Common front against the PP for measures that threaten Catalan-language schools

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

The PSIB Deputy Secretary General, Rosario Sánchez, has presented this initiative, supported by PSIB, MÉS per Mallorca, Unides Podem, and various unions representing teachers. Sánchez emphasized that these amendments “atten” against the linguistic rights of students and assured that, under the guise of difficult-to-fill positions, the Government would be promoting the “biggest setback” in linguistic matters since the legislature 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 rollback, the consequences could take years to reverse. She also argued 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 regression of 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 hard-to-fill positions "curtails" union work in public function 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 the exam.

Fernández has argued that educational legislation should be oriented towards a “lingual reception” in Catalan, as it is the “identity” and \u201own 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 with it. He has also criticized that they have been introduced by means 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 has also criticized the "betrayal" of the processing, which she considers a "disdain" for teachers for not having gone through the Sectoral Education Board.

From UGT Balearic Islands, 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 Board, where issues such as access to public service for teachers are negotiated. She added that they should also have gone through the School Council and criticized that they are included in a law "without educational content," without the possibility of participation from the agents involved. Furthermore, she has 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, the 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 has also warned that the measures do not respond to the lack of teachers in the Balearic Islands and has pointed out that they are part of a broader debate observed in other territories such as the Valencian Country and Catalonia, to the point that they could be "the last straw".