According to the news published in RAC1 (section Societat), published on 09/21/2025 and based on data from the Departament d’Educació de la Generalitat de Catalunya, in just three years (2022–2025) the proportion of students with specific educational support needs (NEAE) in Catalonia has increased from 18.6% to 36.6%: it is already one in three students. Behind the increase, cases due to unfavorable socioeconomic situations and the advance of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) stand out. In total, 228,461 students require support and most of the increase falls on public schools.
The proportion doubles in 3 years: from 18.6% to 36.6% (2022–2025; 228,461 students in Primary and Secondary).
Needs profile: 62.3% linked to socioeconomic/cultural factors; ASD accounts for 4.4% of cases and grows by 94.5% in five years.
Impact on the system: the complexity of the classroom and the demand for specialized resources grow; the increase is concentrated in the public network.
Although total enrollment decreases by around 1.6%, the weight of NEAE skyrockets, which confirms more complexity with fewer students. By type, 62.3% of cases are related to socioeconomic or cultural factors; 13% with newly arrived students; 12.5% with learning difficulties (e.g., ADHD or dyslexia); and 4.4% with ASD, which almost doubles in five years.
The territorial inequality is notable: there are regions where almost one in two students needs support—such as Baix Empordà (48%), Segrià (47.7%) or Selva (46.8%)—, well above the regional average.
In personnel and programs, non-teaching profiles have been reinforced (vetlladors/as, TIS…), but there are 37 fewer specialist teachers than in 2022. In addition, the Government approved a temporary program with 60 social educators and 240 integration technicians; even so, there are 100 fewer professionals than the previous year.
Why is the figure rising? In addition to a real increase in needs, there is better identification and effects of the balanced admission policies promoted by Decret 11/2021 (reservation of places and local planning), which increase detection and reduce segregation. The socioeconomic context also weighs: the risk of poverty or exclusion (AROPE) is around 24% in Catalonia, which helps explain the predominance of needs due to social factors.
What would change if your center implemented DIDE
DIDE is a 100% online platform that systematically gets to know each student through questionnaires to families and, if desired, to teachers, without direct intervention from the minor. It covers 42 indicators in development, learning, emotion and behavior, with adaptation by age from 2 to 16 years. The objective: detect earlier to act better.
Practical benefits for the center
- Early detection and prevention. Allows you to get ahead of late detections and prevent minor problems from worsening.
- Universal screening at key moments. Useful for mass screening (e.g., at 5, 12 and 16 years old) and selective use when tutoring detects signals or in new registrations.
- Prioritization with data. The Diversity Maps and aggregated statistics help to sort cases, prioritize resources and make decisions for the management and guidance team.
- Immediate and actionable reports. Generates clear reports (general result, detail, comments, guidelines for the classroom and personalized resources), with multiple and elaborate proposals for school and family.
- Time saving for guidance. Reduces the burden of information collection and frees up time for intervention and monitoring.
- Improvement of the family–school relationship. Offers a common language and recommendations to coordinate actions.
- Regulatory compliance. Provides evidence aligned with LOMLOE/LOPIVI and regional regulations for inclusion and child protection, facilitating inspections and justification of measures.
Comprehensive coverage of needs
DIDE contemplates indicators that range from language, attention, memory, verbal and numerical reasoning to school adaptation, bullying/cyberbullying, anxiety, self-esteem, problematic use of technology, high abilities and neurodiverse perception/socialization, among others (42 in total). The look is holistic, adjusted by age to not pathologize and focus the intervention on observable signs.
Safety, privacy and ethical approach
The platform allows you to pseudonymize the student (use of codes instead of names), limits access by profiles and generates non-diagnostic reports. The data resides on Occentus servers in Valencia (Spain), with high-level security guarantees and certifications, monitoring and access control. Dide.org Educational Technology, S.L. documents technical and organizational measures (encryption, audits, access log) and uses anonymized and aggregated information for statistical and improvement purposes. Dide.org, has the certificate of the National Security Scheme (ENS) at the Medium level, which allows Public Administrations to work with us with full guarantees.
What would you gain this year if you activate it now in your center
- Real visibility of the diversity of each classroom in weeks, not in quarters.
- Early interventions coordinated with guidance and families.
- Better planning of reinforcements and efficient use of resources.
- Evidence for inspection and center projects (inclusion, well-being, school success).
The data from Catalonia confirms a growing complexity in the classrooms that cannot wait. Implementing a structured and respectful screening such as DIDE—with 42 indicators adapted by age, actionable reports and Diversity Maps—allows you to go from intuition to evidence and prioritize support where it will have the most impact.
Contact for centers: info@dide.org · www.dide.org
About DIDE: Dide.org Educational Technology, S.L.
