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The Catalan government said on Tuesday that it had decided to "assume full political and legal responsibility" for the application of the 25% quota of classes to be taught in Spanish language in Catalan classrooms, as ordered by the Catalan High Court. In a press conference after today's Catalan cabinet meeting, the government spokesperson, Patrícia Plaja, refused to give more details over the government’s intentions in this matter; but she insisted that the education department will defend the education community "with the minister at the helm". According to Plaja, the Catalan executive has "always been clear" that its priority is for "the protection of all teaching staff, including school leadership teams and any public servants". "It is a line that is clearly marked," she added from the press room of the Palau de la Generalitat.

 

According to Plaja, the government "is working to guarantee the Catalan school model, and this means changing the regulatory framework". These statements by the spokesperson arrive the day after the response by the Catalan education department to the High Court of Catalonia was made public. In that text, the education authorities confirmed that they had received the ruling requiring 25% of classes to be taught in the Castilian (Spanish) language, but they did not, in their reply, specify whether or not compliance would be given. However, the text made it clear that the ministry would be responsible for the legal consequences of disobeying the sentence, in order to shield the teaching and management teams in the schools. "We inform you that the body responsible for complying with this ruling is the Catalan department of education," says the text to which ElNacional.cat has had access.

 

It should be noted that the ruling that obliges the Generalitat of Catalonia to guarantee that 25% of classes in Catalan schools are taught in Castilian comes from the so-called Wert law passed by the Spanish government of Mariano Rajoy. This law was repealed when the Pedro Sánchez executive approved the most recent education legislation, the Celáa law, which is the one in force at present and requires the government to ensure that students finish school with basic competencies in both Catalan and Castilian; without going into percentages. This legal framework is compatible with the instructions that the government has given to schools, which do not specify that Catalan should be the only language in the classrooms of Catalonia, and requires schools to ensure that all students acquire sufficient knowledge of both of Catalonia's main languages.

About a month ago, the government promised to provide legal protection for teachers in Catalan schools. The Catalan coalition government under ERC and Junts undertook to protect by all means the professionals who work in the Catalan eduction system, in the face of the decision by the High Court to impose a quote of 25% of classes in Castilian in schools. What does this "protection" mean? It includes putting all of the Catalan government's services of legal advice, representation and defence at the services of school teaching and management teams.