Minister Rovira Encourages Families to Participate in Language Base Consultation

On Tuesday, February 25th, the consultation to choose the base language in schools across the Community will commence. Ahead of this imminent date, the Education Minister, José Antonio Rovira, has sent a letter to approximately 570,000 families across the region, urging them to exercise their right to vote to select the vehicular language for their children's education.

"Families must choose with complete freedom and conviction," stated the Education Minister, whose aim with the consultation is "to give families a voice." "It is fair and democratic; the important thing is that they participate and express themselves in a process where the Ministry is completely neutral," he reiterated.

José Antonio Rovira has indicated that the Ministry "defends the cultural legacy of being a bilingual community." "In fact, one of the motivations for the Educational Freedom Law was the concern over the decline in the use of Valencian, a situation we aim to reverse with a paradigm shift: moving from imposition to promotion," he stated.

The Education Minister has noted that the Law "respects both official languages of the Community, and from the 3rd grade in Valencian-speaking areas, the weight of one language will not exceed more than 20% of the subjects, regardless of the chosen base language."

"Furthermore, in Spanish-speaking areas, there can also be groups with Valencian as the base language. The fundamental novelty will be that the language for acquiring literacy skills (in Kindergarten and 1st and 2nd grades) will be in the one chosen by the parents," added the Minister.

Finally, Rovira has reassured families in the Valencian Community that regardless of the chosen language, "the continuity of the book bank, support for students with special needs, and extracurricular activities are absolutely guaranteed."