In recent decades I have worked in the Basque field, both in the Euskaldunization of adults in AEK, and in the defence of linguistic rights in the Observatory, or in favour of the normalization of the Basque country in the Council of Euskalgintza. Everywhere I have heard terrible things from those questioning the Basque or the construction of a country: in the first, it was a private academy and it is currently not necessary because there are language schools or Euskaltegis public; in the second, a “private” association does not have legitimacy for the diagnosis of rights; in the third, it was wanted to build a parallel ministry of public administrations... However, reality brought something else, as the three continue to have a very healthy influence on the normalization process of the Basque country.

A year ago, I took another course in my life and started working on the ikastolas movement. And I've noticed that here, too, there's a ghost on the front page: ikastolas don't perform functions. And that doesn't just surprise me, it worries me.

In our village that stretches from Aturri to the Ebro, or at least on the ground that I myself regard as a people, today we do not have a local educational system. In short, we depend on two states, and in one of them we are a people divided into two autonomous communities. This, as it could not be otherwise, makes it difficult or even impossible to form the backbone of a national educational system. Moreover, when educational policies are given in the public authorities in accordance with the interests of the parties at all times.

The truth is that I have no doubt that important steps have also been taken in public education systems thanks to the community, the committed teachers and parents. And yes, because I have no problem underlining the work I have done there, it is to congratulate.

Along with this, there is a national educational structure, arising from the tradition of popular construction in the Basque Country and focused in the Basque Country: Euskal Herriko Ikastolak. And that is that in Euskal Herria we know that the popular initiative has come, and is, and is the only possibility to move forward, to many areas in which the administration does not arrive. Euskal Herria is neither Madrid, nor Cantabria, nor Normandy. We are a territory that has a denied State and that brings us to many particularities. No thought can be given to the Basque education system if it is not from that point of departure.

The existing national educational framework is that of the ikastolas, the only one that configures the Basque Country as a whole. For this to happen, it is not enough for there to be ikastolas in Lapurdi, Navarra or Zuberoa. He is a national because he works in the seven countries and works in Euskal Herria, because he makes his contribution to Euskal Herria, as well as other agents of the Basque world (UEU, AEK, Topagunea, Kontseilua…). And of course that entails responsibilities and obligations for ikastolas.

And in addition, the ikastolas are of citizenship. The owners of the ikastolas are citizens: families and workers. We are all the families and workers who have decided to schooling their sons and daughters in the ikastola or work in a ikastola. In addition, this guarantees our autonomy, it offers us some sovereignty. Thanks to this autonomy, we respond to the responsibilities involved in being a national education network. In addition to being pioneers in the immersion model, we are currently working at national level on how to obtain active Euskaldunes students. Thanks to this autonomy, we can decide, and we've decided that we want to be digitally sovereign. We must not forget that the autonomy of the ikastolas has propitiated the creation of didactic material that has as its axis the Basque curriculum. Moreover, in addition to creating, we have decided to offer it to any center of the Basque Country. Because our vocation is not to stay with what we have created, we have represented it as a contribution. Furthermore, being aware of ourselves gives us the opportunity to promote projects that are essential to this country. Whether to hire with Goiener, which aims at energy consumption, or to consume Errigora products in our canteens… We could make a long list.

On the other hand, the fact that it is a Basque system has led us to have a Community character and to give way to solidarity. We have been determined to set up a system of our own scholarships and so we set up channels so that everyone can benefit from what they have paid for. Through the Caja Solidaria, with the resources of all and all, we managed to maintain the offer in Basque in territories of difficulty. The Ikastola de Arberoa, located in Donamarti, which has recently been totally burned by fire, will also be rebuilt through collective solidarity. And, of course, the members of the ikastolas will continue to support other herrigintza projects, either economically or through direct participation: Bizipoza, Errigora, Euskalgintza Kontseilua… This is how we understand solidarity in the ikastolas: to share what they have with what they do not have and to build the people with our contributions.

And there's no problem in recognizing that we also have hangover. We have things to improve and correct. We are not idiots, we are not complacent. This spring we held our Seventh Assembly and identified and planned many areas of improvement, as well as new lines of work to build the future Basque Country. We've filled our pockets to become what we want.

A people needs a strong educational system, even more so if they have a minority language, or if they are fully institutionally divided. Since its creation, the movement of the ikastolas has had that objective: to build the educational system of Euskal Herria exceeding all limits. That is what we have done in recent decades and we will continue with that commitment in the following, the 114 ikastolas that we formed the Ikastola of the Basque Country, because our educational system still needs the ikastolas.

Paul Bilbao Sarria, director of the ikastola Armentia de Vitoria-Gasteiz