The Basque Public School in the Basque Country, Harro Topagunea, announced this Tuesday at a press conference that on Saturday, November 6, they will hold a demonstration in Bilbao. - For public education! No to privatization!" Under the motto, the mobilization will start at 17:00 hours from the Education Delegation (Calle Mayor Diego López de Haro, number 85) and through it they want to express their pride in the Basque public school.

The conveners include the platforms of Vitoria-Gasteiz, Oion, Bilbao, Santurtzi, Oarsoaldea, Astigarraga, Amurrio, Donostialdea and Lasarte-Oria, the Communities of the Basque Public School of Ordizia and Goieskola, the Association of Fathers and Mothers of the Basque School of Pupils. The unions LAB, STEILAS, CCOO, ESK and CNT have also joined.

In his appearance, Topagune condemned the "dual, classicist and racist" educational system and denounced that "it plays to the detriment of the Basque public school, as it generates segregation and students of two levels". Data from the analysis of the sociodemographic evolution of the Basque students carried out by the consultant Silvan & Miracle show that the situation is serious. And that is that, as you have emphasised, "we are one of the most segregating communities in Europe and in the Spanish state". In this regard, they have argued that education should not be subject to the logic of the market and that the economic capacity of families should not condition the right to education.

"The existence of two offers financed with public money, under the umbrella of universal public and private consultation, necessarily implies a rivalry between the two networks or centers of the same network," they have read and considered school segregation a consequence. "Our dual educational system, therefore, far from solving social inequalities, intensifies them, building a two-speed educational system and creating a social fracture that allows us to live in the Basque Country. This serious situation calls into question the future of the cohesion of the people".

Faced with the need to change the situation, the meeting point has made several demands: that the public school be the absolute priority of the administration, that in all municipalities and neighborhoods there is a single school that guarantees a comprehensive and free public offer from 0 to 18 years, that limits be placed on private education – concerted, that the Basque Government creates a consensual regulation that allows the publication of the centers, or that the model of immersion in Basque is generalized.

"We call on the Basque Government for the educational policies that lead to this current discriminatory situation, but also for the centers of the private network that, taking advantage of this situation, maintain their privileges, renounce inclusion and contribute to increase segregation," they said.

The Education Agreement, a source of concern

Topagunea has taken advantage of the press conference before the new CAV Educational Agreement that is under way. They have considered that the demand for the new law has not left the public community and that it "scares them the urgency of carrying it out". According to the spokesman for the interior, Maribel López de Luzuriaga, who received the news, "this rush scares us. We believe it has been under pressure from other actors and we fear it will not serve to legitimize this system." In his opinion, "we need transparency in the process, which guarantees the participation of representatives of the public network in a process that reflects on educational networks, funding, immersion model and school segregation". In this regard, they have expressed concern about the statements made by the Education Advisor, Jokin Bidarraitz, on the current situation.