Fall 2009: Occitan gaining ground in schools in southern France

Saturday, December 05, 2009


Here's a short article in French on the status of Occitan as a scholarly subject in the region, the area in the south of France that roughly corresponds to the map on the right.
Parlar occitan... to continue the development of the regional language (Occitan), an agreement was signed yesterday between the regional council and the rector. Its objective is to open new bilingual French-Occitan sites in the region. Approximately 46,000 students of the Academy of Toulouse are currently learning the regional language, or 9% of school enrollment, divided into 26 classes. This is a discipline that is attracting more and more young people since the academy has increased enrollment by 15% between 2007 and 2009.

"The region has always been strongly engaged in supporting our language, the identity of our territory", said Martin Malvy, the president of the regional council. "Thanks to this new agreement, we hope to double the number of bilingual classes in the next six years. Two extra classes should already be open in fall 2010." Over ten years, the regional budget allocated to Occitan has doubled to nearly 1.1 million euros.

0 comments:

  © Blogger templates Newspaper by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP