This Saturday, March 6, many students gathered in Corte to defend the terms of the Corsican language Capes competition. At the same time, the assembly of Corsica and the municipal council of Bastia are rising to the front to demand the cancellation of the modification of the Capes.
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Student unions, nationalist parties, high school groups and the youth of “Parlemu corsu” unite to defend the Corsican language. This Saturday, March 6, they gathered in front of the University of Corsica in Corte.
For them, it is necessary to start with a good training of teachers in the university course. “Our demands are simple, there is the Capes de Corse in Corsican language, but also that there are more positions out of the competitions of the Capes and CRPE and that there are more positions for the aggregation“, explains Pasquale Pieri, professor of Corsican language at the University of Corte.
Press conference of course students to defend a #CAPES of #LinguaCorsa in progress.
We are all by their side. @Ghju_Paolina @CGCcorte @UniversitaUniti MuvraA … pic.twitter.com/JAjSF9JIr8– Davia Benedetti (@DaviaBenedetti) March 6, 2021
Another key point is the reform of the Capes with the consequence of a coefficient for the Corsican language test which would increase from 7 to 4. For all, it is a discount diploma in corsophony that is being prepared for the future. The low coefficient for the Corsican language in high school is also criticized. However, the school has become the main place of transmission in recent years.
For her part, the rector, Julie Benetti, affirms that the Minister of National Education pays particular attention to regional languages. As for the reform of Capes, it confirms: “the objective is to return to a distribution of coefficients equivalent to that of the old Capes without calling into question the general structure of the events.“In this case, the coefficient of the Corsican language would remain at 7.
Motion of the Bastia municipal council demanding the cancellation of the modifications
During a meeting on Friday March 5, the Bastia municipal council voted by a large majority on a motion to request the cancellation of the modification of CAPES. The city council warned in particular on “an unraveling of the teaching of the Corsican language “.
This maneuver follows in particular another motion adopted, also unanimously, by the Assembly of Corsica, at the end of last February.
In its press release, the Bastia municipal council recalls “the usefulness, in Bastia in particular, of a complete learning of a Latin language, a gateway to the Mediterranean arc, as a tool for cultural, economic and linguistic exchange”.
???? #InVivu
Reform of the #CAPES : the Bastia City Council adopts the motion moved by the majority against the reform of the language CAPES ???? pic.twitter.com/9UqOGcSkYA– City of Bastia (@Cita_Bastia) March 5, 2021
The regional languages in question
Not all city council members supported this motion. For good reason: some regret a speech “deliberately aggressive” against the State, like François Tatti:
[Motion langue Corse]
If the teaching of the Corsican language is to be defended, I will not vote on this motion because it does not endorse the deliberately aggressive and caricatured speech of the municipal majority against the state and the Minister of National Education.– François Tatti (@ftatti) March 5, 2021
In mid-February, Corse-du-Sud MP Paul-André Colombani (PNC) had already challenged the Minister of National Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, on CAPES reform.
During his speech at the National Assembly, he had notably denounced “a deleterious process for our regional languages” :
Protection of regional languages: @pacolombani (LT) asks for the ratification of the European charter of regional languages and denounces “a deleterious process for our regional languages” with the reform of the Corsican language CAPES.#DirectAN #QAG pic.twitter.com/Chm8tjp7di
– National Assembly (@AssembleeNat) February 16, 2021
The modification of the CAPES indeed plans to give pride of place to the French language during the tests. The changes, which should come into force in 2022, are as follows:
- for the tests in Corsican language, the coefficients go from 7 to 4. For the tests in French language, the coefficients go from 4 to 8.
- the times for the Corsican language tests go from 8:30 am to 5:00 am, and from 3:30 am to 8:35 am for the French language tests.
For Romain Colonna, lecturer in sociolinguistics and Corsican studies, this decree is part of a “questioning of the entire educational system dedicated to the Corsican language”.
