The appearances of the experts to evaluate the educational law proposal of PP and Vox – which will allow parents to choose the base language of their children’s education – evidenced a total lack of consensus regarding the effects of the future norm. If someone went to the Education Commission of the Valencian Parliament for the first time, they would think that of the 12 appearing – three appointed by each party – six had their opinion on one law, and the other six, on another very different and antagonistic one.
The experts chosen by PP and Vox praised the benefits of a law that in their opinion guarantees the equality and equity of the two co-official languages. It is true that, on both sides, arguments were heard very similar to those that the politicians already used in the plenary debate on the consideration of the bill.
Along these lines, those appointed by the parliamentary groups that make up the Valencian government launched arguments such as that, faced with the imposition of recent years, parents will have the right to choose the language in which their children study. In his speech, the spokesperson for the Confederation of Parents of Students of the Valencian Community (Concapa CV), Rafael Araujo, came to regret that there are families who “massively are going to Murcia to study.”
For her part, the president of the Valencian Confederation of Associations of Parents of Students (Covapa), Sonia Terreros, applauded that the law includes the opinions of families and asked for courage to change the “outdated” Llei d’Ús i Ensenyament of Valencià in 1983. Another of the speakers, the president of the College of Pedagogues, Enrique Castillejo, described it as a “pedagogically correct” decision to allow the student to choose to take the exam in his or her language of proficiency.
On the other hand, the argument was very different. Very didactic in his explanation, the honorary professor in language teaching at the University of Geneva, Joaquim Dolz, predicted that the norm will never achieve the intended equity, doubted its “didactic validity” and pointed out that it is an “irresponsibly discriminatory” text. against the Valencian; “And you know it,” he added.
Along the same lines, the president of the AMPA Confederation Gonzalo Anaya, Rubén Pacheco, pointed out that the legislative proposal has been proposed solely and specifically to reduce the presence of Valencian in the educational system until its absolute elimination in some spaces: “It is not An educational law is a law against the Valencian, period.” Likewise, the professor of Sociology at the University of Valencia Rafael Castelló regretted that “the linguistic freedom of Spanish speakers means the linguistic death of Valencian speakers.”
