- The Euskal Eskola Publikoa Harro initiative has called for a public and unique model for the Basque education system as a whole. In this sense, the Federation of Ikastolas has become defensive; and since the best defense is a good attack, they are not willing to make the ikastolas available to the administration and a new definition of the public is necessary. A new definition of the public… including private initiative! I cannot imagine a better offer for capital than subordination to the formation of the society of the future: a social model that destroys the public and the private. A perfect world and Euskaldun, without left or right and free from other pollutants that endanger our purity as a people.
It is always good to acknowledge the tremendous work of the pioneers: the ikastolas were the popular response to the Franco repression that denied the right to study and live in Euskera. But the current debate, although some are engaged in it, does not refer to its origins, but to the social consequences of the current concertation in the Basque Country. We are talking about differences and inequalities. In the Basque Country, not all children have the same right to education and their possibilities depend on socioeconomic conditions. The reproduction of class inequality is guaranteed thanks to the Christian schools and the ikastolas, which are, in essence, the ones who receive the majority of the money for concertation at the CAV.
"Ikastolas were a popular response to Francoist repression that denied the right to study in Basque and to live in Basque. But the current debate, although some are engaged in it, does not refer to its origins, but to the social consequences of the current concertation in the Basque Country"
In the Basque Country, the concerted registration rate is 48.3% of the total, 20 points above the state average and 35 points above Europe. It is necessary to put an end to this neoliberal anomaly. Let us not forget that what is concerted means a private person financed with public money.
The gap between students from one school and another is widening. The most humble pupils of origin meet in public. According to a 2018 report by Save the Children, 88.9% of Basque schools with a very high concentration level of students with a low socioeconomic profile are public owned. This means, basically, that the concerted are in practice elitist centers that turn their backs on social reality, and that their mere existence generates real ghettos. Public funding for private schools means less money and less resources for public schools. The latter, unlike the concerted one, does not carry out selective processes covered by "voluntary quotas", but accepts all the cultural plurality deriving from immigration.
The most obvious consequence of concertation is social segregation. While some have a privileged knowledge that is Christian or supposedly popular, the public school, inclusive, which is the true reflection of the people, lacks sufficient personal and material resources. Talking about public education by the PNV as the backbone is a joke of bad taste. This justifies the liberal fraud of free choice. Free choice for:
The fact that religious centers want to justify their existence is something that can be understood, after all, there is a very important difference between the education demanded by religious centers and the public school. Because the latter in science, in equality, in diversity, in secularism, etc. It claims to be based education. Today, the public school guarantees the right to study in Basque. What arguments does the Federation of Ikastolas have for not wanting to publish and differentiate itself from the public school? I will say: Distortion of concepts of Popular and Social Movement.