The Catalan Campaign to Demilitarise the Education denounces the presence of the army at the Education Fair in Barcelona

Since the professionalisation of the Spanish army, the army started a campaign to have military presence in the areas of formal and non formal education. The techniques of propaganda used by the Spanish Armed Forces to spread a positive image of itself has changed over the years. Since military service its no longer required, these techniques have used other channels - such as education - and have been directed to other audiences such as children and youth. The armies trend of diversification of tasks means that areas that may be exclusively civil, scientific research and humanitarian action, are now militarised.
This year, the armed forces were invited to participate in the Hall of Education, held in Barcelona from 18 to 22 March. The campaign "demilitarised the education" considered that their presence in this educational event is inadmissible because the values the military institutions promote: obedience, discipline, patriarchy, etc, are in opposition to the values that education should actually be promoting: autonomy, critical spirit, responsibility, empathy, solidarity and dialogue,etc.
The propaganda that the youth receive from the Ministry of Defence is misleading, follows an idyllic image of military life and downplays the role of the Spanish armed forces in armed conflicts. This army is almost presented as a humanitarian aid NGO. The Spanish army, with its presence in the areas of education, aims to promote the euphemism "culture of protection" and "military spirit" among the youth to improve their damaged image and alleviate the current recruitment difficulties .
The campaign wishes to express its strong opposition to the military presence in the educational spaces, such as the Education Fair, and urges the Department of Education to end its relations with the army.

For more information: http://desmilitaritzem.blog.pangea.org/