You'll no doubt remember the teachers' strike. Especially those of you with school-age children attending state schools in the Balearics. It seems like an age ago that it took place. During an age that has now passed, that of the Bauzá administration and its full-frontal conflict with the teachers, one that was primarily to do with the implementation of trilingual teaching (TIL), a system that no longer exists, the new government having consigned it to the history textbooks with the board rubber of a decree.
The 2013-2014 school year did not start with normality. School years normally do begin with normality. Press reports say so. Each year it is the same. But it wasn't normal in September 2013. The teachers were on strike and remained on strike until October. In the midst of the strike the largest demonstration witnessed in the Balearics took place. A hundred thousand in Palma protesting against Bauzá, against TIL and in defence of Catalan instruction. Though the teachers went back to the classrooms after three weeks, the strike wasn't officially called off. It was indefinite. Remarkably enough, given that there is a new government whose first act was to kill off TIL, the strike is still indefinite.
The education minister, Martí March, cannot understand why the strike hasn't been called off. There is no justification, in his view, for it remaining indefinite, meaning it could be reactivated at any time. What more do the teachers want, now that the devil's work of TIL has been undone? He anticipates the school year starting with normality, but behind the appearance of normality lurks the abnormal.
March is a professorial type, similar to Bauzá's first education minister Rafael Bosch, who was to be a victim of TIL dogmatism in that he wasn't antagonistic towards Catalan to the extent that his boss was. Professorial types might be said to be one step removed from the hurl and the burl and the cuts to the throat of down and dirty politics. They apply proportion and so hope that others will too. But in Mallorca's world of education, there are instead alternative dogmas that compete and are clouded by degrees of impetuousness and emotiveness, to which can be added the need for a "cause".
While the unions are there, fighting the good fight, there is also the unmistakable presence of the Assemblea de Docents, the teachers' assembly, with its green tide of green t-shirts. This was a product of TIL. The assembly's defence of education against Bauzá was firmly based on the defence of Catalan. English was only ever a side issue.
With TIL abandoned, March cannot understand the need for the strike to be maintained. Nor can many others. But he must surely understand that the teachers' assembly, now deprived of the prime reason for it having come into existence, has become a self-perpetuating force in search of other causes. It has become a power in the land, bolstered, it would think, by the belief that the rebellion against TIL, with it at the head of it, was what brought Bauzá down. It shows no sign of wishing to relinquish this power.
The green tide manifested itself before parliament on Wednesday. Podemos issued a declaration against the national education law - LOMCE. It was one of almost Marxist rhetoric that wouldn't have been out of place in the febrile environment of a students' union meeting debating the application of the dialectic to whatever issue happens to be flavour of the month. As such, it was embarrassing. LOMCE may be a lousy law, not least because of its weird insistence on religious education which most Catholics believe to be unnecessary and unwarranted, but it cannot just be ignored. National laws cannot simply be disobeyed.
This, though, is what the assembly wants, as it also wants Bauzá cutbacks to be reversed, and as it further wants a revision of the obscure "decreto de minimos", something which determines quotas of Catalan (and Castellano). March is dragging his heels on all of these is the conclusion that is being made. Hence the strike will not be called off.
But within all of this is the shaky nature of the government. The Podemos declaration was an implication that PSOE, in charge of education, is as anti-democratic and all the rest as the Partido Popular, whose law LOMCE is. The teachers have found easy allies among the ranks of Podemos (and Més to an extent as well). Alberto Jarabo, the Podemos leader, was one of those wearing the green t-shirt.
March, a moderate in a similar way that Bosch was, finds himself in the cross-fire of the government's tensions and of the extremes of Mallorca's educational politics. Just, in truth, as Bosch was also trapped.
The strike will not be called off. Normality has yet to return. When will it?
Showing posts with label Strike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Strike. Show all posts
Friday, September 11, 2015
Sunday, September 15, 2013
In A Bad Way: Balearics education and TIL
The Pau Casesnoves secondary school in Inca is located in a residential area of the town behind the grand edifice of the Garcia printing company. As one drives past the school there is a wall on which graffiti has been sprayed. Or it had been when I last went past perhaps three months ago. This graffiti declared opposition to attacks on Catalan teaching in the school and the Balearics as a whole. The school in Inca has been one of the more prominent in making its opposition to language reforms known. On Friday, the day of the return to school, teachers from Pau Casesnoves gathered for a photo. They were wearing green t-shirts from a body known as the Plataforma Crida. The t-shirts supported the teachers' strike and called for "quality public education". The objectives of the Plataforma, in addition to quality in education, include education in Catalan. The teachers in the photo at Pau Casesnoves were wearing the t-shirt and they were also holding a flag - the Catalan flag.
