In our work we value highly the accuracy of information and therefore we consider it important to correct mistakes. The following is a correction to our previous article entitled Data from the Ministry of Education – our database now has over one million case files .
We have discovered that the files containing more than half a million personal records from the Ministerio de Educación which we received described as records of teachers screened for their political reliability and – in some cases purged from the teaching profession – are, in fact, mainly records of those awarded teaching or professional qualifications.
This was discovered by making a request for the file of a person who had, supposedly, been politically screened to the Archivo General de la Administración (AGA).
The Archive of the Ministerio de Educación has provided this explanation: “When the databases of records of screened teachers and qualifications were merged, they were mixed in a way that made it impossible to separate both categories” (*)
In the original database the word “depuración” (screened) appears in a total of 49,045 personal files, usually in the field listing “Tipo de expediente” (category of file). Therefore, from now onwards, you will be able to find in our database two sets of datasets:
- Personal files of teachers screened for political reliability in the Francoist repression, containing 49,045 files
- Personal files of both Teaching and Technical College qualifications
Both types of personal file may be found in the Archivo General de la Administración (AGA), where they were transferred from the Archivo Central del Ministerio de Educación (ACME).
50% of those names against which there is at least one record of political screening refer to people for whom there is also a record of a teaching qualification.
According to the Archive, in some cases the records of screening and of qualification may be included in the same personal file. We have only retained personal files covering both screening and qualification in a dozen cases, where we have established that the first names, family names, folder number and file number are the same and where the record covers both screening and qualification.
We think that it is a good idea to continue to provide access to all of these personal records in order to facilitate the work of anyone who has an interest in reconstructing their family roots.
(*) Text has been modified after obtaining further information from the Archivo de Educación (27 April 2021)
“He who has made a mistake and doesn’t correct it makes an even greater mistake.”
Confucius