Vox's latest obsession: to end the autonomy of schools to decide on language

PalmVox has identified its new enemy in negotiations with the PP (People's Party) to make Spanish the primary language of instruction in schools: the autonomy of educational institutions. Despite the PP's concessions to the far right on language issues, they have consistently maintained their proposals to favor Spanish as an optional subject and have emphasized that each school and institute can decide on its own language policy. This condition is unacceptable to Vox's deputy spokesperson, Sergio Rodríguez. "School autonomy means that 100% of public schools will have Catalan language immersion," he lamented in a parliamentary question addressed to the Minister of Education, Antoni Vera: "Tell me where the balance is."

Rodríguez made these statements to assess the bill that the PP (People's Party) has registered in the Balearic Parliament to introduce the use of Catalan and Spanish as languages of instruction in the Education Law. The legislation replaces the Vox proposal, which the PP rejected because it considered that it undermined the decision-making power of school management teams and crossed red lines for the Government, such as the Law on Linguistic Normalization and the Minimum Standards Decree, which establishes that at least 50% of classes must be taught in Catalan.

"It's changing everything so that nothing changes; that's their proposal, and they are determined to protect linguistic autonomy," Rodríguez lamented. Vera, for her part, admitted that the PP's proposal "does not intend to alter the existing linguistic balance in the Balearic Islands, but rather to guarantee that Spanish is a present and living language in the education system, as is Catalan, our own language." "The practical effects [of this bill] will be one of guarantee and recognition, not imposition," he continued: "It means safeguarding the coexistence of both languages in education and our model of linguistic integration, endorsed by court rulings."