High court accepts hearing from families as affected parties in school language case

The Catalan High Court will accept hearings from the families of some 30 school children in Canet de Mar as affected parties in the case. 

The families of up to 30 children claim their kids are now no longer learning only in Catalan as a result of a request by a single family, therefore they say they should be also represented during the trial. Their objective is to emphasize the will of the majority in the legal case to make sure that the Catalan immersion system remains in place.

For this reason, they want to be part of the procedure along with the Catalan government to fight against the imposed 25% of courses in Spanish, at least until there is no final ruling.

"We will not shut up and accept our children being used politically, we cannot tolerate the imposition of precautionary measures that are not based on any pedagogical, linguistic or social reason" Helena Díaz, spokesperson for the families said at a press conference in early February when the group announced their request to the court to be considered an affected party.

In December 2021, the Catalan High Court imposed that 25% of the lessons of a P5 class – 5-year-olds school – in ‘Turó del Drac’ be in Spanish.

These parents also urge the Catalan government to defend the schooling system in the territory. Families are willing to use all the legal means available to make sure that Catalan remains the working language in the school, they claim.

The immersion system in Catalonia is currently under a lot of debate as, back on November 23, 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that 25% of school instruction must be given in Spanish. The decision would affect all schools in the territory and the Catalan government had two months to ensure the ruling, the Catalan High Court said on January 23, 2022.

So far, there has been no word on how the executive is preparing to apply the ruling. However, late in 2021, the cabinet announced they would send inspectors to schools to make sure the rule is fulfilled.

Catalonia's immersion system

When Catalonia recovered its self-rule in the late 1970s after 40 years of a fascist dictatorship, its new authorities decided that classes in Catalan, rather than a choice between Catalan and Spanish, would ensure that students end their studies speaking both languages – considering that the latter is learned in society because it is the most widely used one and is studied as a language at school.

After 40 years of this Catalan immersion system, the language is understood by 94.4% of the country's population. Some 81% can speak it, 85% can read it and 65% can write it, with 64% saying they have a good command of all skills – all abilities are mastered by 97% of the population in Catalonia or more when it comes to Spanish, which suggests the system works in order to guarantee a high level of both tongues.

Yet, on November 23, the Spanish Supreme Court rejected an appeal from the Catalan department of education against a ruling that said that a minimum of 25% of school instruction in all Catalan public and public-private schools must be given in Spanish.

Podcast

Check out our podcast on the decline in the use of the Catalan language in Catalonia, including a section explaining the current conflict over the immersion system in schools.