English to be taught with equal priority in Valencian schools

 

The government of the Valencian community has revealed plans to commence teaching Castilian, Valencian and English equally in the regions schools starting from the next academic year.

Alejandro Font de Mora, the Regional MInister for Education, announced yesterday that the aim is to find a balance in the use of Valencia's two co-official languages, and to gradually increase the use of English in other lessons.

Initially teaching staff would have to receive training in teaching in a foreign language, and then following this for the use of English in the region's schools to be gradually increased. The aim is for the level of English taught to be increased gradually to represent one-third of the languages taught, with the national Castilian language and regional Valencian language being gradually reduced down to one-third in order to allow for this to be done.

Even though the initiative is expected to take 6 years in order to be fully integrated, it shows the Valencian government in a very progressive light. Only last month the Catalan government was criticised for 'totally ignoring' a supreme court ruling that all Schools within the region should teach the national language of Castilian on an equal footing with the regional Catalan language.