February 2006

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CATALAN NOW REQUISITE FOR NEW UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS

February 2006 - The Government of Catalonia is preparing a decree that, if approved, will affect all tenured and contracted professors, both permanent and temporary, at Catalan universities--with an exception for visiting professors and the like. The decree expands on Article 6.4 of the Universities Act of Catalonia, which establishes the obligation to know the two official languages of Catalonia and will affect, without applying retroactively, to international professors as well as to Spanish citizens, according to the Secretary of the Inter-University Council of Catalonia, Josep Castells.

The Inter-University Council, the coordinating body of Catalonia’s university system responsible for advising the Catalan government on university issues, has announced its support for the draft of the decree currently awaiting approval from the Legal Council Commission, which is responsible for advising the government and negotiating with workers' unions.

Once the decree is approved, all university professors, tenured and contracted staff--both temporary and permanent--will need to be accredited, through the general exam offered by the Catalan universities, as having a sufficient level of Catalan equivalent to Level C on the scale of the Secretary of Linguistic Policy, the body responsible for the application of the linguistic legislation derived from Article 3 of the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia and ensure the application of established linguistic policies by the Spanish Government.

A period of one year will be given to achieve the required level of Catalan, which will need to be accredited with either a certificate from the Secretary of Linguistic Policy, a secondary school diploma (BUP) from 1992 onward or a LOGSE secondary school diploma, having been awarded in Catalonia.

Although accreditation of knowledge of the Catalan language will be required, professors will be able to use either of the two official languages both in the classroom and in writing.