Teachers in the Balearic Islands in general strike for "inclusive, quality and Catalan language" education

Balearic Government cuts budget, seeks to introduce new system that substantially reduces position of Catalan • Unions, civil society associations and parties support the strike, ask Balearic Government to negotiate with teachers.

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Teachers in the Balearic Islands' public schools have started today a general strike against recent education policies by the Balearic Government. Strikers consider  that the islands' executive (in the hands of Spanish nationalist Popular Party, PP) is acting against the public system of education. On the one hand, protesters say José Ramón Bauzá-led government is reducing the education budget more than other autonomous communities in Spain. On the other, they argue that the Balearic Government seeks to impose a new trilingual model (known as TIL ) that, according to strikers, will not help pupils to improve their skills in English but will negatively affect the position of Catalan in schools. Protesters vow to continue fighting  for an "inclusive, quality and Catalan language" education system in the Balearic Islands.
The strike is supported  by the main trade union among teachers (STEI), the two main Spain-wide unions (UGT and CCOO) and the Assembly of Teachers. It also has the support of several civil society associations in the Balearic Islands. All political parties in the Balearic Parliament (except for the PP) have asked Bauzá to start negotiations with the teachers in order to substantially change, or even to withdraw, the TIL and the budget cuts.
STEI has said  that 93% of teachers have endorsed the strike today.
Court says introduction of TIL should be suspended.
Two weeks ago, the High Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands (TSJIB, Catalan acronym) provisionally suspended  the introduction of the TIL into the education system. The Court argued that the TIL should not be implemented while the appeals against it had not been settled by the judiciary. The Court also said that the way the TIL was being introduced had not all legal guarantees.
But the Balearic Government decided, the day after the suspension, to force  the implementation of the TIL, despite the court's opinion. Bauzá's executive, in an extraordinary session, passed a new decree-law in which some articles of the original law were altered but that kept its basic provisions.

"Balance" between Catalan, Spanish and English
The Government argues that the TIL is only seeking to introduce a "balanced" use of Catalan, Spanish and English into the Balearic schools. This means that all three should be used as vehicular languages, and not only as a subject (as was English). Up till now, it was Catalan the main vehicular language. Thus, the new system is set to substantially reduce the position of Catalan, the own language of the Balearic Islands.
But Balearic teachers' associations argue that only a system where Catalan is the main language in school can really balance the social situation -where Catalan is a minorised language while Spanish is the hegemonic one, known by the entire population- and grant that all pupils have a good knowledge of both languages.

In relation to English, teachers say that the Balearic Government is trying to introduce it as a vehicular language without having the proper resources (human or economic ones) that ensure enough quality of teaching. The TIL "will increase school failure" because of this, they argue.

 http://www.nationalia.info/en/news/1555  16/09/2013