Bullón de Mendoza Warns Education Policies Threaten Private Schools

Alfonso Bullón de Mendoza is stepping down as president of the Fundación Universitaria San Pablo CEU after eight years, warning that the government's education policies risk undermining private and concerted schools. In interviews, he highlighted concerns over the planned reduction of classroom ratios, the university decree's retroactivity, and the potential for excessive state control.

On Ratios and Funding

A new law would lower maximum class sizes from 25 to 22 in primary and 30 to 25 in secondary education, at an estimated cost of €2.8 billion annually. Bullón de Mendoza argues this is unsustainable for subsidized schools without increased public funding, calling the situation "very complex" Source: El Confidencial. He questions whether the central government has the authority to impose these rules when education is largely devolved to autonomous communities Source: El Español.

On University Regulation

Bullón de Mendoza criticized the government's university decree for retroactively affecting existing academic files and for what he sees as a disproportionate focus on private universities. "Me llama la atención el afán del PSOE contra la universidad privada porque nunca lo tuvo" ("It strikes me that the PSOE is so keen on attacking private universities, something they never did before") Source: El Español. He advocates for cooperation between public and private sectors rather than confrontation.

On AI and Educational Quality

He identifies artificial intelligence as a key challenge, noting that the CEU responded rapidly during the pandemic by shifting to online teaching within a week Source: El Español. On academic excellence, he defends the "culture of effort" and warns against a system that overly cushions students, saying "no todo puede venir dado" ("not everything can be handed to them") Source: El Confidencial.