La Euroregion that encompasses the whole of the Land of the Basques has a slogan we really like: “Share. Innovate. Preserve.” It’s a perfect slogan for a single body where decisions are made by the governments of the Basque territories that affect all Basques. There’s only one other administrative body that manages to do the same: the European Union itself.
Today, we’re sharing a news item published in the Argentine paper Clarín, which is part of that group of news sources we profoundly respect.
The article discusses the successful development the Eskola Futura program, promoted by the Euroregion with the support of the European Union and the participation of the public universities, has had. The program aims to train teachers to access all the training required in France to teach and bilingual public schools, be they French and Basque or French and Occitan.
The proposal for Eskola Futura arose from the increase in demand in the Northern Basque Country for bilingual primary school teachers in French and Basque to teach at the public shools in this region. This need was detected by the Public Office of the Basque Language (OPLB), which acts in the Northern Basque Country.
Basque-speaking teaching students from any of the three administrative regions that make up the Euroregion, New Aquitania, the Basque Country, or Navarre, can sign up. This group is also being offered the chance ot learn French, or to take French civil service exams and thus try for a permanent teaching position in a primary school in the Northern Basque Country.
We love this idea, and we love that the public universities from the three administrative regions are participating. This project is going to break down barriers, allowing Basques to stop living with their backs turned to each other, and help strengthen Europe and spread Basque. It’s hard to meet so many objectives in one fell swoop.
It’s even gone beyond its own original scope, because it’s also serving to create better, strong bridges between the different participating universities: the Public University of the Basque Country (UPV), the Public University of Navarre (UPNa), and the Universities of Bordeaux and Bordeaux-Montaigne.
That is how you Share, Innovate, and Preserve.
Clarín – 6/4/2021 – Argentina
Eskola Futura: cooperación europea para formar a maestros bilingües
Carecer de un nivel adecuado de euskera o de francés no ha sido obstáculo para estudiantes de ambos lados de la frontera, que han aprovechado la oportunidad que les ha brindado el proyecto europeo Eskola Futura para convertirse en profesores bilingües. Esta iniciativa transfronteriza ha facilitado que estudiantes españoles de Magisterio de Euskadi y Navarra hayan profundizado en el conocimiento del francés mediante una experiencia de inmersión lingüística en Burdeos, mientras aspirantes franceses han hecho lo mismo con el euskera durante una estancia en Bizkaia.
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Header photo: In France, eight students from the UPV/EHU, along with three from the UPNa, in Bordeaux participating in the project. (Photo: UPV/EHU)
Last Updated on Apr 7, 2021 by About Basque Country
