The President of the Basque Public Office (EEP), Beñat Arrabit, and representatives of various institutions have sent a letter to Edouard Philippe, French Prime Minister; Jean-Michel Blanquer, Minister of Education; and Jacqueline Gourault.
In the letter, the EEP states, among other things, that “Minister Gorault’s opposition to experimentation has created confusion.” In his paper, the Executive notes that it is "unacceptable" for the model to be suspended. It has also warned the French Government that its party will "firmly" defend the model of immersion.
The letter is also signed by Benedicte Luberriaga, First Vice-President of the EEP and Alternate President of the Department of the Atlantic Pyrenees, and Mathieu Berg, Second Vice-President of the EEP and President of the New Aquitaine: “The words of the Minister for Territorial Cohesion and Relations with Local Authorities cannot be regarded as an official response of the State,” they stress in the letter.
The effect of tension should be understood in the following context: Last year, regulated conventions have been agreed with the Ministry of Education in the Basque Country and experiments have been carried out on behalf of the Basque Country. The EEP and National Education have reaffirmed in recent years the need for a faculty capable of promoting the Basque country, committing both parties to the financing. The institutions working in the Basque country have seen the intention to paralyse the development of immersion at a time when these efforts are bearing fruit.
The open letter has been concluded as follows by the Basque institutional agents: “We have sent this note to the Ministry of Education and other relevant ministries to definitively integrate the development of the departments of the model of immersion in the development policy of the Basque Country and the teaching of the Basque Country.”