The municipality of the Urola Valley has a population of 11,495 inhabitants (2012 census). The number of foreigners living in the village has increased in recent years. They currently account for 8 per cent of the population. Most are Pakistani and Moroccan, with 2.44% and 2.37%, respectively. Aware of the changes involved in the incorporation of foreign boys and girls into education and the scarcity of resources by the Department of Education of the Basque Government, a number of actors set up the Etorkinak eskola initiative in 2005.

Its main objective is to teach Basque, as it will help them to the school, but also to facilitate their integration in Azkoitia. The boys and girls of the Ikastola Xabier Munibe and the Floreaga Salestar College come to the Basque Country. The initial small groups are getting bigger and bigger. For example, at Ikastola Xabier Munibe there are currently 800 students and 112 immigrants come to school.

Aware that the integration of immigrants is not only the responsibility of the educational centers, the project consists of three legs: the schools, the Azkoitia City Hall and the Euskaltegi AEK. The classes are taught by AEK professors in the Basque Country, mixing students from both centers.

Euskaldunize in two years?

The Department of Education grants each student a period of two years to learn Basque. It seems to those in charge of both schools that it falls short. “They say that a person needs seven years to assimilate the language, so they can’t master everything in two years,” explains Arantxa Zubizarreta, Director of Early Childhood and Primary Education at Xabier Munibe. The Department of Education subsidizes the Linguistic Revitalization Programme – at the centre there is a teacher to work with immigrants, each student can receive this assistance for two years. The director of Floreaga, Koldo Gurrutxaga, remembers that at first there was none of this: “We didn’t have teachers or materials. We forced them to stand by for the six hours they spent in school.”

Thanks to the Immigrants in School project, students enrolled in Primary and Compulsory Secondary attend extra-school classes three times a week, the first three times a week and the second two times a week. Each center makes a list of those who have to go to the Basque Country and send it to the city hall. The City Council requests by letter the permission of the parents. AEK makes a monthly assessment of each student. Each immigrant is given classes for three years, although they are sometimes more alarmed.

They teach Euskera through play and song. Maite Azpiroz, AEK Manager, told us that: “We don’t want to give a fully academic school; we teach them through dynamics and games, and they come more at ease. In addition, they relate Euskera with something positive: ‘I’m going to class, but I’ll do well’.

Student Hassna Essardi also recalls those days: “We had a great time. The way to learn was very good, different from books and household work.” He was a student of the first generation of the Essardi project. She studied at ikastola Xabier Munibe and later studied as a nursing assistant in Urretxu. He currently works in the residence of the elderly in Azpeitia. The one of them was a room of about 17 people and says he now speaks in Basque with all of them.

Difficult to progress in studies

In the school center, the newly arrived children are placed at the level that corresponds to them by age. However, they find it difficult to advance academically. Above all because they lack a fundamental characteristic: Basque knowledge. According to Hassna Essardi, the need to learn two new languages greatly limited its objectives: “Before I came here I knew I would have to learn two languages and I was afraid. I wanted to continue my studies, go to college. But in the end I stayed on the road, because I didn’t know Spanish or English.”

What is achieved: minimum

The leaders of both schools are convinced that the main objective, that immigrants be able to express themselves in Basque, is achieved. Arantxa Zubizarreta believes the work of the Euskaltegis is uncovered: “They are with the strength that gives the experience. Your help is necessary, ours is not enough.”

As professors have told us, students use Euskera on the street and in company: “The Pakistanis and the Moroccans speak with each other in Basque, also with the professors.” Koldo Gurrutxaga says that with those of South American origin it is more difficult: “They tend to go to Castilian.” The parents of the latter find it more difficult to realize the importance of Basque courses. According to Maite Azpiroz, a professor at AEK, “there are those who say that you will not bring the child here [to the Basque Country] just to play.” Azpiroz added, however, that this is an exception, as he generally realizes that children are moving forward.

Although the results are quite good, they are convinced that they still fall short. The director of ikastola Xabier Munibe, Zubizarreta, says: “We are prepared to deal with this, but special resources are needed not only for a few hours, but for the whole year and for the whole day.” In addition, they do not think that the only thing that needs to be done is language, because students come from different cultures: “As they come from another culture, it is more difficult to work with them, because their customs and ours are different. To do so, there should be other kinds of resources.”