POUM 1936
Source: La Révolution espagnole, 1st year, no. 6, October 14, 1936;
Translated: for marxists.org by Mitchell Abidor.
A decree of the Catalan government relating to the return to school which, as in other years will take place on October 1, modifies education in nursery and primary schools. The new decree stipulates that teaching, which until today was done in Catalan in all schools of the Generalitat, will be done in the mother tongue of the student by a teacher speaking that language. To this end the schools will be divided into two groups. Once a child is recognized to be sufficiently educated in his own language, from the point of view of both language and style, the study of the second language will begin, that is Castilian for Catalan-speaking students and Catalan for those speaking Castilian. On an average, education in the second language will begin starting in the tenth year, the mother tongue remaining the basis of education.
The monarchy mandated education in Castilian throughout Spanish territory. Since then a decree dated April 29, 1931 ordered the teaching of Catalan alone in the schools of the Generalitat. It is thus progress of a moral order and in pedagogical effectiveness that has been realized by the Catalan government.