The Valuation Committee for the XXXI Joaquín Sama Prize has been appointed

The General Secretariat of Education of the Junta de Extremadura has appointed the members of the Evaluation Committee for the XXXI Joaquín Sama Award for Educational Innovation, corresponding to the year 2026. The appointment is formalized through the Resolution of August 12, 2026, published in the Official Gazette of Extremadura number 162, dated August 21, 2026, with official reference 2026062166.

The committee is constituted in accordance with the Resolution of April 16, 2026, of the General Secretariat of Education and Vocational Training, which announced the award, and pursuant to the provisions of the second paragraph of its seventh resolution. The body is presided over by the General Secretary of Education, José Pedro Catalán Durán, who signed the resolution in Mérida on August 12, 2026.

Composition of the committee

The committee is composed of a president, a secretary, and ten members from various services of the educational administration and the University of Extremadura:

• President: José Pedro Catalán Durán, General Secretary of Education.
• Secretary: José Fernando Carrasco Retamosa, Head of the Educational Coordination Service.
• María Clarisa Vázquez Pinheiro, Head of the Academic Organization and Educational Center Planning Service.
• Antonio Paredes de la Sal, Head of the Innovation, Teacher Training, and Entrepreneurship Service.
• María Gemma Redondo Gómez, General Inspector of Education and Evaluation.
• Ana Catalán Durán, Head of the Inclusion and Attention to Diversity Service.
• Alba María Cerro Jorge, Head of the Plurilingualism, Evaluation, Statistics, and Digital Administrative Management Service.
• José Carlos Martín Iglesias, Head of the Educational Technologies Service.
• Ana María Sierra Carmona, Director of IES Sáenz de Buruaga in Mérida.
• Luis Alfonso Corrales Granado, Director of CEIP Gonzalo Encabo in Talayuela.
• Lucas Navareño Miura, Technical Teaching Advisor of the General Secretariat of Education.
• Rocío Yuste Tosina, Professor at the Faculty of Teacher Training of the University of Extremadura.

Operation and substitutions

The resolution provides that, in case of absence, vacancy, or illness, both the members and the secretary may be replaced by civil service personnel from the affected administrative bodies. This provision ensures the operationality of the body throughout the evaluation process of the candidacies.

A benchmark award for teaching

The Joaquín Sama Award for Educational Innovation is one of the most recognized distinctions in the Extremaduran educational system, and its XXXI edition, corresponding to 2026, once again brings together officials from the educational administration and the university sector to evaluate the submitted proposals. The composition of the body, with representation from the services of innovation, inclusion, plurilingualism, and educational technologies, reflects the transversal nature of the call.

The publication of this commission represents a key step for the Extremaduran teaching community, which will be able to know with transparency who will assess the presented innovation experiences and what institutional criteria will guide the granting of the award in its 2026 edition.

Source: Official Gazette of Extremadura, number 162, August 21, 2026, section III (official reference: 2026062166).