The Spanish Government plans to reduce Catalonia’s say in defining school curriculum

Barcelona (ACN).- According to ‘El País’ newspaper, the Spanish Government is planning to increase its own share in deciding on Catalonia’s school curriculum,  increasing from 55% to 65% and therefore reducing the Catalan share. The Spanish Government has not officially confirmed the document, neither has it been denied. The measure would be  more proof of the recentralisation process the Spanish Government, which is run by the People’s Party (PP), has started. Furthermore, the measure  was leaked three days after the 1.5 million strong demonstration for Catalonia’s independence, which  was partially fuelled by the Spanish nationalism’s recentralisation attempts and the lack of respect  for Catalonia’s self-government, language and culture.  Over these three days, the Spanish Government has barely commented on the demonstration and has even downplayed it, starting  with the Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy who has not said a single word on the issue, ignoring the claims from Catalonia. Instead, the Spanish Deputy Minister, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaria, has been insisting that Catalonia and Spain should have other priorities than last Tuesday’s demonstration, such as creating jobs. However, Sáenz de Santamaria confirmed that the school reform will be approved in a few weeks. The last reform  was approved in 2006 by a two-third majority  in the Spanish Parliament. The Catalan Government has not commented on this recentralisation measure yet, since it has not been officially announced. However, it is very unlikely  this recentralisation measure will be accepted, having been leaked three days after the massive demonstration asking for Catalonia’s independence from Spain.

‘El País’  announced this Friday that the Spanish Education Ministry is planning to increase its share in defining the school curriculum in the Autonomous Communities with their own official language and in the regions without one. Currently, the Spanish Ministry imposes 55% of the school curriculum in the Autonomies firstly described, such as Catalonia and the Basque Country. The Spanish Education Minister, José Ignacio Wert, who was previously a regular commentator  on Spanish nationalist media, wants to increase this share to 65%. For the other Autonomies, the share would  increase from the current 65% to 75%.

“Homogenous evaluations” throughout Spain

Furthermore, this measure would be added to the Minister’s wish to make “homogenous evaluations” of the students throughout Spain. However, the Catalan Education Minister,  who manages all the school facilities and staff in Catalonia, already told Wert that this type of evaluation  is within  the Catalan Government’s competence, as established by  Catalonia’s Education Law, according to the Catalan Statute of Autonomy approved by the Spanish Parliament.