In Northern Catalonia, the French government is preparing a legal reform that would let students in bilingual and immersion schools take university entrance exams in Catalan, Basque and other minority languages. Education minister Édouard Geffray told deputies Peio Dufau and Paul Molac during a parliamentary committee meeting on regional languages and cultures, and the proposal is expected to be set out on Monday.
The change would affect the French baccalaureate, which also serves as the university entrance qualification. The aim is to give students a stable legal framework so they can sit exams in the language they study, instead of relying on temporary permissions or administrative exceptions that can be withdrawn after political changes.
Months of protests helped push the issue up the agenda. Students from Bernat Etxepare High School in Bayonne said they would take their mathematics exam in Basque even if the administration did not recognise it. They said they study in Basque and want to take their exams in Basque, even if that means their papers are not marked.
The dispute reflects the fragile legal position of minority languages in France. In 2021, parliament passed the Molac Law, which aimed to strengthen teaching in Catalan, Basque, Breton and Occitan, and to protect immersion models. The Constitutional Council later struck down key parts of the law, including those linked to linguistic immersion, saying the constitution states that the language of the Republic is French.
That ruling left Basque schools and Catalan immersion centres, including La Bressola, in a difficult position. Since then, educational and linguistic organisations have reported ongoing obstacles, a shortage of teachers and no stable framework for full education pathways in their own languages. In Northern Catalonia, La Bressola and public bilingual programmes have continued to call for stronger support and clearer guarantees for Catalan language education.
Dufau and Molac said the reform could go beyond exams and create a specific status for minority language education. They also presented the minister with a letter signed by fifty parliamentarians from different political backgrounds, asking for an end to administrative blockages and a review of funding for immersion centres. In the Basque Country, nearly half of primary school pupils already study partly or entirely in Basque, and supporters say the right to sit official exams in Catalan or Basque is key to keeping students in their language beyond compulsory schooling.