The search for profit from subsidized schools could be set, on average, at 25 euros per student per month, in a universe of more than two million students in Spain. The average rate for subsidized private centers which have the legal form of a company amounts to 108.38 euros per month, while it remains at 83.48 when the school belongs to a religious congregation, to a public body, to a foundation or cooperative of social interest. according to the ninth edition of the annual Charter School Fees and Prices Study, prepared by the Cicae Private Schools Association.
The study establishes that 79.4% of the 321 charter schools analyzed in seven autonomous communities charge basic fees to families and that there is no volunteering in 72% of cases – which would be illegal because contrary to the free public education service offered. through these centers.
This Cicae report is part of the hidden battle that Cicae, which represents purely private schools, is waging with subsidized private schools, which it considers to be “unfair competition” because they combine the best of each system: they charge to the State and to families and the State pays their teachers. Sometimes – this is common in the Community of Madrid, for example – the administrations give them the land to build the center. This is a report that the main charter school association, Catholic Schools (the educational arm of the Church), rejects every year as biased and which has sometimes been criticized for being unrepresentative. is why in this edition Cicae explicitly warns that it only wants to be representative of Madrid and “indicative” of the rest.
In recent years, several attempts have been made to shed light on a sector that does not shine with its transparency. An approximation from EsadeEcPol calculates that royalties cost families a billion euros per year, establishing in this case annual payment ranges between 680 and 860 euros (depending on whether the dining room is taken into account, for example example). This Esade study is carried out from two INE surveys, while the Cicae study limits the sample to a certain number of schools – and is not representative of the entire group.
If all charter schools are funded equally, why do some charge no tuition, others 10 euros, and others a thousand? Where is the underfunding? What is the measure to cover the expenses they say they cannot cover?
Save the Children also reached out to charter schools a few weeks ago, in this case not really focusing on tuition. But their study argues that subsidized private centers in Spain are the most segregated in Europe in terms of income based on student selection with quotas and that they were underfunded, which would explain (which does not justify) charging these irregular fees. The postulate is, on a purely numerical level, correct: the charter school welcomes almost 30% of students in the compulsory cycle, but represents 12.5% of total public expenditure. It can be argued that their costs are reduced because they are not present in the countryside, where education is more expensive, or because they address many fewer students with educational support needs, but the numbers are what they are.
If this is the case, Cicae wonders, where is the underfunding? “If all subsidized schools are funded equally, why do some charge no tuition fees, others 10 euros and others a thousand? What is the measure to cover the expenses they say they cannot cover? asked Elena Cid, from Cicae. “We are not against the concerted agreement, it seems to us that it fulfills an essential function, but we want the same rules of the game to exist for everyone.”
A good part of the problem comes from the fact that the economic module of the concert established by the State has not been updated for years (even if the autonomous communities have improved it) and, in addition, the cost of Education is not known beyond high numbers. concerted. The ministry is trying to resolve this problem and is conducting a study on the real cost of these centers.
“I’ll come an hour later.”
One of the main novelties of this ninth edition of the study – carried out with the mystery shopper technique, through which someone poses as a supposed customer to obtain reliable information about the company – is that it has studied the behavior of the centers based on their ownership and legal form, for which he divided the schools into two groups: those that are for-profit and those that are not. And he found differences between the two.
Those configured as commercial companies “are those that charge higher amounts to families, with an average fee of 108.38 euros per month”, a figure which rises to 149 euros every 30 days if we exclude cooperatives business. Within this group, the most expensive are limited partnerships (195 euros on average), followed by limited companies (146 euros per month), limited liability companies (106.31 euros) and cooperatives (91 euros ).
In many cases, the center directly denies the possibility of not paying, saying that “without this the operation of the center would not be possible”, as the Estudio de Galicia school explains. Or because “if you choose this school, you know its prices”, argument put forward in the Norfolk of Madrid
Compared to these, those whose goals do not include earning money ask for a monthly contribution of 83.48 euros, a figure that drops to 60.10 euros – they are still average – in the case of religious people. Foundations charge 115 euros and social interest cooperatives, 137 euros every 30 days.
The study also reflects the reaction of different centers when asked what happens if monthly fees are not paid, a touchstone that can make these fees mandatory. In many cases, the center directly denies the possibility of not paying, saying that “without this the operation of the center would not be possible”, as the Estudio de Galicia school explains. Or because “if you choose this school, you know its prices”, an argument put forward at Norfolk in Madrid.
On other occasions, we explain to the family that without a quota, there is exclusion. Not in these terms, but the mystery shoppers who carried out the study often heard that their hypothetical child would “arrive an hour later” than the rest of the children, sometimes they would also have to “leave an hour earlier” or leave the center. mid-morning for a moment, supposedly dedicated to carrying out an activity included in the price, but not obligatory. There is also a case, that of the Anfora International school, in which the family would not have to go to the center to take the child and would go and play in the playground.
Catalonia is the autonomous community that charges the highest average tuition fees, 177.68 euros per month, with a maximum of 510 euros at the John Talbot School (traditionally it is the Saint-Paul School, which is around a thousand, but this year that is not the case). possibility of obtaining information). In this community, half of the centers require a monthly payment of 246.37 euros
Cicae maintains that many subsidized centers include additional activities in the middle of the school day to force the collection of fees. These activities – from chess to math reinforcement lessons – are not academic, therefore not compulsory, and centers can exclude those who do not pay for them. By placing them in the middle of the day, parents are forced to pay them due to the impossibility of picking up the child during the middle of the school day.
In general, officials come to explain to families interested in their school that schooling is compulsory, according to the Cicae study. This happens in 72% of cases: the alternative to non-payment is the exclusion of this student from certain activities. This model is found above all in the Community of Madrid, while in Catalonia, the Basque Country and the Valencian Community, the norm is not to offer an alternative to payment. Andalusia, Aragon and Murcia have a model in which volunteering is more real.
Catalonia is the autonomous community that charges the highest average tuition fees, 177.68 euros per month, with a maximum of 510 euros at the John Talbot School (traditionally it is the Saint-Paul School, which is around a thousand, but this year that is not the case). possibility of obtaining information). In this community, half of the centers require a monthly payment of 246.37 euros.
Next comes Madrid, where 99% of centers charge on average 125 euros, although this figure hides big differences between schools since, as in Catalonia, half of them charge more than 150 euros per month. In the Valencian Community they fall to 109 euros and in Euskadi they are 120 euros. Outside of these two regions, the figures plummet: Galician schools cost 49 euros on average every 30 days, 42 in Andalusia, 34 in Aragon and 75 in Murcia.
