More than 60 demonstrations have taken place to protest against the new bill announced by the Spanish Education Minister, José Ignacio Wert. The Catalan government considered it to be “an attack” against the Catalan language, as it would no longer be a ‘core subject’ Furthermore, it threatens the current linguistic immersion model, which has been in place for the last 30 years and ensures that all children end their studies knowing both Spanish and Catalan. Almost the entire Catalan political class and civil society is against Wert’s reform. It is widely acknowledged that the current model guarantees social cohesion and equal opportunities as children are fully bilingual at the end of the obligatory school. It has been praised by international organisations and has been validated twice by the Spanish Constitutional Court.
About the Bill
The Spanish minister for Education, José Ignacio Wert, has proposed a new law that the Catalan government sees as a “threat” to the current Catalan educational system and the “worst” legislative piece on the teaching of regional languages “since 1978”. The proposal would relegate the Catalan language to a ‘specialized subject’ at schools, while the Spanish language would continue to be a ‘core subject’ and a second foreign language would be taught as a ‘specific subject’. Catalan minister Irene Rigau left a meeting in Madrid to express her opposition to the motion. She said that the proposals presented are “not negotiable” for the Catalans.
Source: NPLD - Network to Promote Linguistic Diversity
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