Next year, teachers who want to join the pool will need to have a C2 level of Catalan.

BarcelonaA new twist in the odyssey to protect and promote Catalan in classrooms. For the past three days, the Catalan government has had a new tool at its disposal to at least improve teachers' Catalan proficiency. The tool in question is one of the articles of the language regime decree approved in 2024which states that "from the 2025-2026 academic year" having a C2 level of Catalan will be a "requirement" for access to teaching.

Until last Friday, this article was provisionally suspended by the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC), which, in fact, He provisionally suspended the entire decree just two months after the ERC government approved it, following an appeal by the Assembly for a Bilingual School (AEB). Last September, moreover, The court annulled a large part of the articles of the law. Following this, Plataforma per la Llengua filed an appeal with the TSJC (High Court of Justice of Catalonia) to lift the suspension of the articles it had not yet annulled, and this appeal has now been granted. Sources within the Department of Education confirm that the article in question has come into effect and explain its exact implications. Starting next school year, a C2 level of Catalan will be mandatory for all substitute teachers and teachers who wish to join the teacher pool. This requirement does not apply to teachers entering the education system through competitive examinations, as these exams were announced before the suspension of the article requiring this level of Catalan for teaching was lifted. "All calls for applications issued before the ruling do not include this requirement," the department states. The measure will also not affect teachers already in practice, although, according to the latest data from 2024, only a third of teachers in Catalonia have accredited C2 level Catalan.

Education studies "the scope" of the measure

Beyond the C2 level requirement for teachers entering the pool of qualified teachers starting next academic year, among the articles of the decree that were suspended, but not annulled, is the one stipulating that from the 2027-2028 academic year onwards, the C2 level should also be required of all teachers seeking promotion or transfer. This includes teachers aspiring to become principals or educational inspectors. Regarding this regulation, it remains to be seen whether the Department of Education will ultimately require it in two years' time, as the text also specifies that the C2 level will be required "if so determined by the competent department for education." For now, the Department of Education confirms that "the department will implement the decree" and that, in parallel, the Minister of Education, Esther Niubó, has commissioned an impact study of the measure from the Directorate General of Teaching Staff.