- “Guarantee the real autonomy of the school, overcome the public-private dichotomy and regulate a system that drives the Basque Public Educational Service”, among other things, have requested the ikastolas to the CAV Education Law.
After the opening of the debate processes in the ikastolas to reflect on the CAV Education Law in Egoste, the Confederation of Ikastolas has published the conclusions contained therein. The Association has considered the Basque Public Education Service which is at the heart of the Law (according to this formula any centre that meets a number of requirements will be entitled to be 100% funded with public money) and has recalled that they welcomed the creation, definition and requirements and commitments to participate in this formula contained in the law agreement agreed in March by several political parties. At the moment, the Ikastolas Confederation has requested that the conditions and rights and obligations of the centres to participate in the Basque Public Educational Service be determined.
Ikastolas have also spoken more broadly: they have called for their own educational system and have demanded “a new legal framework to maintain and extend the characteristics of ikastolas in order to maintain our commitment to Euskal Herria and offer our characteristics to the whole society”. They have recalled these characteristics: Basque, transmission of Basque culture, Basque curriculum, democratic model of governance, participation and neighborhood work, innovation, self-materialization...
To maintain these characteristics, the Federation of Ikastolas has considered it essential to “guarantee the real autonomy of the school” and has emphasized education based on the citizen model, with the direct participation of municipalities, “in favor of a model in which the community participates in the decisions”.
He has highlighted three major challenges: the Basque Country, the transmission and segregation of Basque culture. “And to them we must respond as a people, we cannot mock”
Challenges and collaboration
The Association says it is the “time to play big”, highlighting the three great challenges facing Basque society (and Basque education): the Basque Country, the transmission and segregation of Basque culture. “And we must respond to them as a people, collectively and through collaboration between different actors. We cannot move between agents. We must all seek consensus on the path we want to move towards a new educational system. Let’s take the best experience of each different one.”
Understanding that the next law is “an important step in the path of the Basque National Education System itself”, the Federation of Ikastolas has been willing to collaborate and discuss in this transition.