The Catalan Government delays to the next course the aid of 100 euros per school child that it announced in its plan against inflation

The Catalan Government has recognized this Wednesday that one of the main measures of its shock plan to deal with inflation will have to be delayed. Last September, the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, announced to great fanfare a package of initiatives worth 300 million to combat the rise in prices, of which 100 million would go to grants of 100 euros per child schooled. The idea was that this money would arrive in the form of a personal income tax deduction in the income statement, but even then doubts arose about its application, because precisely the families that need this aid the most, the most vulnerable, do not usually file the tax return. rent by not being forced by the low income they have. This Wednesday, in the control session of the Government in the Catalan Parliament, the Minister of Economy, Natàlia Mas, has recognized that this system will not work and that they are working on a new one to grant aid directly in September, that is, for the next course and a year after Aragonès announced the measure.

The announcement of the shock plan was made in full negotiation of the Budgets and, as a measure of pressure to obtain support, the President He made it clear that these measures were in danger if the accounts were not approved – as was finally done, in February, thanks to the agreement with the PSC and the commons. This Wednesday the deputy of Junts Jordi Munell has asked the Minister of Education, Josep González-Cambray, about this aid, but it was Mas who answered. “It is a measure on which the Ministry of Economy and Education are working together. I can confirm that this aid will be given, to be by the side of the families in very complex moments, and that this aid will arrive at the beginning of the next academic year”, explained Mas, who has given details about the reason for this delay: “Initially, the fastest way to do it was a deduction in the income statement, but the fact that it was faster does not mean that it was the best, because this system had the problem that it left out precisely all the most vulnerable families, who They just don’t file the income statement.” “For this reason, we have rethought it and have opted for another system, of which we will give more details shortly. It will be available at the beginning of next year, which is when spending on school supplies is concentrated ”, he added.

The aid was designed for students between Infant 3 and the fourth year of secondary school, and would have arrived in June, when the income statement is made. Although the Government did not specify what income range it would use to select the families to which the aid would reach, since it is 100 million and 100 euros per child, it could benefit a million students, covering all those who are in school in these courses, including those of the subsidized school. Carrying out this measure with the income statement system could leave out precisely the most vulnerable, and that is why a direct aid system is being worked on. A spokesman for the Department of Economy explains that this item of 100 million is “contemplated” in this year’s Budgets, and that this aid will be given directly with a system that ensures that the money will be used to pay for school supplies. The Government does not clarify whether the students who are now in their fourth year of secondary school, who at the time of the announcement were beneficiaries of the aid but who will no longer be next September, will also receive the 100 euros retroactively.

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