Ikastola Association has shown its rejection of the Supreme Court ruling against the linguistic immersion model in the Catalan Educational System and it has affirmed that “the way to revitalize a language, minority in this case, that a country decides cannot be hindered neither by the laws nor by the institutions that interpret them and dictate sentences”.

This sentence “makes it even more urgent”, according to the Ikastola Association that “the new law of our educational system includes the immersion model and repeals the linguistic models “. If it does not do so, they warn, “we will once again be in the hands of the Spanish courts of justice and of the Spanish political parties that can appeal our decisions in this area, as has happened in Catalonia.”

As explained in a statement, the sentence handed down first by the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia and now by the Supreme Court is based on the Education Law of Catalonia. As they have explained, this law was approved in 2009, when the LOMCE was in force in Spain, a decree that required 25% of the subjects to be taught in Spanish. Therefore, “taking this into account, both courts have agreed on the end of the decree.”

However, today the LOMLOE, whose additional provision 38 it was the only one that, “it was the only aspect valued positively”. In fact, through this additional provision, beyond the disappearance of the concept of “vehicular language” in relation to Spanish, allows autonomous governments to adopt measures to fully develop communicative competence in the language of their community and deepen the immersion model.

The Ikastolas Association considers that “the inclusion in the law that will regulate our educational system of a immersion model in the terms indicated in additional provision 38 of the LOMLOE is the only real shield that currently exists for the normalization of Basque in our educational system “.

For this reason, it considers that this provision is “a unique opportunity” for the next education law to be developed in the Basque Autonomous Community “to legally establish learning and the educational language in Basque” and “to give the necessary boost to Basque, thus so that students have full competence in Basque when compulsory education ends “.

It will also be important to “modify Royal Decree 1513/2006” (which regulates the LOMCE; 25% of the Spanish language referred to in the Judgment has its origin in this decree) “so that the determination of the minimum communicative use of Spanish does not be as broad as the judicial bodies have indicated “.

“No legal basis” for the Council

For Basque Culture Council the decision is “very serious”, but it frames it “in the strategy put in place, unfortunately, by the judiciary in recent years.” The general secretary of Kontseilua, Paul Bilbao, has stressed that “we have been saying for a long time that the judiciary is making language policy over and over again against initiatives in favor of the rights of their own linguistic communities, and this decision confirms that position “and he added that” with regard to Catalonia, the generalized inclusive model of the same has been in the spotlight for a long time “.

According to Kontseilua, “there is no doubt that this is a strategy driven by political inertia.” In fact, when the Catalan model was launched, “We have already tried to abandon it”. But the Constitutional Court itself ratified the legality of the model because “the system has the obligation that, once compulsory education is finished, students have the appropriate skills in the official languages.”

In this regard, the Council considers that the decision has no legal basis, since “what has been legal for years is now illegal.” “Moreover, the recently approved LOMLOE allows the Autonomous Communities to expand the possibility of deciding on the vehicular language. Therefore, it is clear that the Supreme Court wants to seize the sword of Damocles“, has added.