The National Education published Thursday, December 16 a circular ensuring that the immersive teaching of regional languages in public establishments is indeed possible, following concerns arising from a decision of the Constitutional Council in May 2021.
The Sages had censored Article 4 of the Law on the Protection of the Heritage of Regional Languages and their Promotion, passed on April 8, which provided for the extension of the optional teaching of regional languages in public education, in particular by the immersive teaching in the regional language. The Constitutional Council ruled that this article violated Article 2 of the Constitution, which states that “the language of the Republic is French”.
Schools offering immersive education such as Diwan in Breton, Ikastola in Basque or ABCM in Alsatian, provide most of the lessons in the regional language. They are now associative, mostly under contract with the State, and follow the programs of the National Education. The censorship of the Constitutional Council worried many defenders of regional languages, who feared for the survival of these bilingual schools. Several thousand people demonstrated on May 29 in Brittany or in the Basque Country to defend these schools.
In its directive, the ministry indicates that “Immersion education is a possible learning strategy for bilingual education”, and that this one “comfort” and does not contravene “learning French”. This learning is assessed throughout the students’ schooling, particularly during “national assessments of CP, CE1 and 6e, which takes into account the specificities of the bilingual sections”. Yes the “level of fluency in French is insufficient, remedial and support solutions will be offered“to the students, the text continues.
“As long as this circular exists, we are protected”, reacted, relieved, Peio Jorajuria, the president of Seaska, federation of schools in the Basque language, questioned by France Blue Basque Country. “It will promote the dissemination of Picard and thus help to save it”, welcomes the president of the Somme departmental council, Stéphane Haussoulier, in a press release reported by France Bleu Picardie.
To also respect the Constitution, French must be the language of communication used by the staff of bilingual schools for parents of students and institutional partners, even if “depending on the context, the regional language can be associated with French through bilingual documents and a bilingual approach”.
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