The strike by teachers in the Balearics, which may last until the end of the month, is styled as one against the introduction of TIL - the integrated treatment of languages - the lack of preparation for TIL, and the heavy-handed, non-consultative approach of the regional government (which culminated in the High Court's rejection of its procedure for implementation and the immediate declaration of a government decree to get around the court's decision).
This is, however, an over-simplification. There are indeed grave misgivings and justifiable misgivings about TIL and especially the haste in which it has been introduced. Some teachers, perhaps even a majority of them, will consider this to the prime reason for strike action, but I doubt that were it just about TIL that a strike would be happening. There is more to it.
Teaching in Catalan is also an educational issue, but it is also very much a political issue. The teachers at Pau Casesnoves did, in a sense, give the game away by holding up the Catalan flag. This is a strike, where some teachers are concerned (and again it may be a majority or it may not be), about teaching in Catalan.
If it is concerns about Catalan which are really at the heart of the strike, then it is a strike which been months in the making. Despite attacks by the regional government on Catalan in other ways - reducing or eliminating requirements to speak Catalan in some public-sector jobs, banning the use of "symbols" (such as the Catalan flag) and the display of the flag on public buildings, even the nonsensical proposal to change place names to Castellano (now forgotten about it seems) - there hasn't been concerted industrial action. The teachers' strike is that concerted action, and it has been action that unions and some opposition political parties have been angling for. They now have it.
It will be lamented that schoolchildren will be the ones to suffer and are the ones who least deserve to be in the firing-line of the divisions caused over Catalan. But there are a great number of parents who support the teachers, not just over TIL but also over Catalan teaching. This is not a strike without popular support, and the unions know this.
A reflection of this support lies with what was the government's first "assault" on Catalan teaching. This was the so-called free selection of teaching language whereby parents (at primary levels) could choose between Catalan and Castellano as the language they wished their children to be taught in. It has been a colossal flop in that the percentage of parents opting for Castellano has been nothing like that which the government would have hoped.
In the space of two years since it came to power, the Partido Popular government has introduced two major changes to education - one was free selection, the second is TIL. I am convinced that TIL, and its rushed agenda, is a direct response to the failure of free selection. The government has sought a different way to reduce Catalan teaching and has found it in trilingualism. It is for this reason that the strike is as much political as it is educational.
But then there are also grounds for believing that teachers might have taken strike action had the issue solely been an educational matter to do with TIL. It would have been an extreme form of protest but one must ask why the government appears to think that introducing TIL, and especially in the ham-fisted way in which it has been introduced, will be successful in the Balearics when the islands start from a position of disadvantage when it comes to trilingualism - a disadvantage from generally low educational standards anyway and the absence of a true foreign language culture. Why also does the government believes this might be a success where the Basque Country and other parts of Europe have demonstrated that trilingual education is far from straightforward. Has the government genuinely consulted with educationalists and academics? If it has, it should present the findings of its research. It should be transparent in pointing to how, educationally, trilingualism will be rolled out effectively.
I doubt that it will because I doubt that it has any findings. Not ones that would be convincing. TIL has merits, but the government has gone about it in the wrong way. A very bad way.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
The strike by teachers in the Balearics, which may last until the end of the month, is styled as one against the introduction of TIL - the integrated treatment of languages - the lack of preparation for TIL, and the heavy-handed, non-consultative approach of the regional government (which culminated in the High Court's rejection of its procedure for implementation and the immediate declaration of a government decree to get around the court's decision).
This is, however, an over-simplification. There are indeed grave misgivings and justifiable misgivings about TIL and especially the haste in which it has been introduced. Some teachers, perhaps even a majority of them, will consider this to the prime reason for strike action, but I doubt that were it just about TIL that a strike would be happening. There is more to it.
Teaching in Catalan is also an educational issue, but it is also very much a political issue. The teachers at Pau Casesnoves did, in a sense, give the game away by holding up the Catalan flag. This is a strike, where some teachers are concerned (and again it may be a majority or it may not be), about teaching in Catalan.
