The four parties manage to agree on a new legislative text that will accompany the decree of the Government to fit the sentence of 25% of Castilian in the classrooms of Catalonia
Three months after a pact that only lasted eight hours was blown up, the parties have redirected the situation and have agreed on a new exit to four to promote adjustments to linguistic immersion that fit the sentence that requires 25% of classes in Spanish in the classrooms of Catalonia. PSC, ERC, Junts and ‘commons’ They have closed this Monday a new linguistic agreement that avoids the percentages and that intends to accommodate Catalan as the vehicular language and Spanish as the curricular language, according to the sociolinguistic field of the educational center.
The post-convergence broke away from the initial pact when it was verified that a part of the independence movement was reluctant to the draft, but the pressure -and the patience- of the other three promoters paved a consensual end that goes through a double answer. On the one hand, at the parliamentary level, a new law “on the use and learning of official languages in non-university education” will be promoted, so the language policy law will not be reformed and there will be some changes in the wording of 24 of March.
Thus, the text of the agreed law has two items. In the second, it is asserted that Catalan “is the language nnormally used as a vehicle” in the educational system and that of “normal use in the reception of newly arrived students”. Spanish, for its part, will be used in those terms established by the linguistic projects of each centre.
Likewise, it is asserted that both languages must be “guaranteed and have a proper presence in curricula and educational projects” so that “all students reach the oral and written proficiency of the two official languages.
“The determination of the presence of the official languages, the three in the Aran, must take into account the sociolinguistic situation, of the centers and their environment with a scope that is set “exclusively” with pedagogical criteria. The projects will be validated by the Department of Education – maintaining, yes, the autonomy of the centers – always taking into account the sociolinguistic reality of the center in question, and with the ultimate goal that the presence of one or another language has to do with pedagogical criteria.
On the other hand, the government via decree lawmakes explicit the veto or the elimination of any percentage and points out that the linguistic projects are accredited by Educació, which assumes legal responsibility for them, exempting the teaching teams from any possibility of being persecuted.
The interlocutory of the High Court of Justice of Catalonia established the May 31 at the latest to comply with its guideline, which specifies that, in addition to the Spanish language subject, schools should teach another subject in Spanish and this should be a core subject. The new law will be processed by single reading and by extraordinary urgency so that it can be approved in the next plenary session, scheduled for this Wednesday and Thursday in Parliament.
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The law will be accompanied by a government decree that will play a complementary role. If the legislative text indicates that the prevailing criterion is the pedagogical and education in linguistic projects, in the initiative that the Government will promulgate (and that must be validated by the Parliament, and that will have the support of ERC, Junts, and at least ‘comuns’, but not the PSC) defines who and how designs and validates these educational initiatives. One way to protect the directors of the centers, because the responsibility will fall on theto Ministry of Education.
The PSC is satisfied with the final text of the bill, because they understand that its two main objectives are preserved in the negotiation: the status of Spanish as a “language of learning”, alongside Catalan, and that the text of the new norm do not contravene the indications of the TSJC. “Curricular language is the same as vehicular language”, assure socialist sources, contrary to what JxCat says. The party also underlines the enormous similarity between the pact on Tuesday and the one reached two months ago.