned in the classroom during the compulsory stage.

Of the total number of students in this stage, one third have specific educational support needs.