To enroll a child, most, which, in some cases, can reach 11,000 euros per year. This has been denounced on Wednesday by the employer of private education CICAE, which, based on a sample of 338 randomly selected schools in eight autonomous communities estimates that this practice reaches eight out of ten of these centers. The report denounces that, of the centers that charge families, payments are not really volunteers in 69% of cases. It prohibits mandatory contributions and requires that extracurricular activities, which can have cost, are carried out outside school hours. Elena Cid, spokesman for CICAE, argues that “a copayment has been generalized in concerted education, which violates the principle of gratuitousness of mandatory teachings and encourages school segregation.”
Work, elaborated with the methodology mystery shopperhe simulated families interested in enrolling his children in the second cycle of Infant for the 2025/26 course. The report indicates that all the schools visited in the Community of Madrid (101), Catalonia (71) and the Basque Country (20) charge fixed quotas. The families that pay the highest figures are the Catalans and the Madrid, with annual means of 2,197 and 1,359 euros respectively. And every year they pay more: the increase with respect to the previous course was 420 euros in Catalonia and 102 in Madrid.
In Catalonia is the most extreme case: the maximum annual fee can reach 11,000 euros – the report reports the case of the Sant Paul’s School, which charges a fee of 1,100 euros per month that include dining room and school material; This newspaper has asked the center of its version, but for the moment it has not received it. While in Madrid it reaches 5,745 euros, according to the CICAE report. The differences between centers and communities are notable. 61% of the concerted Catalans schools charge more than 1,500 euros per year, compared to 66% of Madrid. In contrast, the average in Andalusia does not reach 30 euros, and in Aragon and Valencian Community it is around 45.
Complementary activities and exclusion
The CICAE report detects that many centers integrate voluntary complementary activities in the school day and make them virtually mandatory. Among those who detailed schedules – they have 68% – the authors were able to verify that 9 to 17 hours are taught, in the middle of school hours.
The arguments given to families show how difficult these payments are difficult. Some were warned that, if they did not pay the fee, their children “would have to go home or pay the custody service, 189 euros per month.” In other cases, they were told that the child “would go to a separate classroom, but all families bet on these activities”, and in some centers directly that without those activities could not follow the educational project.
The study indicates that in 11% of the schools exclusion practices have been detected, such as separating the student from the activities, relocating it outside the group or even asking parents to withdraw from the center. In the Community of Madrid, this percentage amounts to 29%. “An activity within school hours hardly does not generate exclusion,” summarizes Cid.
One, approved in December 2023, forces the centers to publish on their web pages the prices of complementary activities and services of the previous and next year. However, CICAE investigation detects that, of the 100 websites analyzed from schools with higher fees in Madrid, four out of ten still do not report prices or monthly installments.
The profile of the centers
The study also analyzes the profile of schools and reaches several conclusions. The commercial ownership are those that charge the highest quotas, with an average of 114 euros per month. Next, those belonging to corporations, cooperatives and limited liability societies are those that register the most compulsory and exclusion. Finally, and those that impose lower amounts.
In (50.5%) they have commercial ownership, which, according to the study, reflects a more business orientation of the concerted network. For Elena Cid, this collection system opens the door for education financed with public funds to become a business for investment funds.
The public network remains the one that concentrates the majority of students in Spain. Of, 19,328 are publicly owned, while the other 9,330 correspond to the concerted and private network, according to data from the Ministry of Education and Professional Training for the 2024/2025 course. In total, of compulsory education is enrolled in the public, compared to 33.2% attending the concerted or private.
