In the coming years, Catalan schools and families will face a major transformation: dozens of separate services for paperwork, payments, and information will be consolidated into a unified digital platform, La Meva Educació. This initiative aims not only to make life easier for parents and educators but also to free up more time for learning, which is especially important in a system where administrative work has long been a serious issue.
According to El Pais, the new platform will allow parents to submit applications, track grades, make payments, and report absences—all in one place. Currently, more than 150 different apps are used for these tasks, many of which are outdated and not interconnected. As a result, schools must spend resources duplicating information and constantly filling out multiple forms.
Plan to reduce bureaucracy
The Catalan authorities have approved a five-year plan with a budget of 60 million euros to reduce paperwork in educational institutions. As part of this project, La Meva Educació—modeled after the medical service La Meva Salut—will be launched by 2027. The platform will offer different profiles for teachers, administrators, and families, and will incorporate artificial intelligence to speed up data processing.
Key objectives include integrating scattered services, automating routine tasks, and reducing the number of mandatory reports. For instance, schools currently have to respond to dozens of surveys from different government bodies, but in the future, this will be streamlined to three comprehensive surveys per year. This will reduce the administrative burden and allow principals to focus more on educational matters.
Technological changes
The rollout of the new platform is accompanied by updates to other digital tools. For example, the Esfera system, used for grading, will get additional servers during peak periods to prevent outages. There is also consideration of replacing Esfera entirely with a more modern solution.
In parallel, the Borsa app is being developed for temporary staff: they will be able to accept or decline assignments via mobile device, instead of the outdated SMS or web interfaces. Artificial intelligence will also be used for automated processing of complaints about the allocation of teaching vacancies.
Response and challenges
School administrators report that bureaucracy consumes up to 70% of their working time. The situation worsened during the pandemic, when reporting requirements increased sharply. Although unions did not support all aspects of the reform, authorities insist on the need for change. Efforts have already reduced the volume of mandatory data schools must fill in by a third, and by nearly half in universities. Some procedures, such as signing teachers’ schedules, have been completely abolished.
Issues of transparency and oversight of spending in educational institutions remain pressing. Recently, Catalonia saw a scandal involving embezzlement within a school association, which was examined in detail in an investigative report on Lloret de Mar — more details on the allegations involving the official.
Context and experience
In recent years, Spain has been actively implementing digital solutions in the public sector. Similar projects have already been launched in healthcare and taxation, where unified platforms have streamlined access to services and reduced the number of errors. Other regions in the country are also discussing initiatives to cut bureaucracy in schools, but Catalonia has become one of the first autonomous communities where the reform received such large-scale support and funding. The introduction of new technologies in education often comes with challenges related to staff training and integrating legacy data, but experience shows that the long-term benefits outweigh the initial difficulties.