If it is concerns about Catalan which are really at the heart of the strike, then it is a strike which been months in the making. Despite attacks by the regional government on Catalan in other ways - reducing or eliminating requirements to speak Catalan in some public-sector jobs, banning the use of "symbols" (such as the Catalan flag) and the display of the flag on public buildings, even the nonsensical proposal to change place names to Castellano (now forgotten about it seems) - there hasn't been concerted industrial action. The teachers' strike is that concerted action, and it has been action that unions and some opposition political parties have been angling for. They now have it.
It will be lamented that schoolchildren will be the ones to suffer and are the ones who least deserve to be in the firing-line of the divisions caused over Catalan. But there are a great number of parents who support the teachers, not just over TIL but also over Catalan teaching. This is not a strike without popular support, and the unions know this.
A reflection of this support lies with what was the government's first "assault" on Catalan teaching. This was the so-called free selection of teaching language whereby parents (at primary levels) could choose between Catalan and Castellano as the language they wished their children to be taught in. It has been a colossal flop in that the percentage of parents opting for Castellano has been nothing like that which the government would have hoped.
In the space of two years since it came to power, the Partido Popular government has introduced two major changes to education - one was free selection, the second is TIL. I am convinced that TIL, and its rushed agenda, is a direct response to the failure of free selection. The government has sought a different way to reduce Catalan teaching and has found it in trilingualism. It is for this reason that the strike is as much political as it is educational.
But then there are also grounds for believing that teachers might have taken strike action had the issue solely been an educational matter to do with TIL. It would have been an extreme form of protest but one must ask why the government appears to think that introducing TIL, and especially in the ham-fisted way in which it has been introduced, will be successful in the Balearics when the islands start from a position of disadvantage when it comes to trilingualism - a disadvantage from generally low educational standards anyway and the absence of a true foreign language culture. Why also does the government believes this might be a success where the Basque Country and other parts of Europe have demonstrated that trilingual education is far from straightforward. Has the government genuinely consulted with educationalists and academics? If it has, it should present the findings of its research. It should be transparent in pointing to how, educationally, trilingualism will be rolled out effectively.
I doubt that it will because I doubt that it has any findings. Not ones that would be convincing. TIL has merits, but the government has gone about it in the wrong way. A very bad way.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Palma bus drivers to strike 16/17 August
Drivers and other workers with EMT, Palma's transport service company, have announced a strike for 16 and 17 August as a protest over longer working hours and the withdrawal of their Christmas bonus.
See more: See more: Ultima Hora
See more: See more: Ultima Hora
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Parents will not let their children start new school term
Following yesterday's news of a potential strike by schoolteachers objecting to the reduction in the number of teachers, parents in the town of Sineu have offered support to the teachers' position and registered their discontent with what will be increased numbers of pupils in classes at the local secondary school. They are saying that they will not let their children start the new school term in September.
See more: Ultima Hora
See more: Ultima Hora
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Schoolteachers threatening to strike in the Balearics
Not to be outdone by all the other strikes, teaching unions are considering strike action at the start of the new school year in September over the number of teachers attached to each school.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Ambulance workers to strike on 30 March
The day after the planned general strike, and ambulance workers in the Balearics are planning an indefinite strike from 30 March over non-payment of salaries and bonuses.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
See more: Diario de Mallorca
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Students prepare for strike
The planned strike for tomorrow (29 February) by university and secondary-school students looks set to go ahead, along with overnight sit-ins in at certain institutions. The protest is against education cuts (and also against cuts in other sectors). Against this background, the mood of students and parents, some of whom have, together with teachers, backed the protest, is likely to be darker following an announcement by the Balearic Government that the cost of buying educational materials will rise for both primary and secondary schools as from the next school year (which starts in September).
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
MALLORCA TODAY - German air-traffic control strike
German air-traffic controllers are due to strike tomorrow for six hours (from 04.00 to 10.00 GMT). The strike will affect all of Germany's 16 international airports, most of which serve Mallorca.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
MALLORCA TODAY - Chemists' "strike" faces legal complications
The planned closure of pharmacies in Mallorca as from tomorrow in protest at non-payment by the regional government's health ministry has run into legal complications. It has been made clear that, among other things, pharmacies are obliged to dispense prescriptions and to maintain overnight services. Failure to do so would result in heavy fines.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
