The LOMLOE reduces by half the number of publicly funded schools that segregate by sex

The organic law of education (LOMLOE), which was prepared by the previous coalition government of PSOE-Unidas Podemos, under the direction of the former minister Isabel Celáa (PSOE), and the department of Pilar Alegría (PSOE), prohibits schools financed in whole or in part with public funds from segregating students by sex.

Since its entry into force in January 2021 – it has then been applied in stages – the norm has ensured that these centers, fundamentally of Catholic ideology, are reduced by halfaccording to the estimates provided to Public sources from the Ministry of Education.

Education manages the data on the segregation centers arranged when the law came into force: there were 90, they say. In the ministry they contribute to Public an estimate: that the figure today is “around 45”, according to the sources consulted by Public. “Control and monitoring corresponds to the Autonomous Communities,” they point out.

This calculation provided by the Government to Public It is in line with the tracking by Autonomous Communities that was published elDiario.es last February, which indicated that there were 48 segregation centers then, and with a previous one from the EFE Agency, March 2023which indicated that there were then 51 and that the figure had already been reduced by 42% since the start of the LOMLOE.

Wait for the concert to end

IU pressures the Government with this matter. Toni Valerodeputy of Sumar in Congress and coordinator of IU in Andalusia, a community where there are still nine charter schools that segregate by sex, according to data from the USTEA union, has registered a question to know why the educational law is not applied 100% .

“The Catholic organization Opus Dei,” Valero writes in his question to the Government, “is the owner in Spain of an educational network which jointly invoices close to one billion euros per year, its four main companies being Promotion of Educational Centers, Attendis, COAS and the Institució Familiar d’Educació”.

“Many of these educational centers, financed with hundreds of millions of public euros through educational concerts are segregated by sex“Adds Valero.

The LOMLOE states the following: “In order to promote equal rights and opportunities and promote effective equality between men and women, centers supported partially or totally with public funds will develop the principle of coeducation in all educational stages. […] and They will not separate students by gender“.

In the Ministry of Education they expose Public that “the LOMLOE effectively strictly prohibits publicly funded centers that segregate by sex.” However, they add, “There are court rulings that say that concerts cannot be suspended in the middle“. Therefore, “to eliminate the subsidy, you have to wait for the concert to end.” Normally, these have an average duration of six years.

PP maneuvers

The Community of Madrid, before the law came into force, expanded the concerts so that they could be maintained at least until 2027. It was a maneuver of the Government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso (PP) to overcome the effects of the LOMLOE.

In Andalusia, there are nine schools that segregate, according to the USTEA union. “We cannot allow segregated schools to continue to be financed. The Andalusian Government turns a blind eye to these institutions linked to Catholic employers and that move away from a model of society and democratic values ​​such as feminism, diversity LGTBI+ and that in addition to segregating by sex, they also do it by social scale,” he points out. Francisco Fernandezfrom USTEA.

“Of the more or less 45 centers – add the ministerial sources consulted by Public– there are some who remain who what they have done is join sexes for the lower courses. They start with children and maintain segregation in those cases in which the kids started in a segregated way.” The ministry considers these to be segregators, but if they continue with the dynamic, in a few years, they will stop being so.

The Constitutional Court endorses

A ruling by the Constitutional Court endorsed in 2023 – by majority, with four dissenting votes – the LOMLOE, which had been appealed by Vox, also on this point of the prohibition of segregation by sex in centers that receive public money.

This is stated by the court in an informative note: the TC “has examined whether the prohibition of publicly financing differentiated education is contrary to equality or some of the educational rights and concludes that it is not”.

For the magistrates, “the difference in treatment established [la ley] between educational centers that separate students based on their gender, in order to be able to be fully or partially financed by
public funds, responds to a ideological conception of the educational system thatnot only cannot be called arbitrary, but also, is inspired by constitutional values“.