School under rights: The classroom in the service of the culture war

In Spain, education is a matter for the states, i.e. the autonomous regions. Spain has 17. In 4 of these, the right-wing extremist Vox governs as a junior partner in coalition with the right-wing Partido Popular (PP). And in Valencia the neo-Franquists support the PP minority government. That has its price. Vox uses this position in its fight for cultural hegemony. What would be better suited than education policy?

Above all, it is against migrants and especially against Islamic migrants. Where Vox is part of the government, in the future there will only be non-special menus for “students with a medical certificate stating that they are intolerance to special foods” in school meals, according to a decree from Valencia, which was also passed in a similar way in the other regions. In concrete terms, this means that a halal lunch is no longer on the menu for Muslim students. If families have a problem with this, the only solution is to reach for the Tupperware container.

But that's not enough. Where Arabic lessons and classes about the culture of the country of origin have been taught for years, especially for students of Moroccan origin, Vox has ensured that these classes are canceled. The lessons were based on an agreement between Spain and Morocco. The Moroccan government covered the costs of the teachers and the schools provided rooms outside of normal teaching times. That's history now. Where the program continues, other spaces outside of public facilities will need to be found.

“It is about offering an education that allows them to preserve their identity, live their culture while respecting that of the host country and having confidence in themselves and their future,” says Spain’s agreement with Morocco. And that is exactly what is a thorn in the side of the extreme right, which dreams of the “remigration” of up to 8 million people.

Thousands of students will be affected by the end of this program. Five regions have now canceled Arabic lessons, including the capital region of Madrid, where the PP governs with an absolute majority and is trying to steal votes from Vox by adopting the ideology of the right-wing extremists. The reasoning there: it is not possible to check what the children are being taught.

Control over the content, this is also where Vox comes in. Before she took part in government, she demanded a so-called “parental PIN”. This is how the party called its request to give families the right to take their children out of class if topics such as equality or tolerance towards sexual minorities or coming to terms with fascism were on the agenda.

Now the neo-Franquists are going one step further. They want to restrict teaching in the regional language in Valencia and have enshrined “ideological neutrality” in a planned educational reform. The school management should monitor what is discussed in lessons and in extracurricular events in order to prevent the “indoctrination of the children”. The school authorities should have the right to send inspectors to classes and question children and teachers. “Immediate measures” can then be taken and disciplinary proceedings opened.

“This law clearly perverts the spirit of what school supervision should be,” protested the STEPV union, which is the majority in Valencian education, in a written statement. This would violate freedom of teaching and lead to a “witch hunt”. The school supervision, which is actually supposed to support the school management, becomes a “suppressing and censoring authority”.

STEPV complains that the text of the law speaks of ideological neutrality without explaining what this means. “This means that anything that displeases the Valencian government can come under suspicion of violating this supposed ideological neutrality,” the union said. The list of topics in the “Parental PIN” campaign suggests something bad. “It is entirely possible that even teaching about the causes of climate change will be viewed as indoctrination,” fears STEPV.