The High Court of Justice rejects imposing a 25% teaching in Spanish requirement in all schools.

PalmThe High Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands (TSJIB) has in a forceful ruling dismissed the attempt by the Plis Education association to impose 25% of teaching time in Spanish in all schools in the Balearic Islands.

The ruling specifically refers to Plis's appeal regarding the modification of the language projects of the Mossèn Alcover, Aurora Picornell, and Sant Agustí secondary schools, and completely rejects the Spanish-speaking teachers' association's attempt to require 25% of teaching time in all schools in the Balearic Islands. The TSJIB had already ruled on this matter in the context of an appeal filed by an individual requesting the implementation of 25% Spanish in the primary school where their child was enrolled. In that case, the Court already considered the 2022 Balearic Islands Education Law, which does not set a percentage of Spanish.

The Court reminds the appellants that the basis of the Balearic education system is subject to current regulations, and that, as the Minister of Education, Antoni Vera, pointed out in an initial response to Plis, "the linguistic projects of the educational centers comply with the legality of the Balearic educational model, with the objective of ensuring the teaching of both languages, of teaching hours in Catalan that represent a minimum of 50% of the teaching time", something that "allows a degree of intensity in the application of the two languages respecting the technical and pedagogical criteria established by each center."

In this way, the TSJIB deposits the operation of the model in the autonomy of the centers and in compliance with the Education Law and does not allow options for a group of individuals to change the application of the norms and educational projects, which are those decided by each center. Furthermore, the Court recalls that the Minister had already responded to Plis "in a reasoned and reasoned manner" that there is no subjective right to modify regulatory provisions.

Satisfaction of the OCB

The Balearic Cultural Work (OBC), which had appeared as a co-plaintiff in this procedure, along with the Government, considers the ruling a victory "against the attempts to erode the Balearic Islands' educational linguistic model, a model that has been consolidated and agreed upon over recent decades," the entity said.

Antoni Llabrés, president of the OCB (Organization of Cultural Organizations), stated that "this is excellent news, which adds to the failure of the Linguistic Segregation Plan and the commitment of families to Catalan as the primary language of instruction in Early Childhood Education," adding that the consensus of the community is not subject to attacks, regardless of where they come from.

The Court has imposed the costs of the procedure on Plis Educación, with a maximum of 3,000 euros.

STEI welcomes the ruling

The STEI (Spanish Educational System of Education) has given a very positive assessment of this ruling, which is "another link in the chain of defense of the native language." "Both the overwhelming majority of families' choice of Catalan in early childhood education and the rejection of the segregationist Pilot Plan are an example of the opposition of the educational community of the Islands to these measures," they explained in a statement.

For this reason, the union has once again demanded the withdrawal of the Pilot Plan and has called for an end to the discourse of (self)hatred toward the native language.

It also celebrates the ruling as "a new lesson in dignity for those groups and political parties that, under the guise of a mythical "cordial" bilingualism, seek confrontation and the minorization of the Catalan language and the culture of the Islands."