Stating "ideological neutrality", the Galician government refuses to accredit an educators' meeting on Palestine
DATE
LOCATION
TARGETED PERSON/INSTITUTION
Nova Escola Galega (NEG), a teaching movement founded in 1983; participating teachers
DOMAIN/FIELD
RESPONSIBLE FOR BAN
Galician Regional Ministry of Education, Xunta de Galicia (refusal signed by Jesús Manuel Álvarez Bértolo, Director General of Schools and Human Resources)
In April 2026, the Galician Regional Ministry of Education refused "prior and provisional" accreditation for the 36th Galician-Portuguese Meeting of Educators for Peace (Encontro galego-portugués de Educadoras e Educadores pola Paz). Organised by Nova Escola Galega from 24 to 26 April 2026 in Panxón (Nigrán), the meeting's theme was "Palestina e máis alá. Educar na vida en tempos de xenocidio" ("Palestine and beyond. Educating for life in times of genocide"). Without accreditation, the hours attended do not count towards teachers' continuing professional development.
The refusal letter stated that the activity "does not respect the principle of ideological neutrality" set out in a resolution of 5 June 2025. After NEG publicly denounced this as censorship, the Ministry put forward other grounds: a technical-legal report finding that the application was not "extraordinary", and a theme judged not to match the teacher training plan. NEG points out that this is the first refusal of its kind in its history and argues that the resolution concerns classroom teaching, not teacher training.
The meeting went ahead without accreditation. On 27 April 2026, Galician president Alfonso Rueda defended the decision while saying he "fully respects" the meeting. In May 2026, after a motion it had tabled on the refusal was rejected, the BNG denounced "censorship and ideological control" by the PP.