To guarantee the future of Catalan, schools must talk more (and seriously).
With reception plans, functional teaching, and activities that connect the classroom with everyday life, the language can aspire to regain importance.
PalmSchools that don't comply with the minimum standards decree, teachers who switch languages or don't master it. Students with negative attitudes towards Catalan fueled by social media content. An inspection department incapable of verifying with evidence whether a school complies with current language regulations: what happens inside the classrooms is only known by those present, a situation that benefits the offenders. And yet, students' Catalan proficiency plummets year after year. Schools remain the last bastion of the Catalan language. Teachers and the Ministry of Education know this, even though they make deals with Vox on measures that diminish its influence, such as the Linguistic Segregation Plan. We spoke with professionals about what should be done for schools to once again speak Catalan.
Recent studies paint an alarming picture. According to last year's IAQSE tests, the Catalan proficiency of second-year ESO students has dropped 15 points, with Menorca particularly affected. The figures indicate a significant decline in linguistic competence among younger generations, and the results are poor on all the islands, both in secondary and primary education. According to Mònica Martín, a teacher at the CEIPIESO Pintor Joan Miró school, the first step is to give Catalan a nurturing space in schools. "We have to demonstrate that it is a necessary language. Currently, it is not considered necessary for everyday life, nor in the media, nor in books," she says. Martín argues that all teaching and non-teaching staff should communicate in Catalan to make it the language of reference for students, and that the educational community should promote its own traditions. "Looking at our history and understanding and respecting the proposals and initiatives for language protection means knowing where we come from, the repression we have faced, and why minority languages must be preserved," she says.
The teacher is calling for the reinstatement of the Conselleria's (Regional Ministry of Education) language support team, which previously assisted schools with resources and activities to teach and promote the use of Catalan among students: "It was invaluable support," she says. Martín argues that the Conselleria should issue guidelines and decrees to facilitate the use of Catalan in classrooms and to create a climate of respect and appreciation for the language. The university, she adds, must also play a key role. "Teachers must use it. It's important that future generations of teachers are immersed in and experience this need from the start of their studies." This doesn't always happen. Students arrive at schools with very limited spoken Catalan.
Catalina Torrens is a Catalan teacher at the Balearic Islands Sports Training Center (CTEIB) and emphasizes the need to make Catalan indispensable in education (and beyond). "We shouldn't turn it into a folkloric language. Everyone who lives here should know Catalan and has the right to use it. It should be required in all public workplaces, in the healthcare, education, legal, and other sectors," he explains. According to Torrens, Catalan language teaching should be practical and functional. "It's true that there are theories, such as accentuation, that must be taught because they are necessary. But Catalan should also be taught in a fun way," he says.
The importance of strengthening Catalan
Along the same lines, she emphasizes the importance of reinforcing Catalan in young people's media: social networks and applications like Kahoot and Wikipedia. The teacher positively values awareness initiatives such as the video 'Don't Exclude Me,' created by students from the IES Josep Sureda i Blanques, winner of the Emili Darder Prize on December 31st. "These children are learning Catalan and saying 'don't exclude me,' because they explain that when people see they're from out of town, they speak to them in Spanish," Torrens laments. In the video, the students ask their teachers to keep the language alive and affirm that using it makes them feel part of this land. Another useful measure, according to Catalina Pericàs, a Catalan teacher at the IES Sineu, is language volunteering. "We've been doing this for three years now, and it keeps getting better. It's not a massive program, but the participants really benefit from it. The important thing is that it fosters friendships and connections among people who interact in Catalan. The language leaves the classroom, not just as an academic subject, but as a tool for everyday communication," he explains. These activities are especially helpful for newly arrived students who come with a negative attitude toward the language, because they learn Catalan in a practical and functional way and see its usefulness beyond the classroom. Both Martín and Torrens agree that only with a coordinated effort within the classroom and with the support of public administrations will it be possible to reverse the decline of Catalan. "Language isn't just a school issue," Torrens summarizes. For now, students receive instruction in Catalan in the best-case scenario, but when they leave school, they find themselves in an environment where they are only spoken to in Spanish or other foreign languages.
Reclaiming Catalan as the language of instruction means that students can live in Catalan from early childhood through higher education, guaranteeing its presence and real usefulness within society. Currently, Catalan still holds its own in preschool and primary school (especially in public schools), but its use is declining in secondary school, high school, and university.
Making Catalan the primary language of education again is an outstanding issue. If it doesn't regain its true importance, the education system risks becoming accustomed to an anomaly: learning in a language that is then useless for everyday life. This gradual shift—a silent Latinization—worries teachers: a language present in books but absent in daily life. This is what the education system must prevent.
