Common front of the opposition and unions against the PP's amendments that threaten Catalan-language schools

PalmOpposition parties and various educational unions have urged the PP to support a particular vote related to the amendments of the strategic projects law that affect teaching in Catalan. The initiative will be registered this Friday in the Parliament and will have to be discussed on Tuesday during the law's working group meeting. This could entail the withdrawal of amendments linked to access to public service for teachers without the Catalan requirement and also the exemption of the Catalan language for students temporarily displaced to the Balearic Islands.

The Deputy Secretary General of PSIB, Rosario Sánchez, has presented this initiative, supported by PSIB, MÉS per Mallorca, Unides Podem, and different unions representing teachers. Sánchez has emphasized that these amendments “atten” against the linguistic rights of students and has assured that, under the argument of difficult-to-fill positions, the Government would be promoting the “greatest setback” in linguistic matters since the term of former President Juan Ramón Bauzá.

In this regard, the socialist leader has called for exerting “the maximum possible pressure”, warning that, if there is no retreat, the consequences could take years to reverse. She has also defended that “all Balearic society has a consensus to use Catalan as a tool for social cohesion” and has described any attempt to break this consensus as “inadmissible”. Likewise, she has called for a “common front” to stop what she considers a setback for Catalan not only in public education but also in healthcare and other areas of public service.

Without time limits

For their part, the general secretary of the Socialist Federation of Mallorca, Amanda Fernández, has pointed out that the fact that the Governing Council can define difficult-to-cover positions "curtails" union work in public service negotiation tables. She also stressed that the exemption from Catalan for students "does not set limits" on current deadlines, whereas until now only students with a minimum stay of two years in the Balearic Islands were exempted from taking the exam.

Fernández has defended that educational legislation should be oriented towards a “linguistic welcome” in Catalan, as it is the “identity” and “own language” of the Balearic Islands. Furthermore, he has considered that these amendments “have no place” within a law of urgent measures to accelerate strategic economic transformation projects, since, in his opinion, teaching in Catalan has no connection. He also criticized that they have been introduced by way of amendments, without the possibility of prior debate with parliamentary groups or affected entities, and has asked the PP to “reconsider”.

Union unrest

In parallel, representatives of the educational community and unions have expressed their rejection of the measures. From STEI, the head of Public Education, Catalina Bibiloni, has described the amendments as a "blow" to Catalan and has warned that they could cause an alteration in the functioning of educational centers, with implications for the Law of Linguistic Normalization. She also criticized the "betrayal" of the processing, which she considers a "disregard" for teachers for not having gone through the Sectoral Table of Education.

From UGT Baleares, the secretary of Education, Flor del Taronger Tortonda, has denounced that the amendments have been processed "behind the backs" of the educational community and the Public Education Table, where issues such as access to public teaching positions are negotiated. She added that they should also have gone through the School Council and criticized their inclusion in a law "without educational content," without the possibility of participation from the agents involved. Furthermore, she questioned the legality of the procedure and raised whether students in Formentera have the same linguistic rights as the rest of the archipelago.

Finally, from Alternativa Docent, representative Miquel Ángel Santos has called for the mobilization of the educational community, as he considers that the amendments violate the Statute of Autonomy, the Law of Linguistic Normalization, and the Decree of Minimums. He also warned that the measures do not respond to the lack of teachers in the Balearic Islands and pointed out that they are part of a broader debate observed in other territories such as the Valencian Country and Catalonia, to the point where they could be "the last straw".