Vicent Marzà again Valencian Minister of Education
The elections do not put an end to the struggle
Anyone who has followed the Spanish press over the last few weeks has been able to see how the usual haggling of posts has been done everywhere since the elections.
In the Comunidad Valencia, Ximo Puig, the President of the Valencian Government, has decided to form a coalition with Compromís and the Valencian Podemos. On 17 June, Vicent Marzà was reappointed Minister of Education. What does this mean for education policy?

Marzà's previous policy to displace Spanish

Vicent Marzá has been reinstated as Minister of Education in the Valencian government. Marzà is from the Bloc Nacionalista Valencià, which is part of the Compromís.

Remember what this extreme nationalist politician is responsible for. Decree 127/2012 ^[1] of August 3, 2012, provided for 2 more lines of education, Spanish and Valenciano. The parents should decide whether they want Spanish or Valenciano for their children.

In January 2017, under Vicente Marzà, a decree (No. 9/2017) ^[2] on so-called multilingualism was published, which means discrimination in English for those pupils who are taught in the Spanish line.

In May, when it became clear that the Supreme Court was going to cancel this law because of the discrimination it would entail, Marzà quickly withdrew his decree. But the plans for the school year 2017/18 had already been made in May and could not be overturned in the short time available. The old decree 127/2017 was partially reinstated. In addition, a decree for the children at the age of 3 years was quickly passed. That was the decree 3/2017 of September 1, 2017, passed with the beginning of the school year 2017/18.

There were immediate complaints from parents, legal petitions, etc. In April 2018, the Valencian Supreme Court reversed parts of the decree because Spanish was discriminated against. A confusion of parliamentary and legal feints follows. It is worth noting that on 21 February 2018 Marzà passed a law guaranteeing at least 25% Spanish and 25% Valenciano for the school year 2018/19, but in many cases at least 65% Valenciano was reality. Parents with school-age children complain that the Language Centre's projects do not even meet the 25% Spanish requirement of the law. In addition, the law provides for „experimental plans“ to abolish Spanish in early childhood education (from 3 to 6 years), a phase in which 50% of schools in the Valencian community will teach 90% in Valencia and 10% in English. Parents responded with demonstrations: „Do not experiment with our children“ and „Nuestros hijos no son cobayos“ (Our children are not guinea pigs).

This assumption is supported by the fact that too little is done to recruit well-trained English teachers. There was decades of time that to have happened. The attempt to recruit teachers from English-speaking countries now was not just a little late. The two autonomous confederations of parents in public schools „accuse the Ministry of Education of improvising and rushing into action at the time of the announcement when they provided an English native speaker for each public school, because 75% of these teachers had already been cancelled“. ^[3]

It's not surprising that a newspaper headlines: „Ministry of Education forces Valenciano to study to get more lessons in English“ ^[4]

The practical result so far

There are no better English lessons. Again and again we have published numerous reports from Spain's newspapers on this blog, how in practice Spanish has been banned in part completely from public schools in Spain. The youngest in Infantil, who start school at the age of 3, are bombarded with at least 65% Valenciano. They and those who started school last year that are already the guinea pigs, and the result is already clear.

These countless complaints are not to be repeated here. „Las Provincias“ last reported on 14 June: „Una familia de Castellón denuncia que su hijo no puede estudiar en español“ (A family from Castellón denonunces that their child cannot learn Spanish) ^[5].

And today, „Las Provinicas“ ^[6] announces that Valencia's mayor, Joan Ribó of the Compromís party and elected with the support of the Valencian PSOE, refuses, contrary to the city council's request, to publish protocols in Spanish.

What can we do?

The fight against the language imposition must apparently be continued outside the parliaments. Last year, the organisation „Hablamos Español“ had collected over 500,000 signatures to give parents the right to decide on the language of instruction of their children. These signatures have not been recognised for bureaucratic reasons and „Hablamos Español“ has announced its intention to collect over 1 million signatures now that the elections are over. The first information tables will be set up in some places in June.

Those who do not have a Spanish passport will not be able to support this action by signing it. But those who collect the signatures will need all the support they can get. Even if it is only that one passes by and makes his support verbally clear. They will be happy.

We will announce all dates in time.

[1] http://noticias.juridicas.com/base_datos/CCAA/va-d127-2012.html
[2] http://www.dogv.gva.es/portal/ficha_disposicion_pc.jsp?sig=001276/2017 - sorry, only Valenciano, Spanish version not found
[3] Los padres culpan a Marzà de «improvisar» con los auxiliares de inglés oral. (The parents accuse Marzá of "improvising" with his English assistant teachers.)
https://www.diarioinformacion.com/alicante/2018/01/23/padres-culpan-marza-improvisar-auxiliares/1980440.html.
[4] Educación fuerza a estudiar en valenciano para poder tener más horas en inglés. (Ministry of Education forces Valenciano to get more English lessons.)
http://www.lasprovincias.es/comunitat/201609/21/educacion-fuerza-estudiar-valenciano-20160921000416-v.html.
[5] https://www.lasprovincias.es/comunitat/hijo-dado-ninguna-20190614091902-nt.html