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Opposition to bilingual education

Thu, 30 October 10:00

Opposition to bilingual education

But is it progress? Some children struggle with su

A GOVERNMENT plan designed to introduce bilingual education into the Spanish school system has met with criticism both inside and outside the educational system.
Approved in 2005 and adopted by 80 primary schools and high schools in the province of Malaga, the plan is aimed at the total integration of a second language, beyond the demands of specific language classes.
To that end, schools are being instructed to teach core subjects like maths and technology, in English. However, parents and teachers have expressed the opinion that many students already struggle to learn these subjects when taught in Spanish.
They also believe that most teachers have not attained a sufficient level of proficiency in other languages to enable them to teach their chosen subjects in English or French, especially in secondary education.
Teachers joining the bilingual programme do so freely and are simply required to confirm their knowledge of the foreign language.
There are currently 3,000 teachers in the programme, with another 900 being trained by the Official Language School (EOI). A number of native English-speaking teachers have also participated in the programme this year.
Experts from the EOI said that the minimum level currently required to teach in the bilingual programme is too low to enable the teachers to deliver specific subjects.

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