The association We Speak Spanish celebrates that the Ministry of Education, which directs Tony Verahas changed the communication policy with students’ families, which until now was only in Catalan.
“Finally the Ministry of Education of the Balearic Islands communicates with families in both official languages“, says in a statement the organization chaired by Gloria Lago and which protects the rights of Spanish speakers. We speak Spanish explains that parents of students in the Balearic Islands send them the welcome letter that they received, which is in Catalan and Spanish, signed by Minister Vera.
The association emphasizes that Gloria Lago met with the Director General of Planning and Centers, Catalina Ginartto request that the linguistic choice in communications be respected or that they always be made in the two official languages of the community.
“Ms. Ginart has committed to trying to achieve this in the course that has just begun. We hope that this letter constitutes a first step towards full respect for linguistic co-officiality. and that one day we will achieve this in Galicia and Catalonia, the two communities most reluctant to use Spanish in the official sphere,” says Hablamos Español.
In the letter received by the families of the students from the Balearic Islands, who started the course on September 11, Minister Toni Vera thanks them for the trust they have placed in the education system, “on which the construction of a more promising future is based.”
“Education is the basis of progress in a society. Behind every research, every innovation, every social achievement, there is a teacher who has left his indelible mark on the lives of his students. But this work has no meaning if it is not supported by families. Your daily work with your sons and daughters is essential and it is for this reason that we wish to express our greatest gratitude and respect,” the letter continues.
Finally, the Balearic Ministry of Education communicates with families in both languages @VeraAlemany 👍
Let’s see if the presence of Spanish is recovered in all official spaces. We still have Galicia and Catalonia, the most reluctant#WeSpeakSpanish
— We speak Spanish (@HablamosE) September 13, 2024
We must remember that at the beginning of the year we speak Spanish and we complained to the government about the popular Marga Prohens that she also used the official language of the State in her communications with citizens, since on many occasions these continued to be done exclusively in Catalan.
Gloria Lago referred in particular to the letter sent to all schools and institutes in the Balearic Islands regarding the recommendations continue against the infectious diseasesespecially the influenza Awhich was only written in the Catalan language.
As reported by OKDIARIO, the Ministry of Health sent all parents of students a letter with a series of recommendations to prevent infectious diseases, including the flu. The controversy arose because this letter was written only in Catalan, which provoked protests from many parents who did not understand that such an important health issue was not written in both official languages: Spanish and Catalan.
The school of all
The platform Escuela de Todos, which brings together the PLIS teachers’ association and civil society in the Balearic Islands, denounces that in 136 educational centers islandsor families were allowed to choose their first language of instruction.
In a statement, they stressed that in these centres, the guidelines did not allow for the choice of a language due to the lack of boxes on the registration form, “substituting families and imposing Catalan on everyone”.
Using data from the Ministry on language choice, the Escuela de Todos highlighted that in more than a third of the preschool education centers that allowed language choice, 55% of parents chose Spanish and 45% Catalan.
On the other hand, in 187 centres, or 58% of the 323 subsidised and public centres in the Balearic Islands, parents were able to choose a language, 28% of parents choose Spanish.
In 34 of these 187 centres, 75% of parents chose Spanish and 23% Catalan, and in another 33 centres, 37% of parents chose Spanish compared to 62% who did the same in Catalan. In other words, out of a total of these 67 centres that allowed the choice, a third of 187, 55% of parents chose Spanish and 45% Catalan.
In the concerted centers which allowed the choice of language (47 centers out of 100), the choice of Spanish is much wider, choosing 44% of parents use Spanish and 56% Catalan.
