TSJC overturns 2022-23 guidelines excluding Spanish as a vehicular language in Catalan schools

The Supreme Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) has annulled four sections of the 2022-2023 guidelines issued by the Department of Education, which failed to explicitly include Spanish as a vehicular and habitual language in Catalan schools.

This ruling followed an appeal by the Assembly for a Bilingual School (AEB), where judges concluded that the guidelines only recognized Catalan as the regular language throughout the educational environment, thus violating the Constitution. The ruling, issued last Monday, upheld certain sections related to signage and specialized language support in early education.

These guidelines, challenged by the AEB, were based on the content of decree law 6/2022 and law 8/2022, which aimed to establish Catalan as the exclusive vehicular language in schools. In November 2022, the TSJC dismissed the AEB's appeal, arguing that the guidelines simply reiterated existing regulations and were directed exclusively at Education Department staff. The AEB then appealed to the Supreme Court, which in November ruled in favor of the appeal, demanding the TSJC reconsider the matter, stating that the omission of Spanish, which is also an official language in Catalonia, went beyond the legal framework.

The Supreme Court also emphasized that the regulations sought to shape a Catalan identity where Catalan plays a key role in social integration, and their impact goes beyond just school employees to the entire educational community. Specifically, the Court ruled that educational guidelines affecting more than just administrative personnel could be contested in administrative court.

In last week's decision, the TSJC annulled a section requiring schools to ensure that Catalan, and Aranese in the Aran Valley, be the main vehicular and learning languages in the educational system. The Court argued that the absence of any reference to Spanish did not ensure its proper use or provide mechanisms to evaluate language proficiency.

Additionally, the ruling annulled a section that stated that Catalan was the institution’s language, thus the language to be habitually used in all areas of the school, affecting both internal and external communications, teacher-student interactions, and the training of staff involved in extracurricular activities and school services.

The Court also nullified two sections that encouraged schools to use Catalan as an integration tool: one aimed at promoting a common Catalan identity and the other at reinforcing Catalan as the vehicular language within a multilingual, intercultural education model.

However, the TSJC upheld certain parts of the AEB's appeal, particularly those related to signage and individualized language support in early education, which the Court found legally justifiable. The AEB has announced plans to challenge this decision at the Supreme Court.

According to the AEB, the ruling is particularly significant as it reaffirms the view that both official languages should be vehicular in education and declares the exclusion of Spanish from schools unconstitutional. The impact of this ruling, according to the AEB, extends beyond a single school or family, preventing future educational instructions from promoting Catalan as the sole teaching language in the region.