Before the elections, the PP and VOX, which now form the government in the Comunidad Valenciana, had promised that they would implement the demands for parents to be free to choose the language of instruction. Instead, they passed a law that softens the language requirement for Valenciano. This continues to present parents with a difficult problem.

That is why the president of Hablamos Español recently wrote to the Valencian Minister of Education, Antonio Rovira, and made a constructive proposal for the coming school year. I have translated this letter below.

To the Minister of Education of the Valencian Community, Don Antonio Rovira.

Mr Minister. As you know, we at the Asociación Hablamos Español have criticised your language policy. We believe that it is a real shame to miss the opportunity to introduce a system in the Valencian Community that truly respects linguistic equality rights.

As we have explained many times, you will not find a country that has ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (CELROM) together with Spain, in which a teaching system with mandatory percentages in each language is applied, as required by the new law that you have just approved. Whenever this charter is properly applied, it is done by authorising studies in the chosen official language. If those countries were able to organise this, we should be no less successful. The leaders of those countries, you, us and all honest educators, know that the best way to learn is to learn in a person's mother tongue or habitual language and that this deepens the acquisition of cultural and terminological vocabulary in that language. You know that by learning the other official language as a subject in all levels of education, you acquire sufficient competences to function in the community. I won't go into this any further as the new law has already been passed and it has been decided in favour of a partial language imposition, which will not be changed now. But I will ask that certain improvements that the new law actually includes be implemented now in the next course.

At Hablamos Español, we have been calling for evaluable tests to be conducted in the chosen language for some time. To raise public awareness of the benefits of this, we have enlisted the help of families who have agreed to tell the media how unfair and frustrating it is to have your grade downgraded or to be suspended or to stop correcting outstanding exams, all accompanied by pressure on families and very unpleasant situations they experience.

Finally, you have agreed to allow this freedom in the new law and we congratulate you on this decision. The unconstitutional requirement for full immersion will also be lifted. But why should you wait another year to implement these two measures? Do you want to work with the same regulations as the previous government halfway through the legislative period? Two courses mean a world to a child, a young person, Mr President!

On the other hand, there are many education centres in the Valencian Community that do not even reach the minimum quota of 25%.

There is already a positive decision from the TSJCV¹ in favour of Hablamos Español. We know that you will comply, because fortunately you are not like the separatist governments of Catalonia, but we ask you to review the linguistic projects of schools and institutes so that they all begin to legally exercise their language choice in the evaluable tests within the 2024/25 school year, it is a measure that is easy to implement and represents a great relief.

I bid you farewell, wish you every success in your task and pay no attention to the intolerant sector. They live in a permanent NO to any measure that implies freedom.

Gloria Lago, President of Hablamos Español