In Bayonne, 10,000 people according to the organizers, 6,000 according to the police, demonstrated in the streets of the city, in a calm and family atmosphere, but with fierce determination. “We need solutions so that one in five children in kindergarten is not found unconstitutional at the start of the school year,” demanded Peio Jorajuria, president of the Federation of immersive associative schools, known as ikastola, where 5,000 children attend school.
In tight rows, the children marched behind the signs of their respective schools. Basque, “it is the first language I learned, I like to speak it and I want to continue speaking it at school and outside,” explained Naroa, 8 years old.
“Overnight we are told that this teaching is quite simply illegal. I am very worried about my language. To say that we are against French is a false argument, ”fears Arkaitz, who came with his daughter Otxanda, 8 years old.
“They believe that one does not learn French”
In Perpignan, a thousand Catalans also marched to the sound of drums, waving “blood and gold” flags.
“Looks like they don’t know what an immersive school is. They believe that we do not learn French, ”lamented Elena Gual, director of the Arrels school, a public immersion school in Perpignan. “However, the academy inspectorate comes to check regularly and knows that we are doing the job properly. We would like to continue teaching and doing what we have been doing for 40 years, ”she added.
During the Alsatian rally, bringing together about 200 people at the end of the morning, in Colmar, the president of the Grand Est region, Jean Rottner, LR candidate for re-election, received a large quantity of flour on his head. Cries of “traitor” and “felon” have been heard against this former defender of Alsace, who has become a leading figure in a large region that is still often poorly accepted.
“Getting flour on this occasion by an autonomist is a form of recognition. I am very sensitive to this tribute to Alsatian pastry, ”quipped on Twitter Jean Rottner, who, on the spot, had not spoken. The Alsatian rally had attracted many candidates in the next regional and departmental elections, while the red and white flag of Alsace was omnipresent.
“The only way to ensure that my children can become true speakers of Alsatian and later pass on to their children a language that has been in their family for centuries is immersion education,” explained Cécile Walschaerts, Belgian married to an Alsatian and mother of two little girls aged 7 and 5, who did their kindergarten years in Alsatian / German immersion.
“A fundamental mobilization”
In Bastia, Corsican polyphonic songs closed the demonstration at the end of the morning with just under 200 people, including the leader of the independence movement “Corsica Libera” and President of the Assembly of Corsica, Jean-Guy Talamoni, in front of the premises of the academic inspection for the defense of the Corsican language. Two banners were unfurled with the message “For our tongues to live.”
“It’s a fundamental mobilization.” The Constitutional Council denied a democratic fact. What is happening is very serious. It challenges all devices for teaching the Corsican language, ”Ghjiseppu Turchini, a Corsican language teacher, told the microphone.
Also in Lille, around forty people came to demand from the rectorate for primary education in Picard from the start of the 2021 school year and the recruitment of Flemish teachers.
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