The linguistic segregation plan now affects 5,800 students and has tripled the budget

PalmMore than 5,800 students are participating this 2025-2026 academic year in the pilot program for language segregation in 20 publicly funded schools in the Balearic Islands (all of which are state-subsidized private schools), compared to 2,322 last year. This year, the program has been expanded to include secondary schools. Last year, it was introduced on a voluntary basis in eleven primary schools. This year, nine new schools that met the space and demand requirements have joined, bringing the total number of participating schools to 20, including the eleven from last year. According to official data from the Ministry of Education, the allocated budget has increased significantly: from €1,153,183 last year to €3,735,019 this year, to fund the necessary teaching hours in primary and secondary education. In Primary school, each group will receive seven hours, while in Secondary school, the hours allocated are those of the subject chosen by each school plus one hour of coordination per group, totaling 591 hours.

The Plan offers families the option of choosing whether subjects like Mathematics and Environmental Studies are taught in Catalan or Spanish in Primary school, while in Secondary school, Mathematics, Geography and History, and one science subject can be taught in Spanish. However, according to current regulations, at least 50% of class time must be guaranteed to be in Catalan.

Controversial project

In response to Parliament this Tuesday, Education Minister Antoni Vera explained that the project's main objective is for students to master both co-official languages of the Balearic Islands on equal terms. He added that the increase in participating schools is a positive development that demonstrates that freedom and quality education can go hand in hand, and insisted that this is not an improvised or exclusionary plan, but rather a voluntary one that respects regulations. However, the initiative has generated controversy within the educational community. Unions, teachers, and Catalan language advocacy groups warned that the plan could lead to a reduction in Catalan as a language of instruction, cause linguistic segregation, and particularly benefit private schools. Criticism has also been leveled at the lack of sufficient space to segregate groups by language and the risk of weakening social cohesion and the established Catalan-language school model in the Balearic Islands. Vera noted that an evaluation will be carried out in the 2027-2028 academic year to verify whether the objective of improving language skills through the IAQSE tests has been achieved.

For her part, independent MP (formerly of Vox) Idoia Ribas celebrated that, despite what she considers a "series of absurdities" in the investiture agreement, the Plan has at least been launched. However, she warned that the PP is "terrified" of the potential social mobilization that modifying language regulations would entail and stressed the need to move towards a single district system so that families can send their children to schools according to their linguistic preferences.