A year ago, after the TSJC forced 25% of the classes to be taught in Spanish, the Parliament of Catalonia by a large majority, 102 inter-block deputies (ERC, Junts, PSC and Comuns) in front of 33 deputies also interblocks (Citizens, Vox, PP and CUP) approved the law on the use and learning of official languages. In it, Catalan was maintained as the language normally used as a vehicle for learning, while the use of Spanish began to depend on the linguistic projects of each center, which gave rise to the existence of asymmetries derived from the recognition of the enormous plurality of linguistic situations existing in Catalonia and the need to adapt the use of the official languages to the nature of the centers and their surroundings, although always taking into account pedagogical criteria. This law, however, was not consensual, so that the language issue has continued to be prosecuted because some families, with partisan support and detractors, have continued to appeal to their rights so that their children receive more classes in Spanish.
As a consequence of three of these cases, the TSJC has pronounced itself, recalling that the co-official status of languages and the right of students to receive a minimum of education in Spanish must be respected, it has considered for those cases that the presence of Spanish was insufficient and that at least one non-linguistic core subject should be taken in Spanish, in addition to Spanish, and has argued that linguistic immersion would only be applicable if there was the option of two linguistic regimes but it is not a system unique as Catalan. And although this consideration does not affect the whole of the Catalan educational system but only the centers that are the object of the sentence It supposes a challenge to the current model of unforeseeable consequences.
For this reason the ‘councillor’ of Education, Anna Simo, It has considered that the TSJC exceeded its functions, that the sentences go against the Catalan legal framework and has advanced that they would be appealed. And just in parallel he has presented a Catalan Language Promotion Plan which includes measures such as improving the linguistic competence of teachers (the C2 level will be required), the creation of audiovisual platforms, the increase in resources for the reception of newly arrived students as well as Catalan courses for families. The plan, in turn, aims to provide legal certainty to educational centers, in such a way that the responsibility for the center’s language projects falls on the Department and not on the management, which means protecting these personnel against future lawsuits. The answer has not been long in coming and the School for Everyone platform considers that this plan is an attack on coexistence and that it enshrines the exclusion of Spanish in school, which is the mother tongue of many Catalans.
Numerous studies point out that Catalan is in decline and as a minority language it must be protected. But this protection must not come at the cost of minority rights. After all, respect for minorities, whatever they may be, is a foundation of democracy. And it is precisely there where consensus must be sought